St. Timothy's Co-op

St. Timothy's Co-op is a youth ministry initiative of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. The idea for St. Timothy's Co-op came out of weekly prayer meetings of several rectors of parishes in the Diocese. Their idea was that they needed to hire a coach to help their churches develop youth ministries, since their small churches could not afford to each hire a full time youth minister. This group of ministers, led by The Rev. David Rucker, hired Kim Louis the summer of 2006.

Founding

St. Timothy's Co-op was founded on September 1, 2006 with full support of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh including Bishop Robert Duncan and Bishop Henry Scriven. Canon Mary Hays also provides full support for this effort, which may be blazing the trail for models of other ministry in the diocese.

St. Timothy's Co-op shows every sign of being successful.

Youth Ministry Experiment

St. Timothy's Co-op, if successful, will provide a new model for successful youth ministry in the church. It counters the current models of youth ministry that insist on hiring a person who has the sole responsibility for discipling youth in an individual church. St. Timothy's Co-op enables a church to be responsible for the discipleship of their youth by calling out the spiritual gifts of the members of the church and holding them accountable to the task of passing on their faith to the next generation.

What people are saying

“Mentoring is key to all ministry. Deacons have mentors, Priests have mentors, Even Bishops have mentors. In the past few months it has been great to be able to have a mentor in Kim Louis. It is this valuable experience that helps me to think through the issues that I face in doing youth ministry.

St. Timothy's Co-op is important because it allows youth pastors and volunteers to do what they want to do ... Help the youth of their prospective parishes to encounter God. That is what we want for the youth of the Diocese.  This partnership has allowed churches with a common goal to come together - come together to minister to a group in the church that feels left out. We in the church need to remember that Christ came for all, and he showed us that by going to the outcast.  All to often the youth of our parishes have felt like the outcasts, and St. Timothy's Co-op has allowed us to get some synergy to focus on ways to bring the outcast to the Messiah.” Keith Pozzuto-- St. Stephen's McKeesport

"I would have to say our one on one meetings with Kim Louis have helped Ruben and I the most since we joined the Co-op.  We felt very nervous about doing the right or wrong thing, until Kim Louis came alongside us and with her wealth of knowledge and showed us in numerous different ways how to handle and lead the youth.  I always consider the blessing it was when St. Thomas joined up with St. Timothy's Co-op, I believe we have been equipped to become stronger and grow because of it." Maria Bockus--St. Thomas Oakmont

Training

St. Timothy's Co-op provided youth ministry training for the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh on February 2 and 3, 2007. The training was attended by over 20 youthworkers from many churches in the diocese. Jack Gabig, the director of youth and children for the Anglican Communion Network taught on pop culture.

Affiliate Churches

Currently, St. Timothy's Co-op is contracted with:St. Martin's Monroeville,St. Alban's Murrysville,All Saints Rosedale,St. Thomas Oakmont.

References

http://www.pgh.anglican.org/news/local/sttimothy092906

External links

* http://www.rocktheworld.org
* http://www.pgh-anglican.org