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.

This week, I had a question sent to me by a young, emerging leader. It went like this:

Wow
Wow
Wow
As you know, going to ys is like drinking out of niagra falls ( I decided to “up” the metaphor). Any pointers on how the heck I can retain this information and allow it to penetrate my mind and heart? I need some sort of writing prompt for me to attempt to cultivate and process this knowledge. Thanks,

I thought I’d share a few thoughts on this great question:

Conferences are beginnings not ends.
Resist the temptation to simply move on to the next thing on your schedule or “to do” list. You’ve been gone. There are things waiting for you when you get home, but try to schedule in a day to reflect on the conference. I often find that taking that day, a few days after I get back, gives me time to catch up and reconnect, allowing me to actually be in a reflective mood. Consider this discipline as part of your conference.

Conferences are for inspiration, not imitation.
You’ve just come back from a weekend where conferences try to bring in the right speakers, worshippers, seminar leaders, staff, etc. You can’t help but be inspired. I often hear things like, “I want to do what Kara Powell does;” “I want to think like Tony Jones;” “I want influence (and hair!) like Dan Kimball;” or “ I want to be profound like Phillis Tickle.” We are all inspired by people, but its tempting to forget that these people have spent a great deal of time thinking, failing, wrestling, struggling, and trying things out before arriving at their current role. Embrace their process, not their end result. Be inspired, but don’t try to imitate them.

Conferences promote learning, not teaching.
It can be tempting to take that cool illustration or that seminar information right back home to teach it to students and volunteers. The dark side of conferences are that they can tempt people with short-term, quick-fix ideas to “save” ministries. Before teaching newly acquired information , take time to read supporting resources on the subject. Internalize the material, own it, disagree with it, re-tool it, and make it your own. Seek out the books that are informing the conferences speakers. Read deeply and broadly.Conferences should lead one to deeper thinking and learning.

Conferences offer generalized information in need of localization.
Consider how you will contextualize your material. Some cool presenter from Florida may have terrific ideas, but that doesn’t mean they apply the same way in Iowa. You are the expert of your context. Contextualize all material you pick up. Wrestle with how to communicate concepts in your community’s local language and symbols. This is where you, your volunteers, and students are the experts.

Conferences are for change, not reaction.
It’s tempting to go to a conference and come back thinking that just about everything needs to be revamped. Changes are made but are not sustainable, because they are not thought through for longevity or sustainability. This is not change, this is reaction to the latest fad, idea, or crisis. Slow down, take your time. Consider that change requires education, commitment, cost, and patience for a true shift.

Conferences are to encourage, not discourage.
Halfway through most conferences, I like to remind people that most will experience an, “I’m pathetic” phase. People hear rock star presenters offer their best messages, best stories, and best resources. It makes the rest of us mortals feel as though we ought to get out of the way so as to not mess things up. Don’t believe these internal voices. If you’re in youth ministry, your students love and need you, not rock star speaker. Be yourself. Trust that God is making you into a reformed you, not rock star speaker.

Conferences send us internal not external.
Hopefully anyone who enters a conference is asking fresh questions, and leaves recognizing that the biggest change starts internally, within their one’s heart, not within one’s ministry. A deep, intentional response then, to any conference is not more programs, but more prayer and journaling.

So there are a few of my thoughts. Where are all those notes and books from your last conference? Resist sticking them on the shelf. Maybe its fair to say that the conference isn’t over until the conference material has been reflected upon.

Feel free to share your own “life after conferences” thoughts…

Church Volunteer Central is a resource of Group Publishing geared for leaders who work with volunteers. I have the privilege of writing a monthly column for their e-zine that pertains to leading volunteers in youth ministry.

My article that just came out is on “Junk Hours.” These are the hours we give to keep our ministries going but don’t necessarily contribute to our missional goals. I’m suggesting we ask some deeper questions in order to serve our volunteers well.

I’ve posted an excerpt from my October column here.

Click on the icon and check out CVC’s full range of resources!

If you didn’t have any students in your student ministry, would you have a relationship with your volunteers?

In ministry, we often focus on issues such as the youth in need, or the project we’re working on. Those things become our purpose.

Focusing our efforts on students and projects is an important part of our ministry of course, but it should not be our central focus.

Putting our focus on a constituency or programs puts us at risk of connecting volunteers solely for the event, project, or initiative. When the event is over, many volunteers often wonder, “What’s left?” as we rush off to the next program.

Our primary purpose is not about delivering a detached message or program, but welcoming others into our relational space. So maybe we need to come back to our initial question, rephrasing it just a bit: If there were no students in your student ministry, would you and your volunteers be friends, hang out, pursue Jesus together?

reaching “them”…
Often, a youth leader is bombarded with expectations to produce. We feel the pressure to equate success with programs, numbers, and events. While programs and events are essential parts of ministry, we need to reject them as the core of ministry. This is where a shift toward relationships needs to occur.

If you and your volunteers are simply together to accomplish a task, you might be missing a huge part of what it means to communicate the gospel. Ultimately, the gospel is embodied in and through Jesus’ followers. This message is bigger than building something or gathering the masses. It is ultimately an expression of a community willing to express their love for God and for each other. You can’t express what you don’t have.

We miss the point when we begin to depend on crises, issues, and even teenagers to define our existence for being and for relating. It’s not that ministering to people is wrong, it’s just that this posture is unsustainable. Worse, it may be self-deceiving.

… versus giving ourselves
Might we be hiding behind programs, activities, and mission statements? Might our attention on students be a way of avoiding each other? Might our focus on teenagers be a way to keep the focus off us? Could we have convinced ourselves that we can deliver a message that’s separated from the real us?

The gospel is a relational message. Students can read, hear, see, and smell the authentic and inauthentic. They know what’s real. We only fool ourselves, hurt each other, and confuse the ones we think we’re serving if we believe otherwise.

This is an excerpt from my June 2007 column in Group’s The Inside Track.

My trip to Boston turned into a whirlwind 24-hour trip. I arrived later than anticipated on Wednesday due to plane delays. Fortunately, Brian met me at the airport and we jetted to Grace Chapel in time for dinner and the middle school program. The night was filled with “gladiator” games, snacks, worship through music and a shot message from a guest speaker from Grand Rapids.

After the students left for the night we had dessert and conversation with the Grace middle school adult volunteers. We explored the necessity of youth ministry proximity.

Some of the leaders shared that one of their challenges with discussing real issues with their students is that their student might open up! When this happens they feel a huge responsibility to respond with wisdom and care. It reminded me that some of the barriers adults have with students are not barriers students put up, but are obstacles that adults are rightly anxious about bridging.

Close proximity not only impacts students… it impacts adults, too. We had some honest discussion about this and I appreciated the genuineness of the team.

On Thursday, Brian took me to Starbucks and then we gathered for our Emerge Cohort preview day. We had about 20 youth pastors attend. All of them brought a wealth of ministry experience and longevity.

We had some great discussion about how we understand, interact with, and express the Christian narrative. A special shout out goes to Mark Cannister from Gordon College, who attended and has been g great advocate of local ministry in the Boston community. Also, Mark Orr, New England Regional Coordinator for the NNYM joined us.

From the initial response of the group, it seems promising that we will have a cohort in the Boston area that will meet in late August, early January, and early May. You can download a summary info sheet for more information. We are finalizing the syllabus for the cohort that we’ll offer shortly.

If you couldn’t make this preview meeting, there’s still opportunity for you to connect with the cohort and pick up on the materials we covered. Contact Brian Dietz to get more details and to register. Also Mike Orr wants to connect with interested youth pastors in the Connecticut area. Contact him for more details about this opportunity.

This was 24 hours well spent. Thanks to everyone who participated and made this a special day. We’ll keep you posted.

I’ve been invited by the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, Student Ministries to do a one-day workshop on “Thinking Theologically About Youth Ministry.”

Here are the details…

Saturday, May 19, 2007
9:00AM – 5:00PM
All Saints Church, Winter Park, FL (Near Orlando)
Cost: $25
(includes training, breakfast, lunch… wow!)
Register by calling 800.299.3567

This event is for clergy, volunteer youth workers, and parents. Eric Moulton, Director of Student Ministries for the the Diocese of Central Florida is a great guy and a kindred spirit.

I’m honored to join this group and will share some of my thoughts on where youth ministry must go along with training from Intersect.

Eric told me that this training session is not limited to Episcopalians and is open to all youth workers in the area. If you are looking for a great day for investing in yourself and in your youth worker volunteers, bring them on the 19th!

Hope to see you at this great opportunity…

I’m on my way home after spending a 48 hour retreat with the youth ministry staff of Lancaster County Bible Church. Youth pastors, Jason Mitchell and John Wilkinson along with their paid staff and volunteers make up a great team that’s committed to students and committed to each other.

The past few days we’ve been reflecting on what it means to live out the imago dei personally and communally; exploring how our identity as a community of believes is expressed in light of images of the church expressed in the biblical narrative; and wrestling with these implications for student ministry.

The group worked hard and took the process seriously. I felt honored to be welcomed into their community and to guide them through this journey of dialogue and reflection.

LCBC is one more picture of where I believe youth ministry is going. In their context this team is wrestling with what youth ministry looks like for them in light of the theology of church, grace, gospel, and community. While their next teaching series called, “Cage Match” and their last retreat was named, “Recycle Me,” these themes are informed by a working theology that goes beyond fun and games.

One of the more lively discussions we had was over Christian Smith’s suggestion that the religious perspective of the adolescents surveyed, was Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. The basic tenants of this held perspective consist of the following…

• A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.
• God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
• The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
• God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
• Good people go to heaven when they die.

The debate was over whether this was encouraging news or discouraging news. What’s your opinion and why?

Around 300 people, mostly those connected with youth ministry gathered at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary today for our Spring Talking Points to explore “Where Youth Ministry Must Go…“.

Presentations from Kara Powell, Mark Oestreicher, and me are now available for mp3 download.

I would like to publicly thank Kara and Mark for making their thoughtful and inspiring contributions to the day. I believe we all think this conversation is a very important one that certainly seems to be resonating with many youthworkers.

It’s not that this is a new conversation. I think it’s been a topic of interest that has echoed in the coffee shops and conversations of many of us for quite some time. I think we had a chance today to verbalize together what many of us have been whispering.

I’d love to hear from those of you who attended. What were some of your takeaways, or what might be some additional questions you might add to the conversation? Those of you who couldn’t make it, feel free to listen to the mp3′s and join in!

Metro Milwaukee and Wisconsin youth leaders have worked hard over the years to develop ways to connect with each as they share a vision to love and serve adolescents and their families.

Each year they have a Connect Conference. I’ve been there a number of times and this year they have asked me to communicate at the main sessions.

If you’re within driving distance, this conference might be a great road trip for you and a few fellow youth workers. It’s open to paid youth workers and the real heroes of youth ministry, the volunteers.

I find this event is a wonderful opportunity to meet fellow youth workers who are in close proximity and to get some great, practical training facilitated by youth ministry practitioners.

I’ll be there most the weekend and I’m speaking at Elmbrook Church’s Sr. High gathering on Sunday 3/4 at 11AM. Give me a shout if you’re going to be around. I’m always up for a good cup of joe at Alterra’s and a conversation!

Here’s the link to the conference….
CONNECT

Okay, we’re pretty excited about this one…

On Monday, March 12, 2007, Grand Rapids Theological Seminary along with Youth Specialties will host its Spring ’07 Talking Points.
The topic is “Where Youth Ministry Must Go…”

Our forum title reflects the ongoing pursuit and discipline of seeking to understand the needs, priorities and theology of progressive youth ministry.

Our culture, our church and our students are constantly changing. This event will facilitate dialogue on where youth ministry must go to remain faithful to the gospel and this generation.

Forum topics and presenters include…

Youth Ministry Must Go Broader- Mark Oestreicher, President of Youth Specialties
Mark will suggest what issues senor pastors and youth pastors/directors might need to overcome together, given a ministry dynamic that frequently isolates, alienates, and burns out youth pastors.

Youth Ministry Must Go Deeper- Kara Powell, Fuller Theological Seminary
Kara will explore what thoughtful youth ministry might look like in a youth ministry world that is typically pressured by pragmatism and results.

Youth Ministry Must Go Closer- Steve Argue, Grand Rapids Theological Seminary
Steve will consider what it means for the whole church to embrace teenagers and what it looks like for youth leaders to prioritize shepherding over efficiency and programming.
……..

Registration can be done by phone at 616.222.1422 (ask for Amy) or online at the GRTS Talking Points Website.

Download the Brochure HERE.

For those of you who are college students studying youth ministry or college profs, we have a special discount rate for you. If interested, please contact Amy at 616.222.1422!

Join us. Bring a friend, your team, or a future youth leader. And let’s consider where youth ministry must go…