Part of the training we have at the seminary is that the youth ministry students are supposed to work at an “approved site church.” Basically, it’s a church that has a youth pastor and is running a youth ministry with a similar philosophy to what the students are learning in class. This balances the academic learning with the experience they need to be successful.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many churches that would even come close to qualifying to be an approved site. Most of the youth ministry students work at their church as THE person working with youth. They don’t get the mentoring relationship we are looking for with a youth worker at the church. After having spent a lot of time with the new youth pastor at PIB Satelite, I can begin to see a great opportunity for a partnership. I am beginning to see the makings of our first possible “approved site church.” We’ll see how it turns out.