Welcome, Isaiah Brooms!

On December 15, Isaiah Brooms began employment at Restoration as our full-time Director of Youth Ministries.  We are thrilled!  Isaiah has been a member of Restoration for over 5 years.  He served actively in our Kids’ Small Groups and as a member of vestry.  He is passionate about the opportunity for middle and high schoolers to know Jesus and to trust Him.

When you see Isaiah, ask him how his first week went on the job.  And then ask him about his hopes and dreams for youth at Restoration.  You will get excited, too!

Here is a reflection that Isaiah wrote as he was waiting for his first day to arrive…

“Finding Your Place”

Mary and Joseph, on the eve of Jesus’ birth set out to do the one thing every parent in this world wants for their child, they set out to find a place for Him where he could be protected from harm and grow.

As I stare at my now six-month old daughter, I pray that I will be able to help her navigate the world and find safe places where she can belong, be known, and grow in her relationship with Christ. I have heard these desires echoed among countless parents at Restoration as well as in previous professional roles I have held.

Middle School and High School are pivotal times as youth seek a sense of belonging and wrestle with their identity. Who am I? Who am I not? Am I loved? Who loves me? Voices of peers, the media, family members, and other adults clamor with often conflicting messages. 

This Advent season, as I waited with anticipation to become the Director of Youth Ministry at Restoration, I prayed that the youth of our church and their peers would find deep truths to these questions through the APEX community (Restoration’s Middle and High School Ministry) – you are a child of God, perfectly made and perfectly loved, and you are welcome here.  I long for students to build substantive and nourishing friendships with peers while also interacting with caring, invested adults who can speak truth and provide wise-counsel.

I look forward to the privilege of walking alongside parents of Restoration and their children as they seek to find their place in God’s story.

In Him,
Isaiah E. Brooms, Director of Youth Ministries