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by Dan Kimball
I can't remember what specific year it was, but I was part of the very first Willow Creek Conference that they had for youth leaders. I was at the second one the following year as well.
What I do very much remember about it many years later is the heart and passion of Bo Boshers. I remember Bo's vision of seeing youth leaders examine their personal lives with God as the foremost thing they could do. And how Bo cast vision about the way God loves teenagers was contagious. His heart was bleeding for youth outside the church, and he rallied us toward the possibilities of how God can use us as leaders on this great mission of Jesus.
Not only that, but Bo had a passion for seeing students become deep disciples of Jesus. He called us to not forget those outside the church and not be afraid to do whatever it takes to see the message of Jesus known among teenagers. He shared the difference of being a missional youth ministry vs. an inward-focused youth group and called us to examine what kind of youth leadership we are living out.
I am not understating it when I say that those two conferences at Willow many years ago radically shifted my heart, mind, hope and focus about youth ministry and church in general. To this day - as a youth pastor for many years, then a young adult pastor and now as a recent church planter - I so often reflect back on those first two conferences at Willow Creek. My entire trajectory of ministry shifted as a result of being there. So much of what I do today and so much of my evangelistic passion started there at those events.
So when I got a call from Bo about coming out to be part of Shift this year, I didn't even have to blink thinking about it. It is an absolute thrill to think of being amongst those serving in youth ministry at the very place and type of gathering that God used to change the course of direction in my own life.
At events like Shift, God works in subtle ways. It may not always be in the main speakers message or a workshop. It might be something that someone says during lunch, or simply sitting amongst other leaders passionate about youth that causes us to "shift".
Ministry changes, forms change, and focuses may shift as we learn and grow. But I know that the call and passion to lead youth in the ways of Jesus does not change and I am so excited to be returning to the very place and culture of what God used in my life to shift me and change my life and ministry.
[Dan Kimball is one of the founding pastors of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California, a ministry designed to reach a post-Christian culture. Dan is the author of numerous books, including They Like Jesus, But Not the Church, and will be the speaker at our closing session at Shift 2008.]
I can't remember what specific year it was, but I was part of the very first Willow Creek Conference that they had for youth leaders. I was at the second one the following year as well.
What I do very much remember about it many years later is the heart and passion of Bo Boshers. I remember Bo's vision of seeing youth leaders examine their personal lives with God as the foremost thing they could do. And how Bo cast vision about the way God loves teenagers was contagious. His heart was bleeding for youth outside the church, and he rallied us toward the possibilities of how God can use us as leaders on this great mission of Jesus.
Not only that, but Bo had a passion for seeing students become deep disciples of Jesus. He called us to not forget those outside the church and not be afraid to do whatever it takes to see the message of Jesus known among teenagers. He shared the difference of being a missional youth ministry vs. an inward-focused youth group and called us to examine what kind of youth leadership we are living out.
I am not understating it when I say that those two conferences at Willow many years ago radically shifted my heart, mind, hope and focus about youth ministry and church in general. To this day - as a youth pastor for many years, then a young adult pastor and now as a recent church planter - I so often reflect back on those first two conferences at Willow Creek. My entire trajectory of ministry shifted as a result of being there. So much of what I do today and so much of my evangelistic passion started there at those events.
So when I got a call from Bo about coming out to be part of Shift this year, I didn't even have to blink thinking about it. It is an absolute thrill to think of being amongst those serving in youth ministry at the very place and type of gathering that God used to change the course of direction in my own life.
At events like Shift, God works in subtle ways. It may not always be in the main speakers message or a workshop. It might be something that someone says during lunch, or simply sitting amongst other leaders passionate about youth that causes us to "shift".
Ministry changes, forms change, and focuses may shift as we learn and grow. But I know that the call and passion to lead youth in the ways of Jesus does not change and I am so excited to be returning to the very place and culture of what God used in my life to shift me and change my life and ministry.
[Dan Kimball is one of the founding pastors of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California, a ministry designed to reach a post-Christian culture. Dan is the author of numerous books, including They Like Jesus, But Not the Church, and will be the speaker at our closing session at Shift 2008.]
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posted by Dan Kimball at 6:53 PM
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