Dear Middle and High School Students and parents – 

It’s with great joy that I write you to tell you that we are bringing on new staff for the student ministry at Signal Pres! We have hired Paul Byrd to be our Director for High School Ministry and John Livingston to be our Director of Middle School Ministry. Both will work under Camille Ward (who is the Director of Student Discipleship) and begin the roles the first week of June. 

I, Camille, am grateful and delighted to have Paul and John joining the Student Ministry Staff at Signal Pres.  

• Paul has been with us since last September as our Student Ministry Resident via the Chattanooga Fellows. Paul has been a steady, reliable, and thoughtful presence on our staff. He sincerely enjoys being with students, is committed to discipling them in the way of Jesus, and longs for them to trust and rest in the good news of what God has done for them in Jesus. I am so excited to have him step into this full-time position and know that his leadership will be a gift and benefit not just to the Student Ministry but to the church as a whole.  

• John is from Nashville and is a recent graduate of Covenant College on Lookout Mountain. As we’ve gotten to know him over the past couple of months his willing and eager spirit to learn and to do were two things that marked him out and caught our attention. He is highly relational and loves being with and getting to know people. His life has been marked and forever changed by the grace of God and he desires for others to know and live in this grace too. We are so delighted to have him “jump” mountains and join the Signal Pres community. 

As the student ministry staff (and its structure) switch and change our hope and prayer is that it would aid us further toward our mission to present every student with the transforming gospel of Jesus – and equip each of them personally to live in his love and serve in his name. 

Looking ahead, we will welcome both of these new staff in worship on Sunday, June 11. In the meantime, we are still seeking applicants for our two resident positions for next year through the Chattanooga Fellows – that would round out our student ministry to a staff of five!

In the meantime, please continue to pray with us and for us. Pray specifically for: 

• Wisdom and provision for our team as we continue to bring new staff on board and start to grow relationships with students and parents. 
• Joy and blessing for Paul and John as they step into new roles and begin a new season of ministry here in Signal Mountain and Chattanooga.  
• Renewal by God’s spirit among all our students and parents – that we would see more of Jesus’ presence, power, and love in our ordinary lives. We have been praying for this and will continue to in the year ahead! 

As I wrote you last month with the news that Jackson is departing from our staff and Camille is stepping forward to lead the student ministry, I am so grateful for each of our staff and for all that the future holds. With Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians I can say this: our staff and leaders have cared and will continue to care for you. It’s because of our love for you that we are “delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but [our] lives as well” (1 Thes 2:8).

Grace and peace!

Andy Cornett (Associate Pastor for Family Ministry) and Camille Ward (Director of Student Discipleship)