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Author: Eric Guy, eric.guy(at)iaumc.org
Iowa Conference Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries
Date submitted: February 15, 2005
(The material on this page is used by permission of the named author. It remains the creative property of the author. Permission is granted for use by youthworkers in their non-profit local ministry setting. Other use or publication should only be by permission of the author.)
Article for Spring 2004 youth newsletter:
Staring something new is always difficult. What will people think? How will it go over? What if it fails? Can we keep up the momentum?
During the last two years the Conference Council on Youth Ministries (CCYM) has been involved in visioning for the future and putting into place programs and initiatives that they believe will strengthen the youth ministries of local churches in the Iowa Annual Conference. One of these new initiatives has been the development of a regular youth ministry newsletter and resource guide that would available three or four times a year - this thing you now hold in your hand. CCYM envisioned that this resource would be for youth, adults who are in ministry to and with youth, Christian educators, pastors, paid staff, volunteers - anyone who is interested in the lives and faith of young people
But, getting this newsletter off the ground became a more difficult task than I was prepared for. I kept asking myself all the questions that you probably ask when you look to start something new in your ministry. What's the goal? Will it be helpful? Who is the target? Would it be 'perfect' - or even good enough? Will it matter?
Darci Hartman, who will be editing this newsletter and resource guide, and bringing some needed order to my jotted notes and quick comments of "Maybe this should go in too." kept gently reminding me that if we were going to put out a spring edition we needed to get going. Finally, in a moment of desperation I said to Darci, "I guess we just need something to start with, and we can work out the details as we go." And, I guess that's the idea behind this resource. You won't find here the answers to how to have the perfect youth ministry, but if you're looking for new ideas, you will, I hope, find here at least something to start with - a website link, a book recommendation, a story from someone involved in youth ministry who has something to share.
Those are some of my ideas for starters. What other kinds of things would be helpful? What would you like to see in this resource? Do you have ideas, websites, resources, stories of things that have worked - or things that haven't - that you'd like to share with other youth or adults who work with youth? If you do, get them to us and we'll try to include them for next time. Also, if you know of other people that you think would be interested in this resource, pass this copy along after you're done with it, or better yet, make sure that they get a copy of their own. See the "How to subscribe" section for information about additional subscriptions or to sign up to receive "Something to Start With" by email.