wfn.org | Adult fellowship for youth ministry dissolved

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Jan. 29, 2002 News media contact: Linda Green7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
10-71B{026}

NOTE: For related coverage of Connection 2002, see UMNS story #025.

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (UMNS) - A support group for United Methodist youth
workers has voted to discontinue its work at the national level.

The Fellowship of Adults in Youth Ministry (FAYM), which has existed as an
affiliate body of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship for more than a
decade, voted to dissolve at the national level on Jan. 24. The voluntary
organization began when several youth workers expressed the need for a
support group that would provide affirmation, fellowship and networking
opportunities.  

Since the group began, its officers have served with little funding and no
paid staff. After four years of study, a steering committee concluded that
the group could not continue as an organization of volunteers struggling to
meet the expectations of more than 150 national members without staff and
financial support. The fellowship receives support through membership dues. 

The steering committee recommended that the fellowship at the national level
be dissolved but that local and annual conference chapters remain intact.
The committee brought its recommendation to the biennial meeting of the FAYM
membership on Jan. 24, held during Connection 2002, the national event for
adult workers in youth ministry. The fellowship members voted in favor of
the recommendation, and the group was dissolved.

The steering committee reported that the established goals and purpose of
the organization have gained a strong foothold in the church. However, the
committee also said that such goals as networking and resourcing youth
ministry could be better achieved without cost through the work of
denomination boards and agencies.  

Church offices such as the United Methodist Board of Discipleship's Center
for Ministries with Young People and the United Methodist Publishing House
"have felt a need to hold back from doing some of the things they would be
able to do because the FAYM board has said that FAYM would do them," said
Tamara Williams, fellowship secretary.
 
The Board of Discipleship, the Shared Mission Focus on Young People, the
Upper Room and other churchwide offices with youth ministry components could
reach more people and provide more support than the fellowship could,
according to the steering committee. 

In the United Methodist Church, people in specific professional fields are
encouraged to become certified in their areas of ministry. Through
certification, the church recognizes one's commitment to excellence in
ministry, as well as academic training and preparation for specific ministry
fields.  

Those certified in the seven areas of ministry through the United Methodist
Board of Higher Education and Ministry must be affiliated with a
professional organization related to their ministry area, and FAYM was the
group for youth workers. Since the fellowship's dissolution, youth workers
who want to keep their certification can affiliate with the Christian
Educators Fellowship for professional certification or a local FAYM chapter.

Former FAYM president Mike Selleck of Atlanta expressed the hope that the
group's spirit and advocacy for youth ministry will live on. "There is a
time for everything, and much work has gone as far as we can take it," he
said. "It is time to step back with integrity and look at new ways to meet
the needs of youth ministry workers."

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United Methodist News Service
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