An Emerging Partnership with HPC

September News from Matt & YMI
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An Emerging Partnership with HPC
Enrollment Update: Two-Year Program
Success Stories of our Students
Closing Thoughts – Four Case Studies

A nonprofit empowering youth ministers to become skilled and effective leaders

An Emerging Partnership with Heartland Presbyterian Center

Think about your first job. Chances are you were an intern or worked part-time to gain experience. Ministry is no different. Every pastor I know started ministry somewhere other than the pulpit!

I'm pleased to share that we're exploring a partnership between Heartland Presbyterian Center, Youth Ministry Institute Midwest and another partner to train interns who are placed in local churches in and around Heartland Presbytery. We are piloting the program on September 24 with our first day of training with Heartland's interns. Zach Walker, pastor of youth ministries at Village Presbyterian Church, and I are providing instruction and leading developmental coaching.

This innovative “Cornerstone New-to-Ministry” program is designed to provide educational support, on-the-job training, and developmental coaching from YMI to a group of interns who will split their time between local churches and Heartland's camping setting to learn about youth and children’s ministry in addition to camp and conference ministry.

Our goal is to provide relevant experience to those new to ministry, and guide them on a path of discernment as they consider a call to vocational ministry.

We’ll share another announcement soon to share the church partners participating in the program with Heartland and YMI.

Do you know of someone or a church who would benefit from this internship and emerging partnership? Encourage them to drop me a note. Thanks!

Enrollment Update for our Two-Year Program for Youth Ministers

We hosted a Foundational Retreat in August for new students. This retreat repeats every year, and four youth ministers joined us from Andover, Garden City, Manhattan, and Derby, Kansas.

Our enrollment deadline for the year is October 12. There's still time to join our cohort this year! In fact, I met with three additional churches this week about joining our program. Please contact me today if you, a church, or a youth minister you know would benefit from training and coaching from Youth Ministry Institute. Most churches who succesfully partner with us see their youth ministry double in size!

Success Stories in Youth Ministry

Every church is different. Every youth minister is different. Our success stories really emphasize how YMI tailors support to each local setting. Some of our youth ministers are in their first job. Others have years of experience, or even a seminary degree. All appreciate the healthy cohorts we build to support one another.

Take a moment to read a few of our success stories. And, keep an eye on our website as we continue making updates this fall:
http://yminstitute.com/student-success-stories/

Closing Thoughts – Four Case Studies

I spent some time this summer with two pastors and two youth ministers that have very successful youth programs. They are Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist (there’s a parachute or light bulb joke in there somewhere!). I asked them, “why is your youth ministry so successful?” They all said the same thing – their churches make youth ministry a priority.

They shared their case studies with me. One saw his youth ministry increase in size last year after the congregation focused on growth and invested in its family ministry budgets; one youth minister has been at his church for longer than five years and oversees a healthy and stable youth ministry; and one sent her entire youth group on an international mission trip for less than $300 per student, thanks to a church-wide fundraising effort to support the youth group.

A fourth pastor with a renewing youth ministry said that she’s seeing the culture change at her church. Youth ministry hadn’t always been important. She said her church "made youth ministry our highest priority in 2014, and our youth ministry really took off after we partnered with YMI. In fact, we’re now planning our first mission trip in years.”

Two of the churches I mentioned are clients of YMI. Two are not. All have successful youth ministry because these churches make it an investment.

YMI partners with successful youth ministers and pastors to coach and teach for us. YMI partners with other churches to stabilize, grow, and renew youth ministry. These partnerships are successful because we support local churches in addition to training their youth ministers.

What category fits your church? Or, is youth ministry a priority at your church? How can YMI help?