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Joy Allen has been working with youth for 28 years. She is currently Youth Director at Sierra Vista UMC in San Angelo, TX where she has served for 22 years. She facilitates and oversees all programs and volunteers for Family Ministry, i.e., Confirmation and Mentors, UMYF, Sunday School, and Mission/Choir/Fun Trips. She is also a member of the Concho Country Chrysalis Board and the Concho Country Chrysalis Community. Her greatest accomplishment has been to survive being a “Mom” and Youth Director for all these years. |
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Dara Bell is the Conference Director of Youth Ministries and Safe Sanctuaries Coordinator for the New Mexico Annual Conference. She has been in youth ministry for 37 years. Before going to the Conference Office she served small, medium and large churches in the NM Conference. She is passionate about helping youth directors have healthy, safe, well balanced ministries. Dara has a B.A. in religion with an emphasis in Youth Ministry and has been part of PSYM for more than 20 years. She and her husband Ray share four children and seven grandchildren.
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Georgia Harrison has been working with youth for more than 17 years. She has a B.S. in Math from Mississippi College and an M.S. in Math from Clemson University and is finishing her M.Div. at Perkins School of Theology. She is in the candidacy process to be ordained as a Deacon in The United Methodist Church and is currently serving as Youth Minister at Holy Covenant UMC in Carrollton, TX. She helped found C2K, an urban youth ministry service opportunity in west Dallas, directs conference camps, and is certified in Youth Ministry in the UMC. She loves working with youth at the conference and jurisdictional level as the adult coordinator of the North Texas Conference Youth Council. Her favorite part of youth ministry is getting youth involved in mission. She believes it is critical for the church to educate youth ministers to prevent burnout and encourage long-term ministry.
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Rod Hocott is the Arkansas Conference Minister for Youth and Young Adults, a position he has held for 11 of his 43 years in youth ministry. Prior to coming to the Conference Ministries office, Rod served as Youth Minister at FUMC in Springdale, St. James UMC in Little Rock, FUMC in Fort Smith (2 times) and spent four years working with youth in a state hospital in Kansas after finishing his Master in Music Therapy degree. Rod is married to Rev. Gail D. Hocott, and they have three children, four grandchildren, two dogs and a cat. Rod’s philosophy of Youth Ministry: The importance of youth ministry lies in its ability to help youth build relationships with God and peers, while learning leadership skills that will not only help them as they grow in the church, but also in their lives outside the church. These two elements and all that they encompass - worship, missions, justice, stewardship, etc., will develop our youth into strong disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
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Walt Marcum is an ordained elder in the North Texas Annual Conference. He received a B.A. in Religion and English and a Master of Theology at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. He served as a senior pastor for 12 years before going on staff as an associate minister in youth ministry in 1986. He is in his nineteenth year at Highland Park UMC where he currently serves as the Minister to Youth and Families. Rev. Marcum is responsible for administering the sixth grade confirmation program, does pastoral care with youth and youth families, and leads the Kerygma teaching worship service. He has written extensively in the area of youth ministry, authoring books and numerous articles including confirmation curriculum used by The United Methodist Church. He is married to Barbara Marcum, who is also an ordained elder in the North Texas Annual Conference, and who also serves at Highland Park UMC as head of the Pastoral Care Department. Barbara and Walt have a daughter who is currently in college.
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