At the end of February I am headed to the Simply Youth Ministry Conference in Chicago. As someone who is in full-time student ministry I believe in the importance of not only incredible training, but also the opportunity to grow individually. This conference allows me to get both. At SYMC I am able to gain some great skills as well as build community with all kinds of youth workers in an authentic and intentionally conversation way. Check it out for yourself and watch the video from Doug Fields to capture the heart of SYMC…
A few weeks ago my wife and I were at the National Youth Ministry Conference in Columbus Ohio. While I was there, I got the opportunity to ‘hijack’ Tim Schmoyer’s Life In Student Ministry camera… Me and my new buddy ‘Julio’ decided to talk about how we love our wives well in Ministry. Check it out and watch for the out takes at the end… funny stuff.
Tim Schmoyer hosts a GREAT blog! He has great insights and has lots of resources, tips, video blogs, and hosts a weekly Youth Ministry phone in… check it out!
Check out this video that Josh Griffin just posted over morethandodgeball.com - It is hilarious and captures what youth ministry is often about!!! I will post another one tomorrow… Stay tuned! Thanks to the guys over at Group and Simply youth ministry we had an incredibly deep and amazingly fun time. This conference keeps me going strong in ministry. Check it out for yourself next year: The Simply Youth Ministry CONFERENCE 2010
Posted by youthworktalk | Posted in Conferences | Posted on 01-03-2009
This blog is titled “Conversation from MY Couch” for two reasons: First, one of the taglines I have heard for NYMC is “Conversations from the Couch”, with the idea being that the conference is conversational and connectional. Second, I had to call it “Convesration from MY Couch” since I am now home from the conference. (Myself and Lisa came back early to pick up the little one from Lisa’s parents – I was bummed to leave, but excited to see our little girl).
Here’s why I loved the conference:
Authentic and Connectional: Thanks to all the guys and gals at Group/Simplyyouthministry.com I had an awesome conference. I have to say, it was my most impactful conference yet! The atomasphere there is personal and connectional and it feels like you are there to hang out and grow with friends. There is no ‘them and us’ with the speakers, and for the most part you get a chance to interact with them and ask lots questions. Other conferences seem a little impersonal these days… Simple ideas like the ’sack chairs’ all over the place for people to hang out and talk and take time to dig deeper. The affinity groups are not just a good idea, but I saw guys and gals talking and discovering answers together in real authentic community. The final thing that made this conference very connectional and conversational was the way in which they did the ‘brown bag’ workshops. Many of these happened during the lunch time and were set up in relaxed discussion format with lots of interaction from everyone.
Deep: I spent 8 hours (in two days) in a deep learning track with Dan Webster from Authentic Leadership Inc. The track was called: ‘The Path to Long-Term Youth Ministry’. The content was not only insightful, it was transformational. Sometimes, us youthworkers spend a lot of time working on our skills and tools of youth ministry yet fail to realize that our heart and soul are so inextricably linked to our success as youthworkers. This track helped individuals to see how our effectiveness and longevity requires us to understand the patterns of leadership, (and what to expect), while also being able to take an honest and introspective assessment of who we are and what makes us tick. If we are honest with ourselves and God, so much of what we do can come from negative influences ‘below the surface’ of our lives. Whether it is past hurts, insecurity, a moral struggle, or a dry walk with God, it is these things that will often alter the direction of our ministry effectiveness. Dan Webster took us on an effective journey of personal introspection, but also a journey of hope, healing, and excitement for future. Awesome stuff.
Fun: As I would have hoped, there were a lot of elements of fun to be able to relax and forget about ministry too. From the hilarious ‘music videos’ to the crazy and funny ‘video announcements’, they really captured the wacky minds of youthworkers. Take a look below to see a copy of examples…
All in all, a great conference. It gets an ‘A’ from me and I plan on attending next year. Thanks Group and SYM!
Posted by youthworktalk | Posted in Conferences | Posted on 27-02-2009
Arrived this afternoon at NYMC in Columbus! It’s great to be here and I feel the excitement around me from other youth workers. The guys from Group do a great job in welcoming you like you are a long-time friend! Thanks Group people!
The conference center here is great, not too big and not too spread out. It FEELS connectional and not impersonal. Word is that there are 1800 youthworkers here this weekend. AWESOME!
I heard there is an Irish pub across the close to here that serves a killer fish n’ chips! I hope to give a food review in a later blog. For now, my lovely wife Lisa is out shopping and discovering Columbus while I connect with other youthworkers. That’s what I love to do! It’s awesome to be able to talk, encourage and hear what God is doing in other places around the country! It’s great to be able to share joys and struggles with guys and gals who get it.
Affinity Groups: One of the exciting things that I have seen here last year is the Affinity groups. The goal is that you can connect with a group of people for the weekend who you have, ‘affinity’ with. Example, ‘Small Youth Ministries’ , ‘40 and over in Ministry’, ‘Senior High’,’ Middle School’,’ Working with difficult leaders’ ‘PDYM’, and so on…. The goal is that we connect with a group in an area or topic of ministry that we would like help or encouragement in.
That’s all for now. I am excited to get to the general session in a few hours.
Phil Bell is pastor of student ministries at a church in Southeast Michigan. Phil grew up in England, came to the States in 2000 and has been in youth ministry for over 10 years. Phil is married to Lisa and has two beautiful little girls called Emma and Addie. He is known to play 'footy' (soccer) and loves a good cuppa tea and an English muffin!
