Student Interviews of Churches that are Using
Peer Ministry
Interview #4 AUG, 2001
Hosanna Lutheran Church, Forest Lake, MN
Interview with Tom Schwolert
By: Tammie Nyman
Tom Schwolert is the Community Life Minister at Hosanna Lutheran
Church in Forest Lake, MN. Tammie Nyman is a student in the Master
of Arts program at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota. The interview
was conducted on August 27th, 2001.
Tammie: What type of community is your church set in?
Tom: It's a rural slash suburban area.
Tammie: What is the size of your Congregation?
Tom: 1700 baptized
Tammie: Tell me about your staff size.
Tom: We have two full time pastors, full time Community Life Minister,
Full time Youth Minister, Children's Ministry, and multiple other
ancillary staff
Tammie: Approximately how many youth are there per Grade Level?
Tom: About 30.
Tammie: Why is Peer Ministry needed in Your Church?
Tom: At the heart of it is that youth feel that they are actually
doing ministry rather than just watching it happen, they are a
real part of the body of Christ.
Tammie: What excites you most about Peer Ministry?
Tom: Seeing youth doing ministry. I get really jazzed about seeing
youth put their faith into action and how being part of peer ministry
has really turned their faith around.
Tammie: Describe some of the logistics of Peer Ministry at your
church?
Tom: We have a Peer Ministry camp, Sunday through Friday, during
the summer, then the students meet once a month during the school
year for training, follow up, and worship. These sessions last
about 2 hours each.
Tammie: How do you invite involvement in Peer Ministry?
Tom: Basically, anybody is welcome, but we do try to encourage
individuals with certain gifts.
Tammie: What is happenings a result of Peer Ministry in your
church?
Tom: I think what we see is that the peers really carry these
programs. They are intentionally out there ministering to other
kids and bringing them to other activities. I see a lot of kids
grow in their faith through this ministry.
Tammie: How did you get it to happen?
Tom: Quality training, follow-up, trusting the program and what
can happen, trying not to get to discouraged when the numbers
were low.
Tammie: What do you hope happens in the future?
Tom: We feel very good about our Wednesday nights, but we'd like
to see more individual stories about how kids are using their
skills beyond the church walls. How are youth using the skills
in every day life?
Tammie: What are some of the things Peer Ministers do after they
are trained?
Tom: They lead small group Bible studies on Wednesday nights for
high school youth (written by Chap Clark). They help their peers
with life issues.
Tammie: What stories best illustrate Peer Ministry?
Tom: I think, there's a girl named Rachel who never came to church,
never knew much about it, was invited to Logos on Wednesday night
by some kids, and was embraced by a lot of the kids, and through
a process of getting to know a lot of the kids, ended up having
her first communion with all the SH youth. They made a big deal
out of it and brought her gifts, made her a cake and it was just
a huge celebration. The next year she went to Peer Ministry camp.
Now she understands what it is to be a Peer minister. She gets
up and talks to the crowds about her own faith story. Communion
is now central to her experience at church.
Tammie: What helpful information would you pass on to a church
wanting to get started?
Tom: Be persistent, trust that it will work, its easy to get discouraged,
give them something to put there skills into practice right away,
constant follow-up, one on one personal time and group time. Keep
giving them new skills, review skills, and worship time together.
Spend half the time on skills and talking and the last part on
worship, sharing their faiths.
