National Youth Ministry Conference 2009
seriously, this is one of the highlights of my year in ministry. tomorrow evening a portion of our FUSE student ministry team hits the road for Columbus, OH. yes, i’ve contemplated wearing PSU all three days just to get them OSU-ers all riled up. last year Spence & I came back with so much growth and inspiration that we couldn’t not bring more of our team this time around. there are nine of us representing both our middle & high school teams – and yes, our wives, too. love it.
anyone here heading to NYMC? let’s connect while we’re out there…
IMPACT recap
last week for 5 days was our annual IMPACT event for our student ministry. really, it’s the beginning and end of our year as a ministry. i’d been to IMPACT before but just for an evening, not the long haul. it’s kind of like a multi-day music festival on a smaller scale. tent camping, speakers, seminars, bands – the whole deal. we took a group of close to 80 students, and another 20ish adults. to top it off, our band also lead an evening of worship on friday
was it amazing? yes
were there frustrations? yes
but at the end of it, God moved.
high school & middle school students accepting Christ.
kids getting baptized for the first time & others reaffirming their baptism.
relationships restored.
difficult conversations.
healing beginning in broken families.
students stepping up in leadership, especially young men.
people experencing God like never before.
yeah, it’s a good thing.
1 Timothy 4:12
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
IMPACT this week
summer started off a bit slow, but now it’s full tilt until school starts again. this wednesday we leave for IMPACT with 75+ middle and high school students. i’m pumped with the expectation the God will be doing amazing things in the lives of our students. today and tomorrow are final meetings, personal packing, last minute purchasing, calling kids, and loading trucks. then i’m leaving early to get back in time to lead our worship team sunday morning.
as much as i’d love to post pictures throughout the week, we don’t even have running water – so they’ll come when we return. in the meantime, pray for our group and enjoy the weeks pre-planned posts.
it’s dangerous
yesterday at our Creative Kids Camp, i got a call i wasn’t expecting. it was from my friend running our culinary arts program for kids. i picked up and he said, “karl, i don’t know what to do. i need you up here now.” that complete with screaming in the back. all i could think of was a severed hand on a cutting board. thankfully it wasn’t that. a trip to the ER, a few stitches later, and our injured student was all good and ready to come back. so what did i learn from yesterday?
- those medical release forms really are important
- not only do you need a first aid kit, you need to know where it is
- trouble never comes at a convenient or expected time
- there are times when action is needed immediately, and we have to be prepared to act
our pastor came in this morning and took me aside. he told me, “now you know that part of your job is to make sure no one gets injured; and the only way to do that is to not do any ministry at all.” then the smile. “ministry is dangerous.” you know what - it is.
what a week
this has been a crazy week. our pastor’s last sunday is this weekend. in addition to my regular staff responsibilities at the church, i’m also filling in on worship leading and high school min. duties for the next week and a half. then there’s music for a farewell celebration tomorrow evening. to lead. a new college age Bible study yesterday. scrambling and trying to find a drummer – finally on the 4th call i got one. basketball camp starts next week – i’ve been helping with online registration for it. planning two middle school events for next friday evening. the creative arts camps for middle school students i’m helping to put together is having some leader issues i’m trying to fix. one of my best friends moved today.
you ever have one of those weeks?
off to the wilds of new york
bethany and i head out this afternoon for our spring retreat with our middle school kids in FUSE[midweek]. not only is this our first retreat with this group of kids (i came to the church in august), this is the first time the middle school kids are having a retreat separate from our high school kids.
it’s no secret i think my friends @ metro.youth put on some of the hippest retreats known to man. i’m lucky to have friends there who continued the invitation to me even when i jump the denomination ship. pray for us: it’s not just our 18 kids, but about 300 more when we get there. and i can’t wait! lake champion doesn’t know what it’s in for…
timing creativity
i’m spending this afternoon at one of my favorite places – Grigg’s Coffee. not only do they have killer coffee roasted on site, but also free wi-fi, a fantastic atmosphere, and butter toffee cashews (so good). the past few months i’ve been trying to be more intentional about setting aside uninterrupted creative time, which is kind of weird since i do think of myself as a pretty creative person. one of the huge things i’ve been learning though, is that creativity is best when it’s not rushed. sure, being under the gun can birth inspiration, but creativity is best when it has a chance to actually develop from the original inspiration.
so here i am, armed with my myndology disc notebook, macbook, and coffee – and working out the creative elements for the last FUSE[midweek] series for the spring. starting tomorrow, our last series will be a five weeker called 5enses. we’ll be looking at a different human sense each week and see how we can experience Jesus specifically through each. it kicks off tomorrow with :sound:
right now
putting the final touches on for tonight
- confirmation class//talking about just what the church is
- leader meeting//I’ve struggled this year getting these to be where i want them; it’s been getting better, and I’m pumped to try some new things in the fall
- FUSE[midweek]//last week of our ASK series tonight; it’s been great, responding to students’ questions. It’s been one of the more engaging things we’ve done this year; this will happen again.
trying to find a better groove for blogging//figuring out what my target really is
watching Mars Hill’s Good Friday service. Mark Driscoll is a leader who is challenging the crap out of me right now, and for the past few months.
