A Youth Ministry Coaching Program cohort starts today at my church. I’m not in it, and I’m not leading it. I just organized it. My church is hosting it.
I’m a big believer in these cohorts. I did one seven years ago, and then I organized one in California three years later that was heavily supported by the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii. The one beginning today is just as heavily supported by the Synod of Lincoln Trails.
I like this organizer role. I like pitching youth ministry coaching cohorts to synods as an important leadership development investment. I liked partnering with the Presbyterian minister at Fuller Seminary to host one, and I like serving at a church with the space to do it now. I like talking with presbytery leaders, pastors, and youth ministers about participating. I love seeing the group actually come together.
This cohort has people in it from Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Indiana. It has five women and five men, people serving large and small congregations, pastors and youth directors, leaders of youth, children, and families. There’s someone in it whose work is hosting mission trips. There’s someone else who leads neighborhood youth on behalf of three different churches. The real kicker: there’s someone in it who was a student in the youth group of a guy in my cohort in 2011.
These cohorts have been as prominent a tool in my youth ministry as anything, and I am grateful for them. Grateful and eager to see what happens next.
YoRocko! 