The Vestry and our Rector, The Rev. Paul Kane, has asked The Rev. Kathleen Gannon to lead our reimagining of the Children, Youth and Family Ministry, sustaining those programs that have served us well, and creating new initiatives that will serve our children, youth and families on their faith journey.
As you may know, we have been searching for a part-time staff person to serve as director of our Children, Youth and Family Ministry (CYF). While several candidates with a variety of gifts for ministry applied, we felt that God was calling us in a different direction. The methods of teaching children are changing; the issues facing our youth and families have become more complex and challenging. We are in a time when our CYF Ministry needs restructuring. So, Rev. Paul Kane and the Vestry announce that The Rev. Kathleen Gannon will serve as our new Director of Children, Youth and Family Ministry, and that we will hire a part-time coordinator for Church School and CYF activities to assist her. Rev. Kathleen will continue her pastoral ministry among us, while dedicating more of her time and talents to our CYF Ministry.
There are many benefits to allocating our Associate Rector’s time to this important ministry – surely she already knows our families! We have wonderful families at St. Paul’s who are engaged in this ministry for the love of their own families and who generously welcome new families.
The issues and the landscape of this ministry to families is changing. Allocating clergy time will further strengthen the theological base of the program for faith formation in children, youth and families and allows us to look at best practices and the best ideas of our families as we go forward.
The importance of our CYF Ministry has surely been affirmed in our Pastoral Strategic Visioning this year. As we go forward, we look forward to new and exciting ways that we will serve our families and grow in faith together.