Hi! My name is Teri Iverson and I am the new Youth Minister here at St. John the Baptist
Church. I am so very excited to be a part of this wonderful, vibrant parish and I wanted to let you know a little bit about myself!
I was born in Wisconsin, but only lived there for the first six months of my life before I moved to a small town (population 8,000) in Eastern North Dakota where I grew up. I was involved in everything in high school: youth group, choir, lecturing, hand-bell choir, teaching, (all at my church), SEARCH retreat program, cheerleading, tennis, drama, speech, working in a grocery store, community theatre, and generally anything else that I could squeeze into my life!
I graduated from a private liberal arts college, Concordia College, with a B.A. in Psychology and a B.A. in Communications. It was MY plan to continue on and get my Masters in Psychology and go into counseling. God, however, had different plans for me. He called me, through various means, to youth ministry. I attended a Youth Ministry training course where I received a
Certificate of Youth Ministry and started my vocation of youth ministry at St. John the Evangelist
Catholic Church in a small town in northern North Dakota where I started and directed a youth ministry program for five years.
During my years at St. John’s I met my husband David (while leading my youth group on a retreat at a nearby bible camp---he was the retreat host!) and we were married. He moved to the small town and we began our married life together (15 years this past July—woo hoo!!!)
My husband accepted a job in the southern half of North Dakota and so we moved to
Fargo (no, people don’t REALLY talk like the movie all the time, although there are a few people that sound similar once in a while!). My vocation continued across the state line into Minnesota where I was the Director of Youth Ministry at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Moorhead, MN for 1
½ years. From there, I decided to take a break from youth ministry and worked as a paralegal in a law firm for 1 ½ years before realizing that I missed youth ministry and that it really is where
God has called me to be.
For the past 9 years I had been the Director of Youth Ministry at St. Benedict Catholic
Church south of Fargo. Additionally, for the past 3 years I served as the Music Coordinator,
Choir Director, and Children’s Choir Director and for the past year was also the Director of
Liturgy, but my true love is youth ministry.
During this time many events happened in my personal life that contributed to the person I am and the faith that I have. I had a miscarriage in 1998 that challenged my belief and faith more than anything ever had before. In 2000 after a pregnancy that was riddled with labor pains

for 5 months, our first miracle was born…Samuel. He has had his ups and downs…he received speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy for 5 years; he attended a regular preschool and a preschool for children with special needs, and 3 years ago we discovered that he is deaf in one ear and needed a hearing aid. Last year we also discovered he potentially has
Attention Deficit Disorder and needed medication and monitoring. I am happy to say that today he is a normal, well-adjusted 8 year old boy who LOVES videogames, school, hockey, and amusement parks! In 2002, after another interesting pregnancy, our second miracle, Andrew, was born. He also needed PT, OT, and speech therapy, attended a regular preschool and a
“special” preschool. I am, once again, happy to say that he is a normal, well-adjusted 6 year old who also loves videogames, hockey, football, soccer (and any other sport he can play) and is SOOO looking forward to kindergarten this year (“cuz it means he’s a big kid!)
In 2004, my husband underwent a kidney transplant for a rare kidney disorder and recovered extremely well until 3 months later when he contracted what turned out to be an extremely rare disease that almost took his life. I believe that it is only through the prayers of hundreds of people across the country that he is with us today.
When my husband was transferred (he works for Cargill) to Dayton, Ohio, we looked around, asked around and decided to make the move to Troy. We chose Troy as it was small in size, in close proximity to my husband’s office, and had a Catholic School for our children. My husband moved here in January while the kids and I stayed in ND to finish out the school year. I immediately began praying that God would show me His plan for my life in Ohio and I prayed fervently that He would allow me to continue in youth ministry. I also prayed that it would be in a parish close to our new home and that it would be part-time in a parish that was alive and vibrant.
(I believe in being very specific when I tell God what I think the plan should be!) He decided to let me sweat it out a while (must have been a lesson in trust and patience) as it wasn’t until the end of June that I happened to see a bulletin ad that St. John the Baptist church in Tipp City was looking for a youth minister (10 minutes from my new house). And WHAT? It was a part-time position? I immediately sent my resume, interviewed and was so impressed by the people I met.
When I was offered the job, I knew God’s hand was evident and I was so pleased that He is allowing me to continue doing something that I truly love!
While this intro may seem a bit long-winded, all of these events are God’s way of molding me into the person I am today. He has shaped and formed me my whole life to be here at St. John’s at this particular time in my life and in your lives. I believe youth ministry is a team effort…it takes committed students, parents, adults, and community to make a program successful. I am so looking forward to getting to know all of you and taking this journey with you. Please do not hesitate to call me anytime if you want to get involved or just want to chat! I look forward to working with you!
In Christ,
Teri Iverson