The season of youth ministry, from 2007 – 2012, has been an extremely difficult time for those in vocational youth ministry. There have been a couple of major forces at play which have left our tribe discouraged, shell-shocked, and struggling to dream about what’s next for their ministry.
- Going into the recession there was a lot of re-thinking of youth ministry going on, both from those who were in youth ministry and [more importantly] those who were making decisions about continuing to fund it. As thousands learned… this meant that many churches were ready to pull the plug and try something else.
- Many churches were unprepared to handle the economic downturn. They had expanded their budgets during good times and been slow to respond when the recession hit. I can’t tell you how many youth workers got sucker punched by a budget cut that included their salary and their ministry. Too many wonderful youth workers are left sitting on the sidelines and asking God, “Um, what happened?”
If you’ve made it. If you’re still in this thing. And if you know in your gut that God has called you to youth ministry (even if you don’t have a job in a church anymore) than you are probably like Marko and I… ready for the next season to begin.
Dreamers Wanted
We are hopeful. We believe that the best days of youth ministry are yet ahead. And we think it’s time to come together and dream, celebrate, get refreshed, ideate, and ask God to reveal to us what this next season of youth ministry should look like for each of us.
We don’t pretend to have all the answers. In fact, we’re more convinced than ever that there isn’t “an answer” but instead “many answers” to leadership in this new season.
The Summit is a celebration of this hopefulness.
We’re bringing together 18 presenters– all high quality leaders, some of whom you know and some of whom you don’t know, and asking them to present a series of short 15 minute-ish talks as we look at where we’ve been as a tribe, where we are at today, and what’s possible in this amazing life calling.
But it’s not just talking heads. There will be time to interact with people like you. There will be time to interact with the presenters. And there will be time to interact with the Holy Spirit as you get out of your normal routine and ask God to help you dream new dreams about your ministry.
Why Am I Talking About This?
The Summit is on my mind a lot right now because our early bird deadline for registration is this Friday at midnight. Since we announced it in the Spring we’ve heard from lots and lots of people that they love it and want to be a part of it. Well… it’s time to be a part of it!
We’ve got some great incentives for you to register by Friday.
- Registration prices go up by $20 on Saturday, so you save money by registering early.
- You’re automatically entered to win an iPad from The Youth Culture Report. (This is a different contest than the one on our Facebook page.)
- You’ll get MP3’s of all the presentations for free after The Summit.
Yes, I’m asking you to attend. Yes, I may be asking you to rearrange your schedule a little. Yes, I might be asking you to spend money you hadn’t planned on spending.
Yes to all of that. And thank you.
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