A nonprofit empowering youth ministers to become skilled and effective leaders
Looking Forward in 2015
Our first group of students is pictured at a recent instructional retreat. On the right is Brian Kuhn, a 15-year youth minister and licensed counselor, teaching about family systems.
Youth Ministry Institute Midwest continues to expand in 2015. I'm starting to travel around Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska to visit with youth ministers and pastors.
Getting out “into the field” is hugely important to what we do.
Last week I traveled to Maryville, Missouri to have lunch with the pastor at First Presbyterian Church and the youth minister at First United Methodist Church. These two congregations collaborate and often lead youth ministry programming together. Their partnership supports the faith formation of more youth in their community than if they chose to work alone.
I love learning about innovative ways to do effective ministry. These conversations reinforce the fact that youth ministers are called to serve in many different ways. My hope is to meet with youth ministers who strive to be better at what they do, and pastors who support them. Sometimes I meet a youth minister who is a perfect fit for YMI. Other times I meet an experienced leader who connects me with others.
Please let me know if you have a suggestion of a church, pastor, or youth minister I should visit.
Do you know? Churches that currently partner with Youth Ministry Institute Midwest vary in size from 60 to 320 in weekly worship attendance. The average youth group has around 20 youth and is growing!
How Does YMI Measure Growth?
We are an industry leader – there are only two comprehensive on-the-job training and educational programs for youth ministers in the United States. Youth Ministry Institute has locations in the Midwest and in Florida (most of our current students gathered at a conference in November, above). We collaborate with the Center for Youth Ministry Training, located in Memphis.
YMI offers 325 hours of instruction and 120 hours of coaching. However, we are different from traditional continuing education because we stress immediate application of learning. We also use an assessment tool to measure leadership core competencies of each of our youth ministers.
In nine years, 94 percent of our students showed dramatic growth in their leadership core competencies. Their youth programs showed an average of 80 percent increased attendance. And, their tenure was more than double the average in youth ministry!
We had a great year in 2014. You're invited to download and read our year-end report to learn about our first class of students, our partners, some statistics about our organization, and our financial forecast for 2015.
Your prayers and support are appreciated, and gifts are crucial to our mission of empowering youth ministers to become skilled and effective leaders.
We are a nonprofit 501c(3) organization. Visit our online giving page to support Youth Ministry Institute Midwest with a one-time or recurring gift. By partnering with us, your gift helps us recruit students and faculty, refine our curriculum, and support our staff. Thank you for your support!
