nPartnership is a not-for-profit organization founded as a peer group of youth ministers risking another way for the sake of the whole church.  The founders of nPartnership (Julie Richardson Brown, Lara Blackwood Pickrel, Russ Boyd, Michael Davison, Adam Frieberg, Bill Spangler-Dunning and Randy Kuss) did so out of a firmly rooted belief that there must be another way for the church–a way rooted in relationship, in resource-sharing, in best practices in ministry, in recognizing that we are so much stronger when we are grounded in a sense of togetherness.

nP “houses” a variety of children, youth and young adult resources, events and programming, in addition to some other projects–God@Center retreats, Sacred Steps Children’s Sermon Journal, Disciples Youth Ministry Network, DisciplesShare and mainlinecc (a web design template for congregations), just to name a few.

nPartnership is NOT the same thing as the Disciples Youth Ministry Network (www.dymn.org).  Below are outlined some important distinctions and things to know about nPartnership v. DYMN.

• Steve Martin, Randy Kuss, Michael Davison and Bill Spangler-Dunning formed DYMN as a means of networking for Disciples youth ministers by.  It was founded partly out of the friendship these four men shared, partly out of their communal interest in youth ministry, and, mostly, because one day they looked around and said, “Hey–wait–no one is connecting and resourcing Disciples youth ministers!  Let’s try to do that!”  And so they did.

• Steven Martin left DYMN’s Leadership Team after the first DYMN retreat.  The following year, Russ Boyd, Lara Blackwood Pickrel and Julie Richardson Brown joined the Leadership Team.  For consistency’s sake, the team has remained the same since the winter of 2008 as it has tried to build momentum, support and funding.  It is the intent of the current Leadership Team to invite others to the Team, while some of move on to other things. This keeps the DYMN Leadership Team active, vital and open to different perspectives.

• DYMN is, by definition, all youthworkers/youth ministers in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  As long as there is a need for DYMN, there will be people who will help it exist and flourish.

The founders of nPartnership are close friends.  They believe in their common work and trust their relationship to one another.  They are not, in and of themselves, DYMN.  They are nPartnership, which sponsors DYMN.

The founders of nPartnership believe that there isn’t a single one of us who knows all there is to know about youth ministry.  There isn’t a single one of us who always does it the best or right way.  And in a day and time when Church (and certainly the field of youth ministry) is changing so rapidly, it seems best to, as the saying goes, “hold hands and stick together.”  Even if we don’t always agree.  Even if we sometimes get annoyed with each other.  Even if it sometimes seems that Disciples as a whole are headed not OUT of rocky times, but straight into even rockier ones.

We care about our youth.  A WHOLE lot.  We ALL do.  So let’s be about the task of thinking theologically about our work, being intentional in our practices, and working together, for the good of the whole church, that our youth might do one–or even two or three–better, than we have done them.