Peer Ministry :: Adult Facilitator Support

Student Interviews of Churches that are Using Peer Ministry

#22 Interview JAN, 2002
Interview with Tom Young
(banker/ consultant / volunteer youth worker in Naperville, Illinois)
By: Andrew Held

Andy: What is the size of your congregation?

Tom: 600 people in attendance on average each Sunday. 75-100 young people show up on average for our “Extreme Worship” service on Sunday nights.

Andy: What exactly is “Extreme Worship”?

Tom: Extreme worship is our contemporary worship service on Sunday evenings for youth. We have bands and Bible studies and split up into discussion groups, which are led by our student Peer Ministers.

Andy: Can you tell me a little bit more about your church and its location?

Tom: Naperville is about 35 miles west of Chicago. It’s a suburb of the city and is growing quite rapidly. Our church is attempting to take advantage of the explosive population in order to get a hold of these new young families. We really want to try to make ours a church community for kids. Especially since our church feeds off of 4 local high schools.

Andy: How did you get involved with the Peer Ministry program?

Tom: Peer was really a product of prayer for us. My wife (a teacher) and I led youth groups for years. We went through the Stephen Ministries program and were asked to develop something for teens. We tried for a year and just couldn’t come up with anything. We first came into contact with Peer Ministry when we met some Peer Ministry students from Minneapolis in Oakland, CA (at Berkeley). We had some discussions with them and sort of forgot about it, filed in the backs of our minds. Late into a meeting one night when we were starting to get desperate for ideas it popped back into my head. I mentioned it as an option since we didn’t have anything else. We then took the ball and ran with it getting 6 adults and 13 students trained.

Andy: How have these trained individuals helped in your ministry efforts?

Tom: Well, out of the group that was first trained, 4 adults and 13 students have continued with us, and they really are the nucleus of our ministry. The students act as small group leaders and a planning team. They lead the groups at Extreme Worship and Bible study and even teach parts of the Peer Ministry curriculum.

Andy: Can you give me some examples of the level of organization these youth leaders have displayed?

Tom: Certainly! A great example of their motivation and organization was after the September 11 tragedy. These students made phone calls to the pastors and got the church together that night and had a long, well thought out prayer service for youth from the neighboring high schools.

Another example of their initiative was after there was an accident at one of the local high schools and a kid was killed. Not only did our team of youth peer ministers plan a service to help people deal with that loss, but they also went to each of the high schools and met with students who needed help.

Andy: What is the most exciting thing for you about Peer Ministry?

Tom: For me, I think the most exciting thing is that our high school students have taken a leadership role in the church. The thing that is so great about Peer Ministry is that it gives you the tools to reach out to people that you normally wouldn’t.

Andy: Is there something from the training that you find particularly memorable?

Tom: I really enjoyed the course as a whole, but one thing that really sticks out in my mind was the exercise where you are imagining that you are at lunch in the cafeteria and a girl walks in and some people brush past her and knock her books on the floor and you are asked what you would do. I like it so much, I think, because of how real it is. We’ve all seen that happen and there aren’t many of us who did what we thought was the right thing to do.

Andy: Can you see how this training has helped people to grow in their faith?

Tom: Well, certainly. I think that one big thing that we have taken from Peer Ministry is working in small groups. I think this helps people explore their faith and work through their problems better by being challenged and supported by other members of the group. A lot of issues are hit in these groups that I don’t feel would come out otherwise.

Andy: Can you see how the Peer Ministry training has fostered service to the community and others?

Tom: Unquestionably. Especially looking at the stories I shared about September 11 and the student’s death. Peer Ministry is a lot about caring. Through the training we learn how and why to care for other people and from that care comes a drive to want to help.

Andy: Do you see a life-long attitude being fostered by this program?

Tom: If the students continue in their service and if they hold onto these values, then yes. Peer Ministry gives you something that you really just don’t lose. It’s a shift in attitude and its permanent.

Andy: Do you have any other stories that you’d like to share with me about Peer Ministry?

Tom: Just that it was really interesting to see the adults go through this training. The insights they had and the things that they learned vary so dramatically from the youth in some ways and yet are so similar in other areas of the training.

Andy: You said your wife is a teacher. Has she found any uses for Peer Ministry in that line of work?

Tom: Yes. My wife is involved in a program that takes at risk students and brings them back to being good students and thriving citizens. She uses a lot of elements of Peer Ministry for the program.

Andy: What advice would you give to me as someone who is going into youth ministry?

Tom: You will use this program going into youth and family ministry without a doubt. This is powerful stuff.