TheMAYMDegree
q&a with a coach: After graduating from the program, Christina Moore (MAYM’20) decided to share her experiences with a new generation of students. She is the CYMT Area Coordinator in San Antonio, Texas. What is a CYMT coach and why were you interested in becoming one? A coach is responsible for a resident for the duration of the three-year master’s program. We are here to walk beside the resident on a weekly basis. Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. I was interested in becoming a coach because of the coaches I have had in my life who formed and shaped me into who I am today. I wanted the opportunity to give back and humbly serve in this capacity. How many graduate residents do you coach and what do the sessions look like? I am honored to have two residents, one in a church setting and one in camp ministry. Our sessions together include time to pray and talk ministry, schoolwork/seminary, and life on a personal level. As a coach, I feel it is very important to know them on many different levels, not just in the ministry world. We have been on trips to the zoo, went to see Christmas lights together, shared meals and coffee, hiked around camp, and celebrated birthdays. Coaching is not just an every Monday at 10:00 a.m. thing, it is being available when the resident needs you. We have experienced joy, loss, laughter, tears, prayer, youth events, and time together. We have experienced some trials in youth ministry, but on the flip side we have had so many wins as well, through study, trips, youth group, and church. I celebrate all of the bumps in the road as opportunities to learn and grow, and the wins are great to recognize and celebrate as well. What are your goals and how do you measure success? My goal is for these residents to become successful in their ministry endeavors and for them to become even better coaches with the youth they minister to. v
Quietly doing things very well!
Curiosity, commitment, and call characterize
the treasured relationship that John and Judye Hartman have nurtured with Austin Seminary over more than twenty years. Judye recalls being introduced by a fellow Session member and the pastor of her church to consider serving on the Austin Seminary Board of Trustees. Accepting the call to serve, she brought with her the curiosity to see, up close, how an institution educates future Christian leaders about stewardship. As her knowledge of the Seminary deepened, Judye appreciated how it exemplified one of her favorite billboard slogans: “Quietly Doing Things Very Well!” John’s recognition of the truth of this slogan led him to accept President Wardlaw’s invitation to chair a planning committee that laid the groundwork for the “Weaving Promise and Practice” comprehensive campaign. He, too, served the institution on the Board of Trustees, and the couple celebrate the opportunity to “extend their stewardship” beyond death through a planned gift that will support what John describes as the “necessary reinvigoration of the church in every generation.” John and Judye identify the value of planned giving as “a model for our children to appreciate the impact of ongoing stewardship,” a way to “participate in nurturing the call process,” and “a demonstration of the confidence we hold in Austin Seminary to carry out its mission for generations to come.” v Spring 2022 | 15
