I'm going to be doing perodic posts answering some of those questions that maybe you've been wondering about if you're a journeyer.
"Hey, I was just wondering about what was happening with the search for a Pastor for our teenagers"
We have focused our energy on using our various ministry and personal networks. Matt and I were both long-time youth pastors, and Mark worked with an organization for 17 years that worked with teens. We have also worked some ministry networks, like some larger churches, and Converge Worldwide, our partner organization. We've had countless phone conversations, multiple questionnaires answered, one official visit, yet here we sit after about 7 months and we're still looking for the right fit.
We traced down 7 phone references in the last couple of days. We're continuing our search process. We'll be updating our Lead Team at their next meeting in January, and talking about next steps that we need to take in the process.
In the mean time, Brian (our Youth ministry intern, and current student at Kuiper College in GR studying in religion/student ministry) is doing a really good job with our students & we've got a good group of volunteer leaders building relationships and leading with our students.
The Journey is a unique fit, and it takes the right person. We have a unique culture here, we can't pay a person a ton of money, and they have to be okay coming north. Plus, they have to be willing to transform their ministry as we go - expand their role, and see just beyond a youth group. Pray that God would lead us to the right person to play this role at The Journey.