I am so happy to have with us preaching today my friend and colleague Lauren, who among many other things is the chair of the Diocesan Youth Movement (DYM). I am also a member of the DYM leadership team, helping support youth ministry in our diocese. 

I understand my ministry to be not only with the St. John’s church community, but also the wider Sea to Sky corridor, as well as the wider Church. I consider my work with DYM as part of that commitment. 

However, I hope that this work might encourage our desire for ministry with young people in our parish. I pray for that, for us, and I firmly believe it is possible. In some ways it is already happening! 

I invite you to join with me in praying for this to become a reality at St. John’s. As part of our reflection upon this, I also invite you to read an article I wrote recently about a DYM event for the diocesan blog, and some of my thoughts about youth ministry more generally.  

 

On March 6, 2021, about 30 young people and leaders gathered for an online Trivia Night hosted by the Diocesan Youth Movement (DYM). The trivia game is a popular tradition of the DYM’s annual winter retreat, which was cancelled this year for obvious reasons.   

It was so much fun – a lot of laughter, random facts, silliness, community, and prayer.

For me, it was a reminder of how much I love ministry with young people, but also, how important it is.

I believe it is so important that I not only attended, but put in many hours preparing for it, despite not having any of “my” young people in attendance.

To be honest, it is arguable whether my little church even “has” any young people. We do not have a youth program and there are no teenagers if you were to look out at the congregation on a typical Sunday morning (pre-COVID-19). I imagine that this is probably the perspective and position of many of our parishes and parish leaders in this diocese.

If this feels like you, allow me to take a few moments of your time and make the case of why I believe that it is even more important for you and your church to be involved in youth ministry, particularly with the DYM…

 

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