Later this morning we’re officially announcing a brand new youth ministry event called, The Summit. Obviously, it’s a pretty big deal for our little start-up. So I’m excited about it for all sorts of business-y reasons.
But I’m stoked about The Summit for far more important reasons than business stuff.
- We need to dream again. We’re a tribe of dreamers. Since the beginning of youth ministry we have been a body of folks bound by our eternal optimism. But the past few years have taken the wind out of us. We’ve gone into survival mode and it’s time to shake out of it. Oh, I’m longing to be in a room of people exploring what could be instead of what is impossible.
- It’s unlike anything else in youth ministry. It’s true that there are a good number of youth ministry events out there. Creating this one wasn’t a thumbing of the nose at any of them. Instead, we really think that this format/style/vibe is something missing from within our tribe. We’re taking a big risk on this because we think that’s true. Now we’re asking you to take this risk and join us in figuring out if we’re right.
- Electric things happen when you mix these folks with a pile of youth workers. This thing has a crazy awesome line-up of thinkers. Just like the Extended Adolescence Symposium, we wanted to create a day we’d really like to attend. As the line-up has taken shape I just kept going back to look at it. Wow, it’s a group of crazy people who are changing things. (Crazy in my language is good!)
- This thing could birth some stuff. Looking at the theme and topics, I’m really hoping that people don’t just consume this thing but that they really are stirred by it to advance Kingdom stuff.
- It’s a work in progress. I’ve never announced an event that was intentionally incomplete. But that’s what we’re doing. We’re talking to a pool of people but we aren’t quite sure who we want to add in what session. Don’t touch the walls, we’re still painting!
Question: What feels new about The Summit? What doesn’t feel new?
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