I have to confess that I didn’t make it to any session today, not that there weren’t good ones. Only that I had back-to-back-to-back meetings. Probably one of the joys an event like this is that you get to re-connect with people from all over the country. Conversations like these are precious.

I also got a taste of a Nashville treat… the Pancake Kitchen. You just know this is a good spot when there’s a line out the door for pancakes at noon. So, some of us went there and had everything from sweet potato pancakes to chocolate chip ones. It’s right by Vanderbilt University in a cool part of town.

The Pancake Pantry makes a promise that it’s the place you’re most likely to see a famous person. We didn’t see any country stars but… had a nice time with my good friend Michael Novelli. He just finished a book called Shaped by the Story. It explores the art of storytelling in our teaching and Mike has created some really helpful materials.

And… I ordered grits. A nice taste of Nashville before I flew out in the afternoon.

The convention goes through Monday. I wish everyone a safe trip back.

Peace.

I’m heading to Nashville for NYWC. Are you going? Let me know and let’s hang out!

There’s a bazillion great choices at NYWC. Here are some of the seminars I’m personally excited about. Maybe I’ll see you there…

FRIDAY

10-11.30 Early Bird Seminar

• Secret Survivors: Helping Teens Reveal and Heal Their Hidden Struggles?
• Megan Hutchinson, Jen Howver
• Two great people with thoughtful insights on what I consider issue in youth ministry. Programs address the “outer” issues of adolescents. What are we doing about their “inner” lives?

4-5.30 Seminar Series 1

• Transformational Leadership
• ?Dan Webster
• I’m currently fascinated by the concept of “transformation.” I’m interested in how Dan frames it. I’m personally tired of YM’s obsession with “leadership.” Maybe Dan can redeem it for me.

10.15-11.15PM

• Talkback with Tony Campolo
• Yep. Not much more needs to be said. You have to go.

SATURDAY

8:00-9:30AM Seminar Session 2

• Building Bridges with Gay and Lesbian Youth
• ?Andrew Marin
• Huge issue that we need to be thoughtfully and compassionately thinking through. Most of our YM practices aren’t cutting it here. Go Andrew…

2.00- 4.30PM Seminar Session 3

• Shaped by the Story: Helping Students Encounter God in a New Way?
• Michael Novelli
• Go for the content. Stay for the process. Michael is bringing an important form of teaching that we all can learn from.

SUNDAY

1.30-3.00 Seminar Series 4

• What if Dietrich Bonhoeffer Was a Youth Worker Today?
• Andy Root
• Andy’s doing a great job of integrating theological paradigms with youth ministry practices. He’s undermining shallow, pragmatic youth ministry. Go check him out…

3.30-5.00 Seminar Series 5

• The Role of Imagination in the Spiritual Formation of Adolescents?
• Sarah Arthur
• We read journeyed with Sarah’s book throughout our semester class. Sarah infuses “literature” back into the overused “story” in youth ministry. Thank you Sarah!

MONDAY

9:00-10:30 Seminar Series 6

• Middle School Students Can Change the World: Creating a Ministry That Believes in Students?
• Corrie Boyle, Steve Carter
• Two great people who love middle schoolers. If you work with middle schoolers, this is worth checking out.

Hope to bump into you in Nashville!

No one shifts alone.

One shift… causes many shifts.

I had lunch with Jeremy and Tim yesterday. They’re connected with a church on the east coast and were sharing with me their dreams for youth ministry in their contexts and the challenges of being youth pastors.

They had great ideas.
Tons of passion.

And wonderful things to say about their students and their church.

Our conversation turned to the realization that youth ministry… contained to “youth ministry” shuffles… it doesn’t shift.

Shift needs movement from the whole faith community.

Youth ministry shift needs whole church shift.
Whole church shift needs youth ministry shift.

Until whole faith communities realize this, I think we’re just playing ministry games.

Specifically, if a church wants to have a youth ministry, it must be committed to more than “reaching teenagers.” They need to be committed to shifting/changing themselves, otherwise, youth ministry is nothing more than a marketing initiative…

Shift conference speakers thus far have called for shifts in the way we perceive our world (Brian McLaren) and the ways we perceive ourselves (Mark Yaconelli).

Maybe this is the biggest shift that needs to happen and potentially, the one most likely not to.

I often wonder if youth ministry has been so programmed (literally and metaphorically) into “shifting students” rather than shifting youth pastors and youth ministry posture… that it can’t, without great effort, shift toward a clearer expression of of community, posture, good news, faith, love etc. etc.

Such a shift calls for a radical rethinking of the very roles and structures from which youth ministry comes.

Talk about biting the hand that feeds.

Real “shift” isn’t trendy. It’s death defying…

This next Wednesday through Friday (April 9-11), I’ll be at the SHIFT Conference at Willow Creek Community Church. I’m hoping to connect and learn with a lot of wonderful people. I’ve heard that about 1600 student ministry leaders are attending, from all around the world. Should be very exciting…

Grand Rapids Theological Seminary will have a booth there. Please swing by and say, “Hello” to Shane!

I’m leading a point-leaders session on Thursday morning called: Theological essentials for missional leadership.

I’m teaching a general seminar on Thursday afternoon called: Understanding the world of adolescents.

And on Friday morning, I’m facilitating a “Cups of Coffee” roundtable called : Triple tall americano. Yep, I’ll be drinking one of those.

My hope is that this roundtable will give opportunity to dream a bit about where youth ministry needs to go and talk about how you’re wrestling with issues in your contexts.

What I don’t mean by this is that youth ministry is lame right now. What I think it might mean is that, as we ask students to grow, change, and transform, youth ministry, and more specifically youth workers… need to grow, change, and transform as well. Anyway, I’ll come with a list… but I’m more interested in yours…

If you’re going, give me a holler…

This past weekend, I was speaking at a retreat put together by four churches. That in itself is cool… four churches collaborating together gives a beautiful picture of what life as a follower can look like outside the four walls of a youth group.

Each night, the team had stations for students designed to offer creative outlets for expression, reflection, prayer, and interaction. The students seemed to respond to the stations and I read, saw, and heard some pretty profound things.

A tension I’m reflect on is this: as we seek new and creative channels for students to express themselves, are we promoting diversity at the expense of true community? I am not satisfied with uniformity, nor the thought of “everyone doing the same thing” or “believing the same way,” but is it possible to swing the other way, reinforcing a warped sense of individualism that pervades our western context, reinforced in church communities.

What does it look like for youth ministries to embrace an ever-increasing diversity among our students and to find common ground where true community can be nurtured?

Before we offer programmatic solutions, I wonder if traditional youth ministry is incapable of answering this question because it has already been set up in most churches as a special interest group, separate from “big church” and separate from the whole community. Maybe “individualism” is built into the dna of churches and there is no way out.

I’m not against individualism. I’m against individualism that robs individuals of community.

Thoughts?

This week Dave and I have both been traveling to different parts of the globe.

Dave has spent the week in Monrovia, Liberia launching an Intersect Cohort, in partnership with Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, serving local ministry leaders who are pursuing graduate degrees. One of GRTS’s professors, Peter Osborn traveled with Dave and is teaching a graduate course.

Dave has been facilitating a cohort with Liberian ministry leaders. Cohorts are designed to learn with leaders in order to develop relevant, contextualized material that leaders construct and use in their respective villages. We’re excited about our connection with Liberian ministry leaders and GRTS that allows for creative and culturally specific expression of ministry. Everyone learns.

I’ve spent the last four days in Boston for our third meeting with our cohort there. We had a good week of exploring mission and calling. Each of these youth ministry leaders brings a beautiful angle on youth ministry and all are thoughtfully wrestling with how to continually express youth ministry faithfully and relevantly.

I also had the opportunity to do some training with Grace Chapel’s Middle School leaders. We talked about the youth worker’s identity and how one’s perception of their identity effects the way one approaches ministry. This led to some good thoughts and discussion.

We’re excited for the new year, and we’re glad to be invited to participate with others who are living out God’s call on their lives, whether in Boston or Monrovia.

I’ve been getting increasingly excited about the Shift Conference, to be hosted at Willow Creek, April 9-11, 2008.

My conversations with people have convinced me that this is a dramatic “shift” from the previous Willow Creek student ministries conferences. Credit goes to Bo Boshers and his team, along with Mark Novelli and Kelly Dolan who are working together to craft, what I think, is a needed shift to conferences.

Critique of any church-based conference is that, while very helpful in seeing how one community expresses ministry, the approach is bound to that particular context and attendees must remember to contextualize (rather than copy) the content for their local ministries.

Bo and Willow seem to be eager to host a wide range of people who are exploring ways, through their disciplines, to faithfully guide and support an emerging generation of students. There is potential for space here, to encourage ongoing, dynamic shifts in thinking and ministry for people serving adolescents.

The line-up is an impressive group of people that I admire and stretch who my own thinking.

The format attempts to shift from regular conferences as each piece seems very purposeful, incorporating a range of venues from plenary sessions, to 3 1/2 hour point leaders tracks, to 1 1/2 hour general seminars, to student-specific tracks, to “cups of coffee” round-table conversation groups.

I’m excited to be a part of it and will be facilitating a point leaders track, a general seminar, and a “cups of coffee conversation.”

Check out the website. Consider bringing a team of volunteers and students (the students cost is unbelievably low). Let me know if you’re planning on going.

What might one’s attitude be for going back to a conference like the NYWC a second, third, or annual time? How does one avoid simply trying to recreate last year’s experience or a repeat conference tradition?

My guess is that many youth workers make this a regular event. As we head to the St. Louis for our second NYWC this year, I’ve been reflecting on how to make each NYWC experience fresh and how to be open to new discoveries. Here are some thoughts I’ve had to help me…

Go to a seminar you disagree with… to understand.

Sit in a different spot each session… try to see from another perspective.

Talk with someone different than you… to learn.

Seek out a youth workder half your age or twice your age… buy them coffee.

Spend time being quiet… resist perpetuating busyness in your life.

Sleep in or stay up late… jolt your natural schedule.

Support local restaurants, avoid places you could eat at from home.

Take the long way… let go of efficiency.

Summarize your notes… share them with someone when you get home.

Walk around the block. Don’t say you’ve been in St. Louis until you’ve done so.

Sing nothing during worship… listen as though you were hearing the words for the first time.

Share with someone what the Spirit was saying to you as you listened throughout the plenary gathering… avoid critiquing the message.

Embrace a quote of the day, image of the day, song of the day, surprise of the day, conversation of the day. Journal them.

Avoid at all costs saying, “When I was here last time…”.

See you there…

One of my current thrills these days it to be connected with team at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. I have the privilege of working with students who are seeking ways to live out their calling through pastoral ministry, education, counseling, scholarship, and youth ministry.

Part of my role is to connect them with mentors and ministries, giving them opportunities to try out contexts while integrating their academic work. They get ongoing, real feedback from their mentors and our faculty as they prepare for their future.

I also teach youth ministry for the school, and we are developing a great community of students who are committed to thinking hard about youth ministry for the future.

GRTS has a booth at the Expo this weekend. Stop by and say hello to Nate. He’d be happy to talk with you about your future goals and dreams and how GRTS might help you get there.

Also, we’d like to invite anyone who’s interested in talking further to meet us for dinner on Friday 11/2 at 5.30PM at…
The Old Spaghetti Factory
727 N. First St.
St. Louis, MO 63102
P:314.621.0276

It’ll be our buy and we’d love to just talk about youth ministry and graduate education.

Feel free to email me, respond to this blog, or to talk with Nate at the Expo!