Hall of Fame: Beth, Darek & Marshall

As I have mentioned here before, during the next couple of weeks I will be looking back over all 28 years of my ministry in preparation for the big one year celebration wonderama extravaganza (and that is not just youth ministry hype!) coming up August 26.  Today we venture back to the early days and my work at New Garden Friends Meeting, 1978-1983.  Somehow in the beginnings of this blog I only inducted one person from that group into my Youth Group Hall of Fame (Terri Johnson).  Today I seek to rectify that oversight by adding three more deserving students from that era. 

It is only fitting that I somehow missed inducting Beth Edgerton(pictured at right, in the middle with Kathryn & Terri).  Beth was always one of those people who was a bit overlooked.  She was the oldest of three sisters, but somehow her middle sister Lori seemed to garner the most attention (especially from guys, and especially early on.  But then Beth had her Summer of Metamorphosis- contacts instead of glasses, braces off and a new haircut and- BAM!  New Beth!).  She was part of a group of three girls who dominated much of our youth group activity at NGFM, yet it seemed that she was often playing third fiddle to Kathryn Burris and Terri Johnson.  I repeated the same error by choosing Terri first for the HOF.  Yet Beth was not only an integral part of what we did at New Garden, she was the one who was always there.  She was always quick to speak her mind and offer help.  She was a true leader who was never afraid to question "why?" we did the things we did.  Almost every story I can think of from those days has Beth right in the middle of it.  She was one of the first youth I taught to play the infuriating solitaire card game, SMITH.  It was from Beth that I learned the eternal youth ministry truth that anytime you have three girls together, one will feel left out.  In fact, that is WHY I taught her SMITH!  My career and the HOF would not be complete without Beth Edgerton.

Much of what is written above could be said about Darek Newby as well.  His older brother Danny got more attention (and could easily be in the HOF himself), and he was not someone who stood out in a crowd.  But Darek was always there, and always supportive.  You can read specific stories involving him in some of the earliest posts on this blog, including Have You Got a Match? and Sand, Water, Sand, Water, Crab, Crab, Crab!.  Darek had a great wit and sense of humor, but could also carry on conversations about the deepest of topics.  Like Beth (and Marshall) he would eventually work at Quaker Lake Camp and had great impact on the children and youth there.  My favorite Darek story:  We were sitting in the office at New Garden, waiting for someone to arrive.  Darek called them, and this was the conversation as we heard it from our end.  "Hi, may I speak to Marshall.  This is Darek.  With an "a."  From church."  It was priceless.

The "Marshall" he was calling (at least I think it was Marshall- I have been wrong before!) was Marshall Ratledge (that's he and Darek looking at the camera).  Marshall's older sister Martha was a dear friend of mine from my own youth group days at NGFM, so I knew him well.  Marshall was a great guy whose personality just drew people to him.  Everyone loved hanging out with Marshall.  Like the other two, he was in the middle of everything that happened in those years.  He went on to become a QLC legend, with his "Magnet" hat.  One of those floppy old "Gilligan" style hats, it somehow became the symbol of Marhsall's "magnetic" charms with the females.  It was constantly being stolen, although its power seemed lost on everyone else.  A group full of students just like Marshall would thrill any youth pastor; I feel blessed to have had one.

So guys, better late than never, huh?  Only 27 years after I was your youth director, welcome to my Hall of Fame.  To celebrate, what do you say to dipping Beth in The Swash?  Join me tomorrow for a list of great Mission Trip moments from throughout the years!

Because of Jesus,