First Presbyterian Church Fort Dodge

Around the time that you will be reading this, our youth and young adult coordinator, Libby Redmond will have resigned from her position. She has taken a new job in town and is excited about the opportunity. Also inside this newsletter you’ll find a letter she has written. I’d encourage you to read it. I’d like to take this space to highlight the ministry Libby has done while she’s worked at our church.

Libby began working at our church as a college intern, serving our senior high youth ministry, 707. Her first year as an intern was the first year that I had become the senior pastor. She and three other interns worked hard that year as we all adapted to changes happening within our church. She continued to demonstrate passion for our senior high program throughout that year and I grew to depend on her to organize Wednesday nights, and lead small groups.

She gained more responsibilities as the lead intern during her sophomore year of college. Meanwhile, she helped 707 get more connected through social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook. She also helped create a more unified look for all the materials used in 707.

Toward the end of that second year as an intern, she was already doing the bulk of the work of planning and running our senior high youth group. Our search committee felt that Libby had the necessary skills, experiences, and heart to grow into the full director position.

So in the last two years Libby has worked as our Youth and Young Adult Coordinator while continuing her college education at Buena Vista University. In addition, she has worked with some of the offices transitions we’ve experienced in the past year. She had an active role in designing and providing content for our church website, she has created graphics for our sermon series and bulletin covers, she has photographed countless church events, and created many of the videos we’ve begun using in worship services. She has also continued in training and study about ministry and theology through regular meetings with me.

Other highlights over these past four years of ministry, include leading mission trips to Guatemala, Omaha, and Chicago, leading fall retreats at Lakeshore Center in Okoboji, managing youth ministry interns, leading weekly youth group gatherings, participating in Sunday worship leadership, and serving as the primary creator and leader of our Sunday evening worship experiment, Crew.

Libby is still a member of our church, so this change in career does not mean “goodbye.” You will still see her around the church and the community. In these coming months, please thank her for serving in a pivotal time within our church – while it was undergoing significant transitions. However, please do not ask her to do any church work that you or any other church member would be expected to do.

This means that we are again in a time of transition. In the immediate future, our youth and youth adult ministry team and I will be working to create a plan for our senior high youth ministry in the coming months and also longer term. We had already planned to take the last two weeks of the year off for Christmas and New Years. We’ll resume 707 at the regular time in early January of 2018. Please stay connected for more updates in the coming weeks.

Blessings,

Austin D. Hill