Peer Ministry :: Adult Facilitator Support

Student Interviews of Churches that are Using Peer Ministry

#21 Interview JAN, 2002
St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Dubuque, Iowa
Interview with Mike Carlson
By: Ben Bjorklund

“If your not doing Peer Ministry, your not in Ministry.” –Mike Carlson

Mike Carlson of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Dubuque, IA. St. Peter's Church is made up of 650 people. There is one full time pastor, and one full time education person. St. Peter's church has about 15 youth per grade level.

Mike got involved with Peer Ministry in the beautiful state of Minnesota. A young girl in Mike’s youth group attempted suicide. Mike had no idea that anything was wrong. He found it interesting that this girl’s peers did. After seeing the kids’ ability to understand each other, he wanted to help kids help other kids. Mike discovered Peer Ministry and took training to facilitate the program.

What excites Mike the most is watching Peer Ministry work and hearing the success stories. Another thing that is exciting to him is the fact that adults are learning so much from the children. Mike sees training in caring skills very important. He thinks that many adults are assuming their children have already learned these skills. In the midst of learning skills kids' faith and values are stretched and developed. He said if you want kids to deliver they will if you ask. ASKING youth to get involved is very important.

Mike said he could tell many stories that could help illustrate Peer Ministry. I was fortunate enough to hear a couple of his favorites. The first story Mike shared with me involved a young girl in the hospital dying of Leukemia. She was very lonely sitting in the hospital and she called Mike. Mike decided to send a Peer Minister. He asked this girl to visit the patient everyday in the hospital. The girl showed up everyday and worked with her until her death. The parents described the girl Mike sent to hospital to work with their child as a miracle.

The second story Mike shared was another miracle of Peer Ministry. This story involves a kid named Adam. Adam hated school and didn’t want to attend. Mike called five Peer Ministers and asked all of them to love Adam by spending at least five minutes a day with him. The five kids did this with Adam and one month later, Mike found out that Adam couldn’t wait to arrive at school. Adam learned great life skills from these Peer Ministers. Nobody thought Adam would finish school, but he did.

Mike gave me some helpful tips before anyone starts a Peer Ministry Group. The first thing he suggested was to get the kids trained. Along with the kids, get a few adults trained to help out and get the congregation's support. After you get the peers trained, get them to work. If you train the kids and then don’t get them involved, their fire will die out. The last thing Mike suggested to me is to recognize the trained peers as leaders. Mike suggested hanging pictures of the Peer Ministers on a wall. But, above all, get them using their skills right away.