As the new school year is well into gear, I want to be clear that the staff and I are disappointed that we have not yet been able to secure new leadership for our "Sr." EYC program [Jr. EYC is really going gangbusters!]. Since last Spring, Christian Education Director Mandy Atkins has been trying to recruit a Youth Director from within our congregation and making contacts for possibilities from elsewhere, but to no avail. In the meantime, she has filled in as the interim Director (way beyond her job description!, and the program has been sustained by a really solid team of j9 All Saints' parishioners who rotate responsibilities. I am especially grateful to them. These faithful folks have stayed the course long past the time we had expected to have a new Youth Director in place. You should know that we would have no program at all without their commitment.
These days, even with a Director, we have to have two adults (male & female) present for programs and activities. The next time you see Pete Poland, Natalie Sparks, John & Megan Ewing, Kevan & Maribeth Kirkpatrick, John & Lauren Morris, David Hastings, Jeanne Lagrone, Chris Pugh, Sherrie Black, Lou Remmers, Nancie Beard, Lynn Waddle, Chris Winders, Sue Ann Averett, Jean Cooper, and Nathan Duncan remember to give them a hearty "Thank You."
In conversations at the recent diocesan Presbyter Conference, many of my colleagues detailed the same troubles in finding a director for youth programs. The line I heard over and over was "everyone expects the congregation to have a first-rate youth program, but no one will step up." [In fact, with the support team we have, we're better off than most.] This is a most critical and ominous failing in our churches. A place like All Saints' certainly should have a strong, consistent youth program—as we have had in the past. Even with all of the support we have going now, our EYC is nowhere near where I want it to be. After no luck from within, I had high hopes that we could get a "Canterbury Club"
student from Ole Miss or State take the position. Our respective campus Chaplains went to bat for us, but no takers. So, we're back to the drawing board, and this is our very top priority. It looks like we'll have to think "outside of the box." In any case, any and every angle will be explored.
At present, there are no funds available in our operating budget to pay a Youth Director. We were able to set aside $3,600 from special income for this year but, as we learned, $300 per month (and that's before taxes) won't attract any interest. This means that unless a volunteer Director surfaces, we will have to come up with at least $6.000 in all new money from our pledges to have any kind of chance to bring a suitable and qualified person on board.
Our 7th-12th graders deserve the very best we can do for them, and so does our support team. Count me in. How about you?
In Christ,
Shannon+
