At the youth workers convention I was at last week, there were several cool uses of the cell phone for worship/prayer. My favorite one was through a prayer exercise led by Jeanne Stevens. She started by saying something like, “Maybe you feel like you need to be filled up this week” and then asked those that agreed with the statement to turn their phone display on. Within the darkness we saw that there were others with the same struggles, while it still gave some sense of ambiguity. The lights filling up the auditorium was quite the site to see — overwhelming me emotionally at times. It was a very unique experience.
I don’t generally do personal posts on the Network site, but I just got back from what I feel is the cream-of-the-crop of youth worker training options, the National Youth Workers Convention in Nashville. Deanna and I had such an amazing time! If you are interested, head over to our student ministry blog at elevatingageneration.org and check out my thoughts, pics, and — eventually — video from the weekend. I was priveledged to be a live-blogger at this year’s event, so my thoughts and real-time updates were also posted the whole weekend over at the live-blog, wich is still archived here.
Seriously, if you have never gone, you need to set these dates aside for next year and start planning to attend at one of these following locations now:
Los Angeles – September 24 – 28
Cincinnati – October 29 – November 2
Atlanta – November 19 -23
“Seriously Ridiculous” was the theme this year and this post over at Youth Specialtie’s blog kind of captures the idea behind the weekend; so good: check it out!
In case you didn’t already know, clergy was recently listed as the #1 job for people who enjoy their jobs the most. But I’m guessing that deep down inside you already knew that.
We just received word from Patrick Ringler on the following; be sure to keep an eye on his new student ministry blog. Looks great!
Hey! I just want to invite you to the Youth Ministry Harvest Meeting coming up November 21st @ 10am. This meeting will be located at Alternative Fuel in downtown Rapid City. This is going to be a great time for the youth ministries in Rapid City to unite and reach our city together. Be watching the blog as I will be releasing some Harvest Recap videos for you to see and encourage you in what God can and will do here in Rapid City and the surrounding communities. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.
I was watching Youth Specialties’ podcast this morning, which featured live footage from last weekend’s National Youth Workers Convention (NYWC) in Pittsburg. It moved me… I’ve attended several of these in the years past but wasn’t able to go the last couple of years as I was saving up for a trip to Israel (which was also a life-changing experience). But… I’ve really missed NYWC and can’t wait to get back this year at the event in Nashville. Here’s the YS Podcast for those of you who are interested…
Watching this took me back to the last NYWC Deanna, Amy, and I attended back in 2005. The location was Sacramento, CA and we had little-Mikella (less then a year old) with us for the trip. So fun! So many great memories…
Did I say that I can’t wait for Nashville?! This year I have the added joy of being one of the event’s live-bloggers. You’ll be able to join Deanna and I in real time at http://nywc.com/live (will go live during the convention). Again – so fun!
If you are a youth worker and looking for a great convention to go to, I can’t recommend NYWC enough. Every year that I attend I come back feeling so equipped and highly encouraged! That should speak of the convention all for itself, but above and beyond that there are so many other added bonuses: great live music, moving drama, incredible worship, great connections, lots of laughs, and so much more. To be honest, you just have to experience it to get the full effect. There’s just so much! Sign up now for 2009: http://nywc.com.
I’ve been studying this generation since my last year at Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, TX. This generation is said to be “socially engaged”, “the best volunteers you’ll ever have”, and students intent on “making things right”. I believe in this generation and in God’s purpose for them to exact His loving justice, peace, and mercy in our nation.
The term “Generation WE” has gone viral with this new YouTube video (ht to the Source for Youth Ministries) bragging over 700,000 views… a good glimpse of what this generation looks like.
Every youth pastor eventually comes across students that have behavior issues. Here’s a snippet from a recent guest post over at More Than Dodgeball on how to handle behavioral problems in your student ministry:
Recently, because of a few factors, there has been a dynamic shifted in our youth group. With this dynamic shift we’ve begun to encounter some behavior issues. Thankfully, the extent of the problems we’ve faced have been nothing more than disruptive behavior like talkativeness, goofing off, and things like that. Though these problems can seem minor they can quickly begin to wear down volunteers and cultivate a culture of disrespect in a youth group.
So, through some reading on the issue (Les Christie’s “When Church Kids Go Bad” and David Arp’s “Suddenly They’re 13”) and learning as I go, here are some insights that I’ve found…
Join us @ 11:30 am on every first Thursday of the month at the Alternative Fuel Coffee House on 620 Main Street in Rapid City. Come early and grab your meal; we’d love to meet you there!
The first half hour of our gatherings are focused on youth worker fellowship and prayer and, starting at around 12-noon, we shift to a training / discussion time. All are welcome.
