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The gospel offers everything we need as we navigate life in a world which is increasingly unmoored from biblical truth. We all need the truth of God which gives courage and wisdom to remain faithful to Christ, compassion to come alongside strugglers, and correction for when we get off track. This intensive will unpack these ideas with the goal of giving biblical guidance and practical application for leaders who not only care for youth, but also the parents of teens. We’ll do this in two parts: First, we’ll consider how we got to where we are culturally with a free for all concerning sexuality and gender, and the implications for ministry to teens. Then, we’ll help you assess how to understand youth who are embracing an LGBTQ+ identity, as well as biblical anchors to equip their parents.
Doug Franklin will help you construct a healthy youth ministry. We will focus on connecting mission, strategy, and programming for maximum results. We will also discuss how to train volunteers and communicate with parents. An effective youth ministry has everyone on the same page and going in the same direction. Join us as we learn how to construct and communicate how to lead an effective youth ministry.
Because the culture is changing at breakneck speed, all youth workers, regardless of age, find themselves ministering to kids growing up in a culture far different from the one they experienced when they were teenagers themselves. As a result, we are all cross-cultural missionaries. In this practical opening intensive, Walt will show you how to accurately read and understand the many elements of today’s youth culture, along with teaching you how to apply God’s Word to current cultural trends in ways that equip students and their families to live counter-culturally to the glory of God. This seminar will be more of a workshop, incorporating lots of hands-on small-group practice of the skills taught.
As students with unique needs (diagnosed and undiagnosed) transition from children’s ministry to youth ministry, youth leaders and volunteers will have questions. They may wonder, “How can I support these students’ needs and continue to meet the needs of the entire group?” If you feel that you do not intuitively know how to meet the needs of some of your students, this class is for you. In this class, you will learn a philosophy of ministry that will help you make disability ministry part of your existing youth programming without changing everything you are already doing. The goal is to help you disciple, enfold, and build a strong relationship with every student. Participants will also have an opportunity to ask specific acute-needs questions and get real-time answers on strategies to support your students.
While the Gospel has remained the same, our youth ministry context continues to morph and change. During our morning plenary sessions Walt will guide us through some of the most significant cultural issues we need to understand, along with pointing to practical strategies for effectively engaging students with the Gospel in ways that facilitate whole-life, biblically-faithful Christian discipleship.
Discipleship isn’t a program or event. It’s a way of life. And it isn’t relegated to just our souls our our Sunday selves. It’s about the whole person — thoughts, attitudes, and actions. But how can we live as whole and holy people, fully surrendered to Jesus, in a disintegrated world that preaches Self above all things? And how can we help adolescents do the same? Join us as we talk about what it means to live the way God created us to, love the way God wants us to, and become the people God intended us to be. Using the greatest commandment as our starting point, we’ll look at the foundations, formation, and fruition of life in Christ.
This seminar will focus on strategies for Bible teaching that go a step beyond sitting and listening in a lecture-style Sunday school or large group. Participants will learn appropriate long-term and short-term goals when teaching students the Bible. You will learn ways to discern the needs of your students individually (for 1:1 and small groups) and collectively (for large groups). We will discuss ways to adjust your teaching for the present needs in the classroom and creative ways to increase support for students with greater needs without changing your entire strategy. This seminar will also help you understand the basics of unique learning differences, the place for motivation, and ways to increase each student’s ability to pay attention.
Going to a youth group is good, but having a personal, intimate relationship with Christ is best. So, how do we help students develop a deep faith? Learn practical ways to equip students to move off the starting line of faith and move toward discipleship. In the breakout, Doug Franklin will walk us through how Bible study methods, prayer journaling, mission, and community work together to grow deep faith.
One of the greatest gifts God gives to his children is the blessing of relationships! Friends, family, brothers and sisters in Christ are a few of the realms through which we not only are encouraged, comforted, counseled and companioned, but gain insight into who God is! But, we don’t always stop to consider: is my relational world healthy and holy? What’s happening in my thought life, affections, and priorities in my friendships, dating relationships, and marriage (you as a leader!)? This breakout will give a biblical overview of God’s intentions for our relationships with each other, guidance in how to “watch over your heart with all diligence”, and practical teaching to offer the kids you lead. Why all this? No one steps into an affair in a split second, or engages in sexual sin with another person in the youth group, or begins to experiment with same-gender sexual activity. We need relational wholeness and holiness which is ours in Christ.
For all practical purposes, Youth Pastors are often “culture-interpreters in residence”. We often find ourselves trying to explain to parents how young people think and why they think they way they do. This seminar will offer a format for taking parents (or students) on a big picture of three big ideas that shape the soil of adolescent culture. We’ll also consider some practical ways to help parents understand the stakes in this conversation.
It turns out that adults have had opinions about teenagers for many hundreds of years. Long before psychology, modern generational theories, high schools, and youth ministry, grown ups have been observing and cataloging and philosophizing about why adolescents think, feel, and act they ways they do. We can learn from what those ancients said, both how we should and shouldn’t relate to the “rising generation.” Join this entertaining romp through the history of adults and teens (yep – that’s what they called them way back when) and the important conversation about why it matters for us today.
Youth ministry leaders are always juggling so many tasks. Sometimes our leadership tells us what’s most important, but then our parents think other tasks are more necessary. Who do we listen to? Do we know what’s most necessary? In this workshop, we’ll define ‘necessity’ and consider 9 essential necessities of ministry.
A cooperative mechanism can be created between youth ministry workers and parents as they embrace the needs of a child who is either considering or committed to LGBTQ+. Both parties are interested in the soul and trajectory of that child, and various biblical anchors must direct their efforts. What do those parents need to hear and know, immediately and over the long-haul? What undergirds both the parents and the ministry workers? This break-out session will include the testimony of a parent whose heart has experienced…and learned from…just such a parent-child situation for more than 20 years. We will consider and discuss common misconceptions as well as biblical guidelines. After all, the involvement of parents and youth ministry workers in a child’s sexual struggles is not a providential “oops;” it is intended to mold them as well.
Responding to The Anxious Generation
One prominent goal in student ministry is effective discipleship of every student. Students who exhibit challenging behaviors in youth ministry—as a result of their growth and development or unique needs related to a disability—are often left behind in their growth spiritually and relationally. In this seminar, you will learn ways every student ministry leader or volunteer can positively support challenging behaviors in youth ministry. We will discuss how to understand behavior as communication. You will receive strategies for increasing appropriate communication, reducing problem behaviors, and helping all students grow into emotionally strong young adults. You will also learn ways to frame motivation through the lens of the gospel.
If you teach the Bible to teenagers as a speaker, in a Bible study, or as a small group leader or Sunday School teacher, you’re a translator: You take God’s truth and translate it into the language of everyday life. But, if you’re translating that message every week to a group of teenagers who’s culture in some ways is quite different from our own, you know that’s not easy. As every missionary knows: We can say whatever we want to say, but they get to decide what it actually means. This seminar will help you think about the challenge of translating real Truth into the real-world, and we’ll offer you some practical strategies for making sure they hear what you think you said.
Perhaps you’ve been there, when you were a youngster in youth group. The Youth Pastor’s talk devolves into a “Morality Rant” (Don’t smoke, don’t drink, and don’t date those who do!). It’s certainly important that we move beyond “Morality Rants” in the way that we teach our young people. In this breakout session, Dr. Scott Shidemantle (Professor of Biblical Studies and Bible Core Coordinator at Geneva College) will lead us through Dr. Bryan Chapell’s book “Christ Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon” by making application of this important book to the way youth workers develop and deliver a youth talk based on a Scripture passage that leads the student to Jesus. Ultimately, yes, when you meet Jesus there are moral implications! But you must meet Jesus first! This will be a very practical break out session that focuses on moving from the Authority of God’s Word, to Studying a Particular Passage, to ultimately Delivery of a Talk. Special attention will be paid to practical take-aways for the youth worker.
Do you have a plan for discipling youth, or do you simply teach the Bible and hope discipleship happens? This workshop highlights the historic practice of catechesis to help you think through what it means to be a mature Christian, and then we’ll talk through the different stages of discipleship along the way. It’s a richly theological workshop with practical counsel that can transform the way you disciple students throughout your ministry.
There are 884 Sunday mornings in a student’s life before they turn 18. How will you use this time to teach and train them to follow Jesus for the rest of their life? We all know it’s different teaching the Bible to a 3rd grader in elementary school to a 7th grade student going through puberty to a senior in high school about to head to college. This session will include thinking how we teach the Bible at each level so by the time a student graduates high school, you can be confident “from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Helping teens develop intergenerational connections with the church is a necessary goal. These connections provide young people with diverse perspectives and strengthen relationships to enhance a teen’s spiritual growth and sense of belonging. They also provide fresh encouragement as congregants see the passion and engagement of the next generation. Finding practical ways to foster this goal are often challenging! This breakout explores tangible ways for youth workers to engage young people’s faith alongside local believers, helping them activate their faith as part of the larger body. Discover how to cultivate a church culture that values every member, building a stronger body of Christ for all ages!
The Future generations are getting harder and harder to connect and minister too. However in order to effectively minister to them we must be first understand them. This seminar is designed to bring understanding about the future generations, empower church leaders, educators, and anyone passionate about strategies and insights to effectively reach and minister to the next generations. As we navigate the complexities of modern culture, it’s more important than ever to ensure that our ministry is grounded in faith and centered on Christ. Join us as we explore how to build meaningful connections with young people, communicate the timeless truth of the Gospel, and foster spiritual growth in the hearts of the next generations.
God has blessed our students with the gift of family. As youth workers, our ministry should not seek to solely focus on the spiritual life of students that we see on Wednesday nights or Sunday morning. We have an opportunity to come alongside the parents and guardians that are raising this next generation, in a very different world than they grew up in. Equipping, praying for, and spending time with parents and caregivers should be a key part as we seek to do youth ministry well.
In an increasingly post-Christian world, the Church faces the reality of a growing number of young people abandoning the Christian faith. While several causes can be pointed out, this seminar identifies, through the Apostle Paul’s call to Timothy to persist in the faith, two main reasons why young people leave the faith and offers practical help to confront them.
A Biblical Framework for Cultivating Spiritual Wisdom and Understanding
As ministry leaders we are called to preach, teach, and model the great doctrines of The Faith to the students and families we serve. We desire that they believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing they may have life in his name. While our knowledge of the Bible, theology, and the gospel is often apparent (and even growing!), deciding what to do in ministry is often not so clear. It’s common for our methodology (what we say and do) to inadvertently become out of alignment with our doctrine. In this seminar Michael will introduce you to a web of presuppositions, principles, and goals that shape our approach to ministry…a set of convictions that help us evaluate what we are doing, why we are doing it, and what needs to change. This “philosophy of ministry” is a tool that can enable us to lead ministries that are Christ-centered and theologically reflective.
Understanding our unique calling into ministry with teens and pre-teens includes grasping the vast array of responsibilities that we are asked to meet. Each of these responsibilities, meeting distinct purposes and outcomes. As ministry leaders we will explore how we are equipped to seek out and serve the lost. We will take a practical approach to introducing service to our students as well as exploring the intentional rhythms that we have in our student ministries. Together we will pursue the overlap between service, outreach and evangelism, sharing the how and the why with another.
While we as older Christians must impart the faith to the next generation, we must also help instill practices that allow their humanity to flourish. The younger generation is growing up in a world that is increasingly disembodied. In this session, we’ll consider how to teach them what incarnational living is and how much of their restless anxiety is connected to their lack of tactile experiences.
Join five youth leaders as they talk through key strategies they have implemented in their youth ministry contexts including church and school.
