My name is Mike Edwards, and I have the privilege to serve our Lord and this congregation as the new DIRECTOR of YOUTH, CHILDREN, and  FAMILY MINISTRIES.  I look forward to working with you all to further develop these vital areas of ministry in our church.

Just to give you a little background, I have been the Youth Director at Tice UMC in east Ft. Myers for 5 years.  I have been working with 2nd through 12th grade children and youth.  Our emphasis was service and learning how to apply Jesus’ teachings to everyday life, and, of course, have some fun at the same time. Additionally, I was the Youth Director here at Christ UMC from 2003-2005.  My daughter grew up in this church as we were members here for nearly 15 years.  I have many wonderful memories of this congregation and youth.  I am looking forward to renewing old friendships and making new ones. 

Last year, I was appointed one of the two Youth Coordinators for the SW Distrcit of our Florida UM Conference.  This volunteer position is designed to promote connectionalism among youth programs in our district.  It is important that the youth and children’s leaders of our denomination have that connection and support that only comes from regularly meeting and talking with like-minded, God-fearing people who know what they are going through every day.  It is also a great way to connect youth and families through shared cooperative activities and ministry projects.

“Now, down to brass tacks,” as my grandfather used to say, I don’t anticipate making any substantial changes for a while.  It may actually be a couple of months down the road before that happens.  The youth will continue to meet on Wednesdays at 6:30pm.  I will need to meet with the parents and youth/children to find out their schedules, needs, and desires, probably sometime in late August or early September. I would like to meet and coordinate with the various supervising committees such as Education, Evangelism, etc.  I would also appreciate the opportunity to sit in on any other committee meeting.  I would like to present a short, (5 minutes) overview of my plans and get your committee’s input on how best to coordinate those plans.  One of our goals is to work together to involve more children and youth in all ministry areas of our church.  Please notify Charlene, in the office, of your next meeting and specifically invite me to attend.
 
To start, my office hours will be Tuesday—Thursday from 10 am to 4 pm.  We will look at adjusting these hours in September as I get settled in and get a feel for the needs and schedule of the youth, children, families, and church congregation.  Please feel free to stop in and say “HI!”.  Don’t be surprised though, if I recruit you to help me with any of the many projects we anticipate arising in the coming months.  I will be at the church on Mondays but not as readily available as that will be my “Dirty Job’s” and “Errand Running” day.

In His Love,         Mike