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For more than 30 years, the Parish
Youth Ministries (PYM) Committee
has been a leader in our Diocese for
youth formation.The committee,
established in 1983 by Bishop Susan
Goff (then priest at St. Christopher’s,
Springfield), began humbly but has
evolved into a program that has
transformed the lives of many youth
and young adults.
Made up of high school youth
(about 30) from around the Diocese,
the committee members act as
representatives of their parishes and
lead all event programming.The 30
youth selected to serve are gifted
young people with a true passion for
the Church and are the engine on
which the program runs.
Annually, the PYM Committee
hosts three retreat weekends and two
service days to which all diocesan
middle and high school youth are
invited to attend. On average, the
program involves 700 youth and
chaperones, representing parishes
from all over the Diocese. PYM
provides unique opportunities to
give back to the local community, as
well as fellowship and retreat time at
Shrine Mont.
PYM is far more than
bringing people from different
churches together, although that in
8
itself has
much value to
youth today.The real strength
is the impact the program has on
people’s lives and the staying power
that it generates. Personally, PYM is
what ultimately led me to work at
Shrine Mont Camps, which in turn
helped me land on the diocesan staff
doing exactly the same things that
meant so much to my formation
growing up. Seems like a crazy story,
right? Not as crazy as you’d think,
and I’m certainly not alone. One of
my PYM colleagues, the Rev. Beth
Magill, has this to say about her
experience on the committee:
“PYM laid the foundation for
my theology of leadership.Though I
couldn’t possibly have articulated this
at the time, the safe space created
by the adults helped me to begin
to explore what it looked like to
be a Christian leader.These adults
allowed us to soar and fail with equal
measure.Their gentle companionship
at every turn opened my eyes to
the experience of leading with, not
just for, others.We felt in our bones
the value of community. Everyone
had a critical role to play. Our job as
leaders was to notice and draw out
that role in all whom we met.
“Perhaps one of my greatest
weaknesses has always been and will
always be leading from behind. It
is with surprising frequency that I
remember the role of ‘Lost Sheep
Navigator’ on our PYM retreats.
Throughout the course of the
weekend, that role was the assigned
duty of at least two team members
– to be on the lookout for those who
seemed to be sitting on the margins
of the group, and to simply be with
them.We were not to force them to
play games or sing songs, but simply
get to know them as best we could.
“Though I approached this
role with the contempt that only
a 16-year-old can muster, it is still
one of my most profound learning
experiences to this day. I always carry
with me the reminder from those
days on the Mountain and at Roslyn,
to be on the lookout for those who
may need an invitation. For this
was among the greatest lessons
PYM taught me:The leaders on the
margins are to be no less valued and
appreciated than those on the stage.
We need each and every one of them
to do this Kingdom work!
“It is my sincere hope to model
for those with whom I am privileged
to work the transformative lessons I
learned in PYM as a teenager.”
MIKE WADE
Assistant to the Program
Director and PYM staff liaison.
PYM Alumnus 2002
SUMMER 2016 / VIRGINIA EPISCOPALIAN