SESSIONS

HOW TO DISCIPLE A STUDENT

Join Doug as he takes an intentional look at the “why” and the “how” behind discipleship. Learn practical tips and tricks for building meaningful relationships, sharing personal stories, asking intentional questions, helping students make life applications, and holding students accountable. Even if you’ve never been discipled yourself, you’ll learn guiding principles that can be applied to your own discipleship relationships or taught to other volunteers on your team.

HOW TO DEVELOP A STUDENT AS A LEADER

The Leadership Pathway is a tool designed to help you answer the question, “How do I develop leaders in my ministry?” Join Doug Franklin from LeaderTreks as he teaches through this simple, practical, and straightforward approach to leadership development that can help you train and equip student leaders and even adult, volunteers. You’ll learn five steps that include: Invite, Discover, Equip, Risk, and Sharpen.

HOW TO HELP YOUR STUDENTS FALL IN LOVE WITH JESUS

Answering this question is vital to our calling to make disciples who make disciples. For years as a Youth Pastor, I sought to achieve this goal through a myriad of techniques, topics, and studies, all worth-while endeavors. But six years ago, I realized I had missed the core of our faith, the Person of Jesus. In this seminary, I want to introduce you to what we mean by seeing Jesus and how that can transform not only you but your students, and your entire ministry. Spending time getting to know Jesus as a Person makes faith sticky. Imagine what the Church of Jesus Christ would be like 5-10 years from now if it was filled with your former students who are in love with Jesus for who he is and not simply for what he has done.

NEXT LEVEL STUDENT LEADERSHIP: EMPOWERING YOUTH IN MINISTRY

Approaches to student leadership that are common practice, and may be in use in your youth group, are good but incomplete. This workshop highlights shortfalls of these modern approaches and provides a path for empowering youth and your entire ministry to find the “Next Level!”

THE TRINITY, ATTACHMENT THEORY, AND THE POWER OF RELATIONSHIPS

Relationship is the place of ministry, the where of the incarnation. One of the psychological theories that highlights this most powerfully is attachment theory, which also provides a helpful foundation for understanding trauma. In this workshop, we will explore the ways attachment theory reveals Trinitarian and gospel truths, and we will consider the insights and implications it offers us for youth ministry.

EQUIPPING AND ENGAGING PARENTS

When you stepped into student ministry, you may have asked some of these questions: “Am I responsible for the parents too?” Or “What exactly does partnering with parents even mean?” Or “How do I equip parents who aren’t engaged in the life of the church, or their child?” In this session, we will discuss strategies for both engaging parents and equipping them as we journey together through the spiritual development with their child.

GROWING DISCIPLES: IDENTIFYING THE STAGES OF DISCIPLESHIP AND CRAFTING A STRATEGY TAILORED TO YOUR STUDENTS

Have you ever found yourself frustrated because you don’t see the growth you expect to see in some of your students, while others of your students are ready for way more spiritually than they are getting? It’s such a struggle to disciple students of different maturity levels at the same time. What if it didn’t have to be that way? In Growing Disciples, Andy Blanks will teach you the stages of discipleship so that you can evaluate where your students are on their spiritual journeys. Because once you know WHERE they are, you can tailor a discipleship strategy uniquely suited to their spiritual needs. The result is moving students from immature believers to Gospel-driven followers of Christ.

FAITH-ING OUTSIDE THE LINES

Have you ever had the desire to do urban ministry, but unsure how or where to start? Ministering and serving effectively in environments that are unfamiliar can be a challenge. However, it is possible. When Jesus gave the disciples the great commission to spread the gospel to all the nations it was his intent for each disciple to leave their comfort zone and cross barriers for the sake of spreading the gospel. In this session, you will learn valuable information as well as practical skills and strategies that will help you and your church effectively minister in the urban community.

THE YOUTH MINISTER’S FAMILY

Your family may be just you and your spouse or maybe you, your spouse and kids. Regardless, you want to have a family that loves Jesus, loves one another and loves the church. In this breakout we’ll talk about the different seasons of the youth pastor’s family life.

5 MISTAKES YOUTH MINISTRIES ARE MAKING WHEN RESTARTING MINISTRY AFTER COVID

We’ve all longed for it for well over a year now… things to be back to the “new” normal. Ministry has changed and youth ministry has changed. In this breakout we’ll discuss 5 mistakes youth ministries are making as they get ministry going again and tips on how to take advantage of the changes that have happened as a result of the pandemic.

BUILDING AND CARING FOR HIGHLY EFFECTIVE ADULT VOLUNTEERS

Every successful student ministry engenders a culture of committed, spiritually healthy, and effective adult volunteers. Come listen and learn from Matt Brinkley, a veteran of 30+ years of youth ministry and now a coach of youth pastors, share Biblical principles and proven practices leading to these healthy and highly effective teams. As a leader, you will walk away with not only the informational benefits of this breakout group, but many resources on recruiting, training, deploying, and coaching your adult volunteer team.

LONGEVITY IN STUDENT MINISTRY

Many student pastors and volunteer leaders experience very real concerns about whether longevity in student ministry is possible. As a student pastor of 30+ years and now a student pastor coach, I am confident that longevity is not only possible, but preferable. This longevity enables the student pastor and volunteers the opportunity to make the greatest impact for Christ’s glory. Come join me as we discuss why this is so, the stages every long-term student pastor will face, and the Biblical principles and proven practical application on how to adapt wisely and thrive as a seasoned leader.

CREATING A SENSE OF BELONGING TO IMPROVE OUR YOUTH’S MENTAL HEALTH

Isolation. Screens. Depression. Virtual Youth Groups. Online school. Shortened or eliminated sports seasons. With all the changes in students’ lives, the need for belonging remains. The return to the norm has not been a return to the norm for many of our students. They are suffering from loneliness and relationship dehydration like never before. This workshop will discuss how youth leaders can help families create a sense of belonging for their young people. We’ll also discuss ways to recognize signs of isolation and separation while providing strategies to help both their church and family support their students’ mental health.

WHAT’S THE PLAN?

Do you ever get tired of sitting at your desk trying to figure out where to go next? What you next sermon series is going to be? Or even your next sermon? What if you had a map to follow? Or better yet, what if you could learn to make your own map? Join Justin as we consider principles that help create a long-term strategy and plan for leading and discipling students.

EMBRACING THE POWER OF INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS FOR YOUR STUDENTS

It is hard to miss the rise of young people exiting our churches. A Foundation Report suggests that “If trends continue, an estimated 35 to 42 million young people could leave the church by 2050”. These are young people who are growing up in the church. However there is hope. The central factor in helping young people flourish in faith and life is the development of Christ-centered intergenerational relationships. In this seminar we will explore some practical ways that your church can strengthen your efforts in giving every young person you serve the relationships they need to flourish in faith and life.

NAVIGATING THE DYNAMIC OF SMALL GROUPS AND EVENTS

In this session you will learn and gather insight on a small group culture in student ministry. Also, the dynamic of strategic event planning to feed the over all vision of culture of your student ministry.

REQUIREMENTS TO HEALTHY LEADERSHIP

In this session we will navigate 6 requirements of being and becoming a healthy leader by focusing on a healthier YOU. We often times want our students and leaders to be at a certain point while often times we are working and operating out of deficit. When a leader gets better, everything gets better. Let’s focus on YOU!

FEAR, WORRY & ANXIETY

What do I do when one of my students is struggling with Anxiety? How should I respond? According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly 1 in 3 teenagers from 13 to 18 will experience an anxiety disorder. It is certainly on the rise, especially in a post-pandemic world. It’s not a matter of if you have a student with anxiety, but when you have a student with anxiety, how will you respond? You and the leaders in your ministry need practical tools, rooted in scripture, to help come alongside students and their families who are dealing with anxiety. This workshop will aim to give you an understanding of what anxiety is and will equip you with practical tools and resources for the mind, body, and heart to help those who are struggling with anxiety.

YOUTH MINISTRY IN A PORNIFIED CULTURE

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7 BEST PRACTICES FOR TEACHING TEENAGERS THE BIBLE

Leading students closer to God is what being a youth worker is all about. What’s the most effective way to do this? By teaching students the Bible! The Bible is God’s main way of making Himself and His ways known and your students need sound Bible teaching now more than ever.  The 7 Best Practices For Teaching Teenagers the Bible offers you seven ultra-practical and deeply meaningful “practices” you can use to help teach the Bible in a transformative and dynamic way.

GIRL TALK – A Panel Discussion

In this session, we’ll tackle what every youth leader needs to know about caring for teen girls in today’s cultural climate. We’ll discuss issues such as identity, relationship, mental health and wellness.  Bring your questions and concerns to our panel discussion and we’ll work together to encourage and equip one another for the ministry God has called us to. A list of resources related to the topics we discuss will be offered to you.  Our panel of youth leaders have all been serving students in various capacities from full time ministry to long time volunteer roles to professional educators.