Campferenceing

It’s 4:45 and I’m at the airport. For a west coast person that means one thing: You are headed east.

In just a few hours I’ll meet Marko, Kurt, Katie, and a few others in Louisville for our drive up to Seymour, Indiana. As an Indiana boy it doesn’t get much more Indiana than spending the weekend in the hometown of John Mellencamp.

The Middle School Ministry Campference is Marko’s baby. (Open is mine, The Summit is ours together… a love child of sorts.) As you know, we are experimenting with several different styles of events. The Campference is an all-inclusive, all-hands-on-deck 360 experience. Unlike a typical conference all of the attendees and presenters are together for the whole weekend.

This is my first one. (I wasn’t able to make it last year.) And while I’ve done tons of youth ministry with middle schoolers I’ve never been a “middle school only” kind of youth worker. So I’m looking forward to a lot of things about the weekend, the camaraderie you experience when you are with your peeps, unlimited laughter, since Tic is coming I know there will be tears, I’m looking forward to learning more about early adolescence, I’m looking forward to serving others, and I’m looking forward to doing a Cartel event with Marko.