Youth Ministry News
In the summer of 2016, Prospect entered into a unique partnership with Central Illinois YoungLife, a “parachurch” ministry that seeks to connect teens with Christ through community-based, relationship-driven ministry. Together, we hired Evan Penn for a full-time position designed to Reach (YoungLife role) and Disciple (Prospect UMC role) teens within the Dunlap community.
Last Spring, Evan accepted another fulltime job with Samaritan Ministries. At that time, he stepped away from his position with YoungLife, but he has continued to serve as our part-time Director of Youth Ministries.
As Evan’s work with Samaritan Ministries continues to grow, and as he pursues additional outside interests, he has discerned that God is leading him into a new season of life and service. Our church leadership also agrees that the demands of our ministry to teens and families is beyond what we could expect from Evan given his other commitments.
As such, Evan will be stepping away from his position as Prospect’s Director of Youth Ministries at the end of the school year. Until then, he will continue to connect with our youth, lead our Sunday morning Fuel Bible studies, facilitate monthly gatherings, and help with planning for the youth mission trip to Chaddock in July.
At the same time, our Staff-Parish Relations Committee has begun the process of finding Evan’s replacement on the staff of Prospect. We are prayerfully discerning the scope of our vision and needs for this position, while also exploring ways to reach out internally and externally for potential candidates.
We welcome your prayers for this process and hope that you will help us celebrate the positive impact Evan’s service has had on the spiritual growth of our teens over the past 3 years.