Meet the Staff at Epworth UMC

Jen Hedrick , Director of Youth Ministry

Contact Info: jensmail@carolina.rr.com
Phone:  704-786-6183  ext. 102

Favorite book: "The Ragamuffin Gospel" by Brennan Manning and anything cranked out by Carl Hiassen.
What is in your CD player in your car at this moment?    Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, Best of Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash & Ray Charles
Secret Ambition: Stand-up comedy
One thing people might not know about you: I'm a Food Network junkie and I LOVE to cook.
3 Adjectives that describe you: Rubbery, transluscent & balmy
What is the one thing God is leading you to do at Epworth?  Teach kids that it's hot to get all up in God's grill 'cuz He's down with that, yo! 

Somewhere in the middle of my illustrious career as a high-fashion runway model I got side-tracked. Nothing made sense anymore.  I was empty -- burning with a desire to make a difference in this crazy, mixed up world.  So I became a thirty-somethin', married chick with a mortgage, an awesome little boy and a strange propensity for hanging out with teenagers sporting over-priced Hollister t-shirts and texting their BF every 10 seconds.  Why?  I don't know.  I'm making this up as I go along. 

I started working with youth as a volunteer a few years ago.  As time passed I began to feel like maybe there was something more I was suppose to be doing. Maybe God wanted me to make more of a commitment to youth ministry.  To borrow a quote from Nacho Libre, "Yeah.  Maybe that."  

Through a weird set of circumstances that can only be a "God thing" - I did, in fact, drop what I was doing and adjust my sails.  God plugged me in right where He wanted me.  Now I try to convince youth that God will do the same thing with them.  God says in Jeremiah 29:11 - "I know what I'm doing.  I have it all planned out."   You wanna go head to head with that kind of statement?

I want kids to be invested in their relationship with Christ - to be excited about it and willing to share it with others.  I want 'em to be strong and confident in their Godly armor.   I'll do anything I can to get them heading in that direction.  Some of my wiley tactics include, praying for, showing up, marching forward, bending over backwards, inviting over, hanging out, jumping off, raising up, letting go and holding on.  It's never the same thing twice ... and you just never know when you're gonna plant that glorious little seed.