Before you begin this journey along the road of youth ministries, you must be prepared to ask questions and make choices about what to bring.

You enter a room with many doors. On the table there is a note. You pick up the note and read it. It says:

• Why do you want to be involved in youth ministries?
• How will your special skills, interests, and talents serve to make a more complete program?
• Do you have ample time and energy to give to the program and the people?
• What are your roles and responsibilities within the youth ministries program?
• What are the goals and directions of youth  
• ministries in your congregation?
• Where is the program now?
• What are the plans for reaching the goals, both short-range and long-term?

After pondering these questions, you decide you truly are called and are willing to be a part of this exciting journey. Move ahead to the next square.
 
After reading over the questions, you feel overwhelmed and not sure. Continue on anyway, to ask more questions.

You are on a dark and winding road. A guidepost appears ahead through the mist. You have two choices:

Continue on alone (back to square one).
Call your clergyperson for help (move ahead to the congregation).

The Local Congregation

This is the primary location for the most of the youth ministries in the Episcopal Church. It is also where the church is best prepared to respond to the pastoral needs of individual young people. In other words, the nitty-gritty takes place here. Relational youth ministry can be worked out in many ways in the youth program. Remember that youth ministries is involved in the larger ministry of the whole congregation.

You are on your way again and come to a fork in the road. As the dust settles you discover a sign. You have two options:

Go into the Forest of your diocese (move ahead one square).
Take the loop trail back home (return to the beginning of the journey).

The Diocese

The diocese is the basic unit of the Episcopal Church. The word "diocese" comes from the Greek dioikesis: an administrative division of a country. In the church, a diocese is a geographical unit under the supervision of a bishop. The Youth Ministries Office at the Episcopal Church Center provides resources and information to dioceses through the diocesan youth coordinator or other contact person, that can assist people working with youth in congregations. This handbook is an example of one such resource, as are youth conferences and training events.

Youth ministries has a support group at this level usually in the diocesan Youth Ministries Committee or the Christian Education Committee. Most diocesan Youth Ministries Committees are now comprised of young people and adults. Diocesan youth programs vary, but many provide conferences, youth and adult leadership training, camps, conferences, and support of others doing youth ministries.

You leave the office in the Forest of your Diocese and continue on the road of youth ministries. The underbrush is thick on this part of the trail, yet you proceed. There is a plateau ahead where the tall grass has been trampled down.

You go and investigate; here you find your Province (move ahead).
You go around the plateau and end up back in the forest (go back to the room with many doors).

The Province

The Episcopal Church is divided into nine geographical areas called Provinces. Meetings of the provinces are called Synods. Each province can originate programs within its boundaries, and has a program budget. The Youth Ministries Network is organized along provincial lines, and funds, along with the provinces, provincial youth networks that sponsor youth events, training events, and other conferences. Each province has a provincial youth ministries coordinator, and programs are funded through the Youth Ministries Office at the Episcopal Church Center and the province. The role of provincial youth ministries is to support youth ministries in dioceses. Most provinces also have some kind of youth presence at the provincial synod.

You are tired but continue on your way because you really want to know all the places to get support for your youth ministries adventure back home. The guidepost ahead says you are entering another country: the Episcopal Church Center. Again you have two choices:

No one is around, so you go home by a different route (back to square one).
The Episcopal Church Center looks interesting, so you proceed into the building ahead (advance to next square).

The Episcopal Church Center

Youth ministries at the Episcopal Church Center is housed in the Ministries with Young People Cluster, of the Service, Education, and Witness Unit. Other offices in the cluster are the Office of Children's Ministries and the Offices of Ministries with Young Adults and in Higher Education. There are two staff persons in the Youth Ministries Office. These people communicate with the provincial youth networks and with key contact people at the diocesan level. (They are also glad to talk to you !) The Youth Ministries Office is your link with the International Anglican Youth Network, which sponsors conferences and develops resources for youth leaders around the world. Resources, and national events are generated from the Youth Ministries Office. The office also coordinates the General Convention Youth Presence.

The purpose of youth ministries at the Episcopal Church Center is to enable the whole church to be aware of the needs of young people as a part of the body of Christ and to provide church members with the skills and resources with which to reach these needs. The "national" office encourages communication within the wider denomination and has a priority for cultural diversity in all youth ministries resources and programs. Nurture, empowerment, and advocacy with and for young people are key elements in all that is done at this level.

As you leave the Episcopal Church Center, you realize that you have found many places and people along the road of youth ministries. Your detective work has paid off, and you return to your local congregation to continue the youth program loaded with ideas and encouragement from all levels. You are glad there is support for relational youth ministries within the Episcopal Church and are waiting to share your newfound knowledge.