Summer News and Bad Hires

Summer News from Matt Vaughan
View this email in your browser.

Recruiting update
Boys of summer
Partner highlight
Avoiding the "Bad Hire"

A nonprofit empowering youth ministers to become skilled and effective leaders

Accomplishing our Mission – Recruiting Update

We're making progress towards our goal of recruiting new students for the next enrollment cycle. The early enrollment period ends on August 31, and late enrollment is extended through mid-October – we're in the process of enrolling several new students from a great group of prospects throughout our region. Our current slate of students is listed online, and we'll announce our full slate of students later this year. We've also had discussions with two new prospective partners, and we appreciate your prayers as those discussions continue.

Youth Ministry Institute combines two years of monthly education and training with a personal development coach. Our students have some great success stories – 80 percent of our students see their youth group double in size over five years.

Do you know of someone who would benefit from our program, consulting, or coaching? Encourage them to check out our website or drop me a note. Thanks!

Boys of Summer – Family Update

Our summer is consumed by baseball! Jack (pictured at the far left, holding a Royals game ball he got from Alcides Escobar) plays in Nall Hills little league. Sam plays at 3&2 little league. Amy and I are sitting in a lawn chair at one of these ballparks on any given night. And, about once a month, we make it to a Royals game. We took this picture right before we saw Orlando's walk-off grand slam home run!

Partner Highlight

Youth Ministry Institute Midwest is a ministry that supports the local church. We reach out to small, mid-sized, and large churches. We've provided various levels of support to churches in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, and Arkansas. We can't do this alone, and we appreciate our partners!

The Synod of Mid-America (PCUSA) and three local Presbyterian Churches serve as denominational covenant partners to Youth Ministry Institute Midwest, specifically to support the local church, youth ministers, and to enrich the lives of youth and their families. Our church partners include:

Village Presbyterian Church (including its Endowment Trust), Central Presbyterian Church, and Southminster Presbyterian Church.

This year, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church designated a portion of their Pentecost offering to support Youth Ministry Institute Midwest. Members of each of these churches also financially support our mission and ministry. Thanks to all our partners and supporters!

Closing Thoughts: Avoiding the "Bad Hire"

I’ve spoken with at least eight pastors in five different states over the last month. All of them are searching for a new youth minister.

All of them want the same thing.

You might think they want a relational youth minister with experience and all the bells and whistles.

Of course. But that’s not only thing.

What they also want is to avoid the opposite – they want to avoid making a bad hire.

Because church ministry is so relational, hiring a new youth minister can become emotional for search committees. The committee might love the “crazy fun youth leader” who has a game for every occasion and overlook the quiet candidate who excels at building relationships and challenging students to deepen their relationships with Christ. Which leader is the right fit for your church?

Read the rest of this post on our blog...