ETSS enhances youth ministry and Christian education
by Clint Hagen, former Director of Youth Ministries at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Amarillo, Texas. Clint now teaches at St. Andrew's Middle School in Austin.

I work in a world that is foreign to many people - and it's not because I hail from the dry and dusty Diocese of Northwest Texas. I work in world where MTV, Abercrombie & Fitch and high school football rule. I work in a world where "fly" is synonymous with "tight." I work in a world where every romance is forever and every break-up is the end of the world. I work in the world of teenagers. I'm a youth minister.

Clint Hagen, seated center, with St. Andrew's teens

Youth ministers are part of the church's vanguard in adolescent culture, and youth ministers need quite a few skills to enter into, interact with and share the Gospel with this culture. We need to be able to think theologically and explain the faith of our Church clearly and unapologetically. We need to be able to critique youth culture and provide ways for young people to critique their own culture. We need to use our faith as a basis for ethical action, so that we can model the Christian life for our kids. Most importantly, we need to understand what it means to be called to youth ministry and to be supported in the call by our priests and deacons, our vestries and parishes, our bishops and dioceses, the national church and our own youth.

But the sad truth is that most youth ministers get thrown into their jobs with very little training. Most of us fly by the grace of God and whatever tools we've picked up along the way - a hodgepodge of books, curricula, video series and anecdotal instructions from others in the field. It's not really the best way to learn how to be a minister to youth.

Program participants at recent session

That's why the Certificate Programs in Youth Ministry and Christian Education that ETSS offers has become so important to me. I'm halfway through the program now, and the three weeklong sessions I've spent at Camp Allen thus far have provided me with all of the things I mentioned above - things that all youth ministers desperately need. Thanks to wonderful professors from the seminary, I can now talk with a reasonable amount of confidence about the nature of Christ, Christian ethics, learning styles, faith development, Church history, spiritual disciplines, church polity, the Scriptures and the Trinity. (I even preached on Trinity Sunday without committing heresy!) The coursework is intense, but the professors are excellent.

Course instructor the Rev. Steve Kinney

Beyond the coursework, the people in my class of the program have become great friends. We worship, eat, and room together. We share the joys and sorrows of ministry. We support each other all year long. We trade information, insight and resources. I know that, every time I'm out trying to share Christ in the world of teenagers, I'm not alone. My friends in Louisiana, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kansas, North Carolina, Arkansas and the Republic of Panama - in addition to my friends in my home state of Texas - are all out working towards our common goal. Knowing that we share a common mission, in addition to our common prayer and common table, is very comforting when the inevitable tough times arrive.

24 dioceses (from Virginia and Hawaii to Oregon and Alabama) are represented in Certificate enrollment

I know that, without a doubt, I am a better youth minister for having been in this program. The youth in my parish have benefited in more ways than they know by my experiences at Camp Allen with ETSS. Because of this program, I communicate the Gospel more clearly and passionately. My volunteers understand our goals better, and we've been able to stretch the boundaries of our ministry from the parish out into the community while encouraging individual kids to deepen their faith commitment.

Certificate class at Camp Allen

My parish has benefited from my training, too - and not just because the youth are getting more. The certificate program has given me new ideas on worship, outreach, evangelism and education that I've been able to share with my fellow staff members and the parish; and what I've learned about church polity has made me a better staff member, committee member and parishioner.
Personally, I have a clearer sense of my calling as a youth minister because of this program. I am more aware of God's call on my life and the directions God might be taking me - and this helps me help other people become more aware of God's call in their lives.

If you are a youth minister or Christian educator, ordained or lay, paid staff or volunteer, working with children, youth or adults, I encourage you to look into the Certificate Programs in Youth Ministry and Christian Education at ETSS. And, if you are the boss of a youth minister or Christian educator, please encourage them to look into this program. Everybody - from your parish to the universal church - benefits when our ministers are better prepared, educated and dedicated to their callings. So what do you have to lose?

I'll see you at Camp Allen!

The Rev. Frank Sugeno, professor-emeritus of church history at ETSS and pictured with program director Molly Bennett, taught a course during the Certificates June 2001 session. He writes:

"The week long classes combine academic studies taught by seminary faculty, sharing of resources, exploring dimensions of spiritual formation and corporate worship, all in the context of examining the role that the educational and youth ministries play in the total mission of the church.
"I was struck by the deep dedication of the people enrolled in the program and the boost that their sense of vocation received through their sharing with each other the challenges, achievements and hope that they experience in their work and the supportive network that has developed through the program.

"Never have I participated in a program that was so enthusiastically received and so obviously valuable for those involved."