Regional Training

As I've traveled around the country over the past few years, I've sensed a growing need for student ministry leaders and volunteers to gather together regionally for practical training and encouragement on reaching this generation for Christ.

We at Shift–the student ministries segment of the Willow Creek Association–have been dreaming and praying about how to meet this need, and we're so excited to invite you to our first regional training events, beginning this weekend.

Join other youth pastors and volunteer youth leaders in your area for a dynamic half day of training, designed to help you discover ways to develop a "Be With Community"–a student ministry where every leader understands and practices the value of coaching and mentoring students to become complete followers of Jesus Christ.

We'll also spend time talking about practical ways you can develop a "Be With Lifestyle"–a life centered around practical mentoring tools helping students in the spiritual formation process.

We've worked to make this training as affordable as possible, and are really pleased to offer the entire half-day of training for only $29!

The training, led by seasoned youth ministry veterans that I personally believe in from the LEAD222 network, could be just what you and your student ministry team need as you begin a new ministry season this fall.

For more info, check out the regional training section of the web site.

Did You Know Video

Since the Shift conference, we've gotten a lot of questions about where to find the Did You Know 2.0 video from session one.

The video we showed at Shift was a shortened version of a media presentation created by educators Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod with design by XPlane.

You can now view the video, along with session highlights from the conference, by clicking here to go to the video section of the web site. There's also a high-resolution version available for download here.

The video is licensed by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and XPlane under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike license. You are free to copy, distribute, remix and transmit the presentation as long as you give proper attribution to the original creators and share the resulting work under the same license. You may not use Did You Know? for commercial purposes without permission from the creators.

Med Packs Update

Back in April, many of you who attended Shift 2008 took part in Thursday night's Bright Hope Med Pack Experience. Student ministries from across the country assembled hundreds of medical supply kits for under-resourced villages in Uganda. Recently, Bright Hope announced that the Med Packs had been delivered!

Over on Bright Hope's web site, you can read all about the delivery, as well as see photos and video of an entire town lined up to receive the packs.

Thanks to all of you who served as the hands and feet of Jesus, and helped make these medical supplies available to those who so badly needed them.

Conference Podcasts

In case you didn't catch them over on Out of Ur, we've now posted the three podcasts recorded at Shift 2008 a few weeks back , including interviews with Mark Yaconelli, Mark Miller, and Drew & Jerome from Switchfoot.

Check 'em out in the Podcasts section of the site.

"Center" and Re-Centering

I’m actually typing this little blog post outside. Those of you who came to Shift traveled to Chicago a week too early - it’s 71 degrees outside right now!

Even though the weather was less than desirable last week, I felt like I was able to leave behind some of the clouds that have been hovering over my heart recently. I was able to “re-center” my soul with God and my calling as a youth-worker.

The first day of sessions were crazy intense for me. And from the vibe in the room I could tell that many of you were sitting with the weight of the work that we have ahead of us. From Brian McLaren’s opening charge to live out the kingdom of God right now in this broken world – to Mark Yaconelli’s simple, honest reflections on spiritual formation in students – to Shane Claiborne’s unashamed fire for justice ... it was enough to make even the most complacent of us sit on the edge of our seats.

That first day set the tone for the rest of our time together. I could feel it in the air. And I hope that you could feel it too. You and I have a very important calling on our lives. As we sang the song “Center” together on Friday morning ... I was struck once again with the reminder that we must re-center our lives on Christ every day. And in that moment, in those last hours, I felt that hundreds of us were united with Christ and his call to return to our communities and live a re-centered life.

I hope that your time with us was energizing and inspiring. I’m really looking forward to the days ahead. See ya next year.

[Brandon Grissom is worship leader at Elevate, Willow Creek's Junior High Ministry. brandongrissom.net]

Shift 2008 Recap

We had a great time, how about you?

Thanks to everybody (that’s you!) who made Shift 2008 what it was.
From main sessions to breakouts, Cups of Coffee to the Thursday Night Experiences, we feel like this year’s event would truly have been different without each and every one of you there.

If you weren’t a part of Shift, check out the rundown of the event over at Out of Ur, who covered our 2 1/2 days together from start to finish.

If you were there, we’d love to hear from you. What was a highlight? Any session, speaker, idea, artist, or experience stand out?

The Shift experience is definitely continuing beyond last week (see Bo’s previous post here). Let’s keep the conversation going...

[Thanks to Gavin for the photo. Check out his amazing Shift 2008 flickr photostream here.]

Online Experience

For the next 3 days, you can follow all of the happenings at the SHIFT 2008 conference over at the Out of Ur blog. April 9-11, we’ll be partnering with Out of Ur to live blog the event, post video highlights from each session, as well as a couple of podcast interviews with conference guests.

If you like the RSS sort of thing, subscribe to Out of Ur here.
Otherwise, check their blog often throughout the conference for regular updates.

Starting April 14, all things SHIFT will be back here at shiftexperience.com.

Until then, we’ll see you over at Ur...

Beyond the Conference

As you can see from the new site, SHIFT is more than just a conference. It’s an identity. It’s a movement, a way of approaching student ministry.

It’s also a commitment. We’ve spent much of the last year looking at statistics showing that the majority of today’s students will leave the church–and many of them leave their faith completely–within the next 10 years. Youth ministries’ ineffectiveness in students’ spiritual transformation must stop.

As youth workers, you’ve seen the stats, you’ve heard the stories, and you’ve probably seen students from your own ministries who’ve walked away from God, and have made this problem more real to you than just a statistic. I know it has for me.

It all begs the question: Who’s going to do something about it?

At SHIFT, we’re committed to inspiring youth leaders to literally shift the future of youth ministries and to write the next 10 years of church history as a decade when an entire generation of students discover God’s amazing love through his son Jesus, and their place in His story—and in the process, change the world.

How?

First, we’re going to help you identify the shifts taking place in today’s culture, including the barriers (inside and outside of the church) that are keeping students from following God.

Next, we’re going to host experiences that explore these shifts, helping us all discover the changes needed in our own ministries to better meet the needs of the students we serve.

We’re also going to provide resources that expose student ministry leaders to the best thinking, ideas, questions, and practices being offered by those actively shaping the future of the Church and youth ministry.

And finally, we’re going to do everything we can to foster relationships that allow student ministry leaders to learn from one another, and find leadership, mentoring and coaching from experienced veteran youth leaders.

It’s going to take all of us. Really. It’s going to take student ministry leaders, churches, and families all working together to make the shifts needed to help our students become life-long followers of Jesus Christ.

It can be done. With God’s help, together, we can shift the future of student ministry.

[Bo Boshers is the Executive Director of SHIFT / Student Ministries of WCA]

Shifting the Future DVD

Rapid changes in culture and technology surround us. How should these changes influence our communication and ministry? How might we connect with students today and inspire them to change the world?

We are continually searching for resources to help youth leaders navigate ministry in a shifting culture. We pulled together some of the best teachings we could find and put them on one DVD to encourage and inspire you. Sessions include:

Donald Miller – Sharing the Gospel without Wierding People Out
Dan Kimball – They Like Jesus But Not the Church
Darren Whitehead – Culture: Where It Is, Where it's Going, and What We Can Do About It
Brian McLaren – Shaped by Our Stories
Louie Giglio – Awake to My Journey

Order HERE - RETAIL: $29.99 MEMBER: $23.99

Breakout Handouts

Chances are you've already received an email, or noticed the new link on the bottom left of the site, but just in case...

In an effort to "go green" this year, we've decided, for the first time, not to print paper copies of breakout handouts for the conference. While some speakers may choose to personally bring print handouts of their own for their breakouts, the only handouts the WCA will be making available will be in PDF format and are now available here.

Please check to see if a PDF is available for the breakout you plan on attending. If you desire a paper copy of the handout, please print it out ahead of time and bring it with you, as there will not be an opportunity to do so once on site at the conference.

We hope you'll appreciate our efforts to conserve paper and print resources, as well as make a number of the handouts available in a convenient digital form.

6 days and counting...

Where Do You Park?

I used to work for a church where one of the pastors would purposely park right next to the front door. Ok, that doesn't seem so abnormal, but let me continue. Separating the front door and the parking lot was a 90-foot long sidewalk that just so happened to be wide enough for a car to drive on or park. Every day ...no kidding... my pastor would drive his car on the sidewalk and park his car right next to the front door. Now, it wasn't the main entrance to the church, but quite a few people used that door and would have to walk around his car to enter the church. I just thought it was the oddest thing and I always wondered why he couldn't park his car in the parking lot with the rest of us.

Philippians 2:3-5 (Message) says..."Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself."

As I remember that parking story and dwell upon those verses in Philippians, I ask myself...Where do I park? I have been in youth ministry long enough to know that one of my major struggles is the Big H. HUMILITY. Humility has definitely been a rough road for me and I have spoken to many youth pastors who struggle with it as well. Often times, I too park too close and forget to think about others around me. This realization hit me hard. What right do I have for pointing my finger at my pastor who parked next to the front door, when I have so many things just like that in my life? I need to make sure I have examined myself and that I reflect a Philippians 2 way of life.

So where do you park? I know that too often in my experiences I have had a chip on my shoulder. I have tried to push my way to the top, and in the process have thought too highly of myself, thought poorly of others and have blown chances where I could have made a difference in someone's life. I know that I have parked MY car way too close to the door. I want to encourage you to keep reminding yourself to live a Philippians 2 way of life and to keep humble. If we do, we won't need to worry about parking too close.

[Jason Raitz is the Group Life Director for Elevate, Willow Creek's Junior High ministry. Jason will be leading Cups of Coffee discussions on both Thursday and Friday morning at SHIFT 2008.]

Shifting to Out of Ur

If you’re coming to Shift 2008, your experience will carry beyond the day’s sessions, breakouts and activities and onto the Out of Ur Blog, who will be hosting the online component of the conference.

We feel really lucky to be partnering with Out of Ur this way, as they’re basically focusing all of their blogging efforts for three days on what’s happening here at Shift.

Throughout the conference, you can visit Out of Ur for live blogging of the event, online discussion with other attendees, video highlights of each main session, podcasts and more.

And if you’re not able to be at Shift this year, we hope the Out of Ur blog will give you a sense of the ideas, activities, and conversations taking place here in South Barrington.

See you in two weeks. (Here or online!)

New Podcast with Bo Boshers

We've just posted the latest Shift Experience Podcast, an interview with Bo Boshers, Executive Director of Willow Creek Association Student Ministries. Bo talks about the excitement and challenge of planning a conference like Shift 2008.

To listen to the podcast, click here.

Justice Hits Close to Home (Part Five)

Think of a parent or two who has really encouraged their own kid, and maybe your entire youth ministry, to be involved in service. How did they catch the vision for kingdom justice?

Sandy Liu (Pastor of Youth and Children at Chinese Bible Church of Greater Boston): One single mom and her kids used to be homeless for a short time. Based on what she shared about her experience being homeless, our church started an annual "Operation Mittens" where we collect and distribute warm mittens, hats, scarves and coats to the street homeless. Having such special people within your community makes the kingdom needs more real and visible to an insulated church.

Cari Jenkins (Founder, 11:29 Project): Through experience. One parent served on a high school house-building trip in Mexico and actually came to know the Lord that year on the trip. The next year, Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi and that parent was one of the first to initiate a plan to build homes and get involved there.

Jeff Mattesich (Associate Pastor of Children and Students at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena): They are learners—they are always asking, seeking, and changing in their pursuit of a Christ-centered life. Many times, they have a history of being involved in justice issues and they also want their kids to understand the connection between justice and maturity in Christ.

As this roundtable makes clear, fears don’t need to be the driving force behind parents’ responses to our missions and justice endeavors. When we begin to invite parents to be key partners and advocates, justice can start hitting students even closer to home.

[This blog post is the fifth and final in a series provided by Fuller Seminary's Center for Youth and Family Ministry. cyfm.net]

In Praise of Noise

While talking on my cell phone I’ll occasionally pause mid-sentence to ask the question, “Are you still there?” I have this pervading sense that my voice is disappearing into a silent void. I’ve lost the connection. Seven times out of ten, the person on the other end quickly assures me that they’re still connected. In the past, I’ve chalked it up to a cheap cell phone (which probably accounts for the other three out of ten). However, upon reading A Perfect Mess (by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman, 2006) , I’ve learned the rationale behind the sensation of silence on the other end of the phone.

When cell phones went digital in the 1990s, engineers figured out a way to manipulate the 1s and 0s and strip out all of the background noise in cell phone conversations. Only the caller’s voice was heard. No longer would the listener have to hear the din of clattering dishes or passing cars in the background. Plus, not having to transmit all the background noise meant a cell phone battery would last longer. Brilliant!

Cell phone users hated the silence. The silence was abnormal and it was annoying. People loathed the sense of engaging in a conversation and having to wonder if the listener was, in fact, truly listening or were they talking to into a cellular abyss.

Cell phone companies discovered that the very background noise they had spent large amounts of time and money to successfully eradicate actually had a purpose. It created a sense of presence. And so technology companies had to figure out a way to add the background noise back in to the call. The term they use for it: “comfort noise.”

There have been many times when I’ve been in conversation with God and have posed the same question, “Are you still there?” When I’ve begged him to intervene with a student who on the verge of making a life-damaging decision… and she makes the wrong choice. Or when I stand on a frozen street corner amid teddy bears, Mylar heart balloons, slowly burning column candles and Xeroxed photos of a thirteen year old boy. A boy who, two nights before, was out playing with friends and slipped on the ice as he was running away from gang members and was bludgeoned to death. And I ask God, “Are you still there?”

I hate the silence of those moments and others like them, which some times seem to occur too often in ministry. I strain my ears to hear the comfort noise that indicates even though I can’t hear his voice; he’s still listening and still connected.

[Ginny Olson is co-director of North Park University's Center for Youth Ministry Studies in Chicago, Illinois, is the author of numerous books, including Teenage Girls: Exploring Issues Adolescent Girls Face and Strategies to Help Them, and is a breakout speaker at Shift 2008.]

New Breakout Speakers

You may have already heard it on our most recent podcast, but we're excited to have two new breakout speakers added to the SHIFT 2008 lineup.

Mark Miller, founder of The Jesus Journey, and staff member of Life Church in Wheaton, IL, will be leading a breakout entitled "True Religion: Engaging Your Teens in Global Justice". Mark is a highly creative and thoughtful individual, and is the author of the book Experiential Storytelling.

Also, we're extremely fortunate to have Doug Fields, pastor to students at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, and president of Simply Youth Ministry, co-leading a point leader breakout track, "Saddleback Student Ministries: An Inside Look". Doug brings an incredible depth of experience and knowledge to the conference, and we couldn't be more happy to have him with us.

Doug's breakout (like all the other point leader track breakouts) are an incredible time for ministry directors and point leaders to gather in smaller settings (30-40 leaders) for an extended period of time (3 1/2 hrs!). What this means is more opportunity for you to talk with the breakout leaders, ask questions, and share your own ministry challenges and learnings with others.

You can sign up for either a Thursday AM or PM point leader breakout, or save money by signing up for both. For more info, click here.

The Upside and Downside of "The Usual"

You’ve seen it on TV, or in movies, right? A guy walks into a diner and says, “I’ll have The Usual.” And the person behind the counter knows just what to do. In minutes, they’ve got their “usual.”

All my life I’ve wanted to do that. But here’s my problem: I love variety. So not only do I love to go to different restaurants, coffee shops, diners…but I also seldom order the same thing twice! Makes it pretty tough to have a “usual”!
All that has changed for me recently…

I’ve been having a blast working on some writing projects these days. I’ve been getting up real early in the mornings to write, and I generally head to this great little coffee shop just a mile or two from my house. When I swing open the door, I’m greeted by name…and they often hand me “my” drink. I’m anticipated, recognized, and personally welcomed!

Do the students in your ministry feel that way, too?

I hope most of ours do. One of my biggest worries is for the student who doesn’t sense that. We make it a huge priority to get students connected to a consistent, caring adult in our ministry. We want them to know that at least one specific person is really looking forward to seeing them! No matter how many or how few students in a room, there’s gigantic value in being “anticipated”…and greeted by name.

But there’s also a snag in this concept of The Usual.

I’m not a coffee aficionado, so I’m not too picky about my java. But recently, I really felt like trying a dark roast. However, as I approached the counter, a smiling face was already handing me…The Usual. No big deal, but it made me wonder about times when “familiarity” can be less good in student ministry.

Eric always likes to talk about the Cubs, and he likes that I know his favorite players. But what if this week he’s ready to “try something different?” Maybe even subconsciously, he’s ready to talk about something deeper.

Kayla is happy-go-lucky from a great family. She likes that I joke with her every time she walks in. But what if this week, she’s just had an argument with her mom? If I’m not super dialed in, I can hand her The Usual … and miss a chance to go deeper.

Can we keep the upside of The Usual, while eluding the downside? I think so. But I can’t do it without intentionality. I can’t do it without paying attention to the whisper of God’s Spirit — the One who knows what’s going on inside that student. Often (but not often enough), before I’m around students, I’ll pray that God will give me the ability to make students feel personally welcomed but that He’ll also give me a sense of where to dig deeper in conversation … so I don’t just unthinkingly hand them The Usual!

[Scott Rubin is the director of Elevate, the junior high ministry at Willow Creek Community Church, and will be co-leading a Point Leader breakout, "Our Biggest Mistakes, and the Things We Accidentally Got Right", with Darren Whitehead at Shift 2008.]

Take the Hermeneutics Quiz!

by Mark Novelli

Last month, we blogged about Scot McKnight’s Hermenuetics Quiz in Leadership Journal. The quiz is now available to take online.

This tool is designed to help Church leaders in diagnosing their own blind spots with Scripture. It is comprised or 20 questions and at the end your score is plotted on a hermeneutic scale ranging from Conservative (20-52), Moderate (53-65), and Progressive (66 or higher).

Leadership Journal’s blog Our of Ur has posted Hermeneutics Quiz scores and thoughts from Dan Kimball, John Ortberg and others!

The online version is available here.

We are excited that Scot McKnight will be joining us in a few weeks at the SHIFT conference to challenge our thinking even deeper!

Greg Hawkins Podcast

"We've all seen the the statistics of how many students fall away from the church and God, and I just don't want that to happen. So if we can take the Reveal insights and bring it to folks earlier in their lives...it's probably one of the more important things I could do with my life."

So says Greg Hawkins in the latest installment of the Shift Experience Podcast. Greg is the Executive Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church and author of the groundbreaking research study and book Reveal.

The extensive research Greg and his team have done has led to some incredibly surprising learnings about how people - including students - grow spiritually. In the interview, Greg talks about some of the implications he believes the research has for student ministries, and those who lead them.

Greg will be speaking at Shift 2008 in a Featured Breakout, as well as an extended Point Leader Breakout, in which he'll dive even deeper into the Reveal research, and lead a discussion with 40-50 ministry point leaders about what the learnings mean for their own churches and ministries.

Nooma 20 Premiere

One of the just plain fun things we're going to get to do at Shift 2008 is to premiere the latest film in the Nooma series. It's actually Nooma 20, and you'll be able to get a sneak peak at it during our Thursday Night Experiences, before its even released.

Rob Bell and the folks at Nooma just released Nooma 19 - Open. Click here for a sample clip from the film.

Early Bird Deadline

There's only a couple of days left for you to register for Shift 2008 before the Early Bird Deadline passes.

If you register before by next Tuesday, February 26, you'll automatically receive $20 off the regular registration price. After Tuesday, its full price.

So if you haven't already, now is the time to register!

If you've been delaying because you still don't know exactly which of your team members are coming, you can always do what's called "Empty Registrations", meaning you register for the number of spots you want at the conference (assuring you the Early Bird price for each registration), and enter the actual names and info of your team members at a later date.

Register now by clicking here, or call the WCA Customer Service Center at 800.570.9812.

Return

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.]

Justice Hits Close to Home (Part Four)

by CYFM

In your experience, what keeps teenagers’ parents from being involved in a youth ministry's justice work?

Terry Linhart (Dean of the School of Religion and Philosophy of Bethel College in Indiana): I think there is, unfortunately, still a lot of misunderstanding surrounding the word “justice.” I find that many parents, even youth workers, see the word and associate it as lying at the other end of the theological spectrum from evangelism. This is still a leftover issue from the conservative/liberal battles of the 1960’s and it’s an artificial dichotomy we need to correct. From a kingdom perspective, the two go hand-in-hand.

Sandy Liu (Pastor of Youth and Children at Chinese Bible Church of Greater Boston): Parents are often too busy with their own life priorities (job stress, over-scheduled family activities, etc.). They let themselves be tyrannized by the urgent and end up forgetting what’s important.

Dave Livermore (Executive Director of the Global Learning Center at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary): For one thing, I'm not sure they're invited to do so. Either the students or their leaders may not take the initiative and many parents will either be intimidated or not feel free to invite themselves. I’ve found that simply taking the initiative to get parents involved is met by far more enthusiasm than resistance. This often requires some good conversations with our students ahead of time, too, as some of them may be horrified at the thought of Mom and Dad tagging along next Saturday afternoon.

Jeff Mattesich (Associate Pastor of Children and Students at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena): The main obstacles are fear, politics, and comfort. Many parents have successfully learned how to live out their Christianity without having to face the issue of justice. Their own personal theology does not require them to do so. Many times our justice efforts are towards those who are on the fringe of society and that comes with a large amount of fear based on stereotypes and a lack of real experience with "those kinds” of people.

Hal Hamilton (Youth and College Team Leader at First United Methodist in Tulsa, Oklahoma): There are lots of reasons, but I think a primary one is our desire for short-term gratification. We are trained by our culture to consume and achieve quickly, but those are difficult goals in justice and service work. In addition, I think we as youth pastors are often poor communicators. Parents are not confident that their youth pastor is organized enough, prepared enough, and oriented enough to comfort their fears and keep their kid safe.

[This blog post is the fourth in a series provided by Fuller Seminary's Center for Youth and Family Ministry. cyfm.net]

Needle and Thread

by Shauna Niequist

When my son Henry was born, we brought music into the delivery room that we thought would be the right sounds for him and for me, to serve as the soundtrack for his birth. We played songs by Ben Folds and Snow Patrol and Johnny Cash and the Beatles.

Just after Henry was born, and I mean just after—when Linda, the nurse, was weighing and measuring him, and his thin little gasping first cries sounded like the most beautiful sounds we had ever heard—at that moment, the only other thing we could hear, in the middle of the night in a silent hospital, was a song called “Needle and Thread” by Sleeping at Last. It’s about God and angels and hospitals and love, and in that moment, it became ours—our song, Henry’s song.

A few months later, Aaron and I went to a Sleeping at Last show, and when they played that song, we held hands, and I cried some more, and thought about our boy, about the night he was born, and the ride home, and the thousand moments in between—of life with Henry, and the rich and miraculous thing that it is to be his mother.

I wanted to tell the songwriter about it, about how thankful we were for his song, about how deeply his song traveled through the tenderest parts of our life, about how those words and sounds had become part of the story of one of the most sacred events of our lives.

I didn’t tell him, but if I had, this is what I would have said: Thank you. Thank you, and keep going. Please keep writing songs. Please keep believing in music, because we do, and we need it, and specifically, we need yours. We’re desperate for great music, and there’s so much out there, but never, ever enough. We’re desperate for great storytellers, great painters, great dancers, great cooks, because art does something nothing else does.

My friend, Steve, leads a junior-high ministry, and it’s a fun, funny, creative group of kids and leaders who get together on Tuesday nights to talk about how to live great lives and make the world better in God’s name. He asked me to come one Tuesday night so that he could interview me and let some of the students ask questions. We talked about being a writer and what that’s like, and about Henry, and about bands that I like, and after it was over, one girl came up to talk to me. She looked nervous, and a little shy.

“I write, too.” She said it like it was a confession or a secret. She leaned toward me and opened a notebook and showed me page after page after page of precise cursive. “Do you have any advice for me?” she asked.

“Thank you, and keep going,” I said. “Thank you for writing, for taking the time and spirit and soul to write, because I love to read, and I’m so thankful to writers like you, for writing things for me to read. And keep going, even when -people make you feel like it’s not that important. It might be the most important thing you do. Keep going.”

So to all the secret writers, late-night painters, would-be singers, lapsed and scared artists of every stripe, dig out your paintbrush, or your flute, or your dancing shoes. Pull out your camera or your computer or your pottery wheel. Today, tonight, after the kids are in bed or when your homework is done, or instead of one more video game or magazine, create something, anything.

Pick up a needle and thread, and stitch together something particular and honest and beautiful, because we need it. I need it.

Thank you, and keep going.

[This post is adapted from an essay in Shauna Niequist's recently published book, Cold Tangerines. Shauna is a breakout speaker at Shift 2008]

Changing Change (Part Two)

by Steve Argue

What Does Have to Change?
If you’re tempted to change anything… or “everything,” then start with changing you. Ask yourself why you want to change something, and then leave the god-speak out of your reasoning. There are times when you might “feel led” or “God is telling you” or “you’ve prayed about it.” But these types of statements don’t allow for dialogue or understanding. Be careful to not use your position or god-talk language as a cover for power and manipulation.

Good youth leaders don’t change the youth group and volunteers to fit their personality, they learn their context and get close enough to serve within it. This is the essence of the incarnation.

Changing Change
Change must happen “with” volunteers– not “to” them or “apart from” them. If you can’t communicate “your vision for the youth ministry” enough so that others can understand it and articulate it their own words, the group probably isn’t ready for change. To change means to change together, which requires patience, dialogue, and searching for what is best for everyone. This is what it means to be the church.

Everything’s got to change. In fact, because of the resurrection, everything is changing as God is putting the world back together. Embracing this change, demonstrated through Jesus, ignites change in the youth pastor, shared change with the volunteers, and lasting change for the faith community. Change is changed to something much more significant.

[This is the second of a two-part blog by Steve Argue, Executive Director of the Contextual Learning Center at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. Steve will be leading a Point Leader Breakout at Shift 2008 entitled Theological Essentials for Missional Leadership.]

Psalters Coming to Shift 2008!

by Kelly Dolan

One of the really fun things about the planning process for this year's Shift conference has been the recent addition of some new guests to the conference.

One group squarely in this category are the Psalters, who aren't really in the business of being a worship band as much as being "a nomadic tribe...walking in the footsteps of ancients past to the far corners of the present, united as one voice against the oppression within and without."

They're musicians and activists, traveling and partnering with other Christian communities, like the one Shane Claiborne is a part of in Philadelphia, The Simple Way.

Psalters will be leading a Thursday night worship experience at Shift 2008,
and we feel really fortunate to have them with us.

For more info, click here.

Changing Change (Part One)

by Steve Argue

I have a lot of conversations with clever, talented, young youth pastors who are eager to unleash their ideas and energy into new or future ministries. Often I hear them say something like this: “When I get into that youth pastor role, I’m going to change everything.”

We don’t have to be rookie youth pastors to share this sentiment. Even those of us who have been in ministry a while feel that urge, at certain times of the year or after we come back from a conference, to say, “I’m going to change everything.”

Before anyone starts revamping everything, youth pastors should reflect on what change actually means.

The Temptation of Change
There’s a temptation that comes with leadership, especially new leadership, to change things once one is in charge. Changing things often makes a statement that “we’re leaving the past” (so as to erase the memories of previous leadership) or to demonstrate to those around them that the leader is “in charge.”

Interestingly, most of these types of changes are structural in nature. Mix up the staff, re-assign the volunteers, change the youth group name, re-create youth group night, move the piano, etc., etc. They make a big splash but do not really have the power for creating deep, lasting change. Youth pastors (new an and old) must continually realize that, while surface change brings a new look, people and practices often remain virtually the same.

The quick, unreflective fixes to change things on the surface, diverts youth leaders from addressing the deeper issues.

Everything’s Got to Change!
A leader sat in my office and told me that he had been to a few meetings at the church and that he was going to take the teaching away from some volunteers who were “boring the students to death.” “I just have to change it because it’s horrible,” he said.

“How do you know?” I asked?

“Because I can tell it’s terrible and it’s not fair to the students.”

“That could be,” I said, “but how do you know that changing the teaching is the best thing to do?”

I’m not saying my friend was wrong in his assessment. He’s smart and he may be on to something. But his assumptions we unfounded. He had nothing to go on other then his lone perception. If one fails to take the time to understand the history, the relationships, the dynamics, and the hearts and minds of the volunteers, he/she will “solve” one problem and create even more.

Whether you think their reasons are good or bad is irrelevant. Changing without understanding benefits only one person– you. And that’s not good enough.

[This is part one of a two-part blog by Steve Argue, Executive Director of the Contextual Learning Center at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. Steve will be leading a Point Leader Breakout at Shift 2008 entitled Theological Essentials for Missional Leadership.]

Keeping up with Switchfoot

You probably already know that Switchfoot will be joining us on April 10 at Shift 2008. But if you want to know where they'll be and what they're up to until then, keep up with the band at The Daily Foot, Switchfoot's own travel-blog of their current "Appetite for Construction" tour.

Also, in a glimpse of what might be at the conference, watch Switchfoot in a video of their acoustic performance of the song "Rebuild", recorded live in the studio at Seattle radio station Spirit 105.3

Justice Hits Close to Home (Part Three)

by CYFM

Why should youth workers try to engage their kids' parents in the justice and service work that their youth ministry is doing?

Hal Hamilton (Youth and College Team Leader at First United Methodist in Tulsa, Oklahoma): I think youth pastors must involve parents in ANY ministry that is intended to be meaningful, purposeful, and life-impacting. Justice is no exception. Parents are the primary mediator of their children's values. If justice and service work is left to teenagers, we run the danger of teaching that it is only for this season of life. Not only that, but teens and adults need each other in this arena. Teens have the passion and the fire for change. Adults have the networks and the resources to bring it about.

Sandy Liu (Pastor of Youth and Children at Chinese Bible Church of Greater Boston): Justice and service work are often located in places of high risk. Sadly, most parents go to great lengths to provide a safe, secure, insulated “cocoon” for their kids, away from the “big bad world”. When God calls young people to help and reach the “least of these”, parents who share the same vision and passion can bless and enable their kid to answer God's call.

Dave Livermore (Executive Director of the Global Learning Center at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary): Involving parents makes sense on a number of levels. For one thing, what a rich way to allow parents to share firsthand in the formational experience of these kinds of opportunities with their kids. Furthermore, the more parents are involved, the less fearful they’ll be about potential risks and dangers. Best of all, parents will be personally shaped by doing it.

Cari Jenkins (Founder of 11:29 Project): The more parents are modeling, growing, and learning with their kids, the more lasting the imprint on the entire family. If a parent begins to wrestle with social issues and starts managing their checkbook differently, kids are more likely to change their own lifestyles.

Jeff Mattesich (Associate Pastor of Children and Students at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena): The potential of the family adopting these values and lifestyle will better ensure that service and justice work is not merely seen as a "program" that students “did” while they were in the youth ministry. When the entire family is involved, it’s more likely that students will live out justice priorities beyond youth group.

[This blog post is the third in a series provided by Fuller Seminary's Center for Youth and Family Ministry. cyfm.net]

Scot McKnight Quiz in Leadership Journal

by Shift 2008

Scot McKnight hinted at this on our recent podcast interview with him,
but he's got a fascinating quiz that's part of the the Winter 2008 issue
of Leadership Journal, and is generating a lot of conversation over at Out of Ur.

Basically, his quiz is aimed at helping pastors and leaders discover some of their biases and blind spots in their approach to interpreting the Bible.

Fellow Shift speaker Dan Kimball and former Willow Creek pastor John Ortberg have both taken the test and share their thoughts on the blog.

What is Postmodernism?

by Brian McLaren

The first thing to say about postmodernism is that the term is highly contested. For some people, it means compromise, nihilism (which means a belief in nothing), an abandonment of truth, atheism, relativism, and just about every other bad thing possible. Others, I imagine, are equally naive about its dangers.

My best understanding of the term is embedded in the story of Europe after World War II. European intellectuals were stunned at the way the most advanced, "Enlightened," and scientific nations of the world could descend into two world wars, not to mention the holocaust. They became disillusioned with the dream of secularism and rationalism, the dream that reason alone could lead us beyond war and violence.

In the decades after the war, they looked back on the history of colonialism (these were the years England let go of its last colonies) and began to realize how much damage had been caused. Something similar happened with the civil rights movement in the US - Americans looked back on our history of racism and slavery and genocide of Native Peoples. Meanwhile, the environmental movement was being born, and we all looked back on how much we had destroyed the planet in the pursuit of wealth, and the women's movement looked at how badly women had been treated.

Put all of these together, and I think Western Civilization was struck with a kind of crisis of conscience, and a crisis of confidence. It was as if we lost our naive modern belief that reason, science, government, economics, and other societal institutions could solve all our problems.

So I would define postmodern as living in the aftermath of modern confidence. That shift in consciousness has huge implications for the way we who are committed Christians see and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[Brian McLaren is the author of the recent book, Everything Must Change, and will be a main session speaker at Shift 2008. He discusses this and other related topics in our November 2007 podcast.]

Running A Race or Fit for a Pew?

by Jeff Vanderstelt

A few years back a friend of my challenged me to run with him in the Chicago Marathon. I had never run a race before, but my competitive edge led me to take on the challenge. I have never been so intent on getting in shape in my life. I heard that some people die during marathons (some figuratively and some literally). I wanted to get in shape not so I could just run the race – I wanted to do it and live.

As I have pondered the results of the REVEAL research and thought through the implications for student ministry, I have harkened back several times to my experience with the Marathon training. I got into shape because I HAD TO – it was a matter of necessity and survival.

It seems to me that we could address the matter of spiritually unfit Christians from one of two approaches. We could address it like we address our problem with physically unfit Americans – build more health clubs, sell more fitness products, host more seminars and work hard to make sure everyone has a personal trainer. No one would argue that we are lacking any of this in America and all of us would agree – we are not much healthier as a result.

Or, we could look at it from another angle – what if we called every student to get ready to run a marathon? (Maybe the apostle Paul was on to something here.)

Is it possible that the reason that the church is not spiritually fit is really due to the fact that many of us are merely calling people, students and adults, to sit around and observe other spiritually fit missionaries perform in front of them? Let’s ask ourselves: “What are we calling students to that requires them to be spiritually fit?”

What if we called students to run the race of the mission of the gospel? What if every student in our care believed they were called to full-time ministry in their schools, jobs and neighborhoods and that every moment was a gospel ministry moment? What if we helped them see that the small group they were involved in was really a potential core group of a new church to be started in their community and eventually they were going to be the pastors?

What if the church once again called her people, especially her teenagers, to get ready to be sent out to start new churches everywhere and they knew they had only a couple of years to get ready? I wonder - would they take their spiritual fitness and training a little more seriously? Would we?

The race has already started. Let the training begin...


[Jeff Vanderstelt is the lead elder of Soma Communities in Tacoma, Washington, and a breakout speaker at Shift 2008. He was also a contributor to the book, Impact: Student Ministry That Will Transform a Generation.]

Justice Hits Close to Home (Part Two)

by Kara Powell

In 2006, MTV conducted a nationwide survey in order to understand how and why youth in America are already active in social causes. Here’s what that study found:

Of the kids they surveyed, 70 percent say it’s important to help others in need. Only 19 percent are “very involved” in doing so.

62 percent say the issues that matter most to them are those that have touched them or someone they know.

70 percent of kids involved in activism report that their parents’ encouragement played a major factor in their choice to get involved.

(This research can be accessed for free at mtv.com/thinkmtv/research)

In the midst of these findings, one theme emerges: Justice needs to hit kids close to home. It needs to hit close to home thematically as we help kids understand how particular injustices relate to their lives. But it also needs to hit home literally as we invite parents both to exemplify and to encourage their own kids to right wrongs around them.

[This blog post is the second in a series provided by Fuller Seminary's Center for Youth and Family Ministry. CYFM recently invited a handful of youth pastors and short-term missions experts to wrestle with some tough questions about parenting and justice . Excerpts from this discussion will be shared in upcoming weeks on this blog. Kara Powell is the co-author of Deep Justice in a Broken World, and a main session speaker at Shift 2008. Other free resources and articles like this are available at www.cyfm.net]

Dan Kimball Video

by Kelly Dolan

I loved talking to Dan Kimball back in our October podcast. I'm excited he's going to be at the Shift conference because I feel like he brings clarity and honesty to what's not working right in the Church, while still presenting hope for what the Church can be when its at its best, and the opportunity it has with a generation of young people who are really interested in Jesus.

Dan talks more about this in an update on his own blog about some recent projects he's been working on, and in this video clip from last summer's WCA Arts Conference.

Super Early Bird Deadline

Just a quick reminder that there's only a few days left until the Super Early Bird Deadline.

If your register for Shift 2008 by next Tuesday, January 22, you'll automatically receive $40 off the regular registration price.

Register now.

Justice Hits Close to Home (Part One)

by Kara Powell

I was midway through my Wednesday night youth group clean up routine. Working with a team of student leaders and adult volunteers, we were stowing away our sound system, stacking up chairs, and scooping up the candy wrappers and smashed paper cups that littered our youth room floor.

But then came a not-so-routine conversation, one that forever altered the way I involve parents in justice and service. Two mothers walked up to me, both of whom were concerned about their fourteen year-old sons.

The mother who reached me first shared her anxiety: “Ever since the series that you taught on missions, my son keeps saying he wants to go to Guatemala on a short-term mission trip this summer. I lay awake at night, worried that something bad will happen to him. He’s only fourteen and I’m afraid he’ll get hurt.”

The second mother, having overheard the first mom, sighed and shared one of the more convicting statements I’ve ever heard one parent share with another. “I wish that was my problem. My son doesn’t want anything to do with church or God anymore, and I think his friends are into drugs. I’d give anything to have a son who wants to serve the Lord in Guatemala this summer.”

Was the first mother wrong to be concerned about her son’s safety? Of course not, but seeking to right wrongs through acts of justice and service are always risky on some level. Perhaps the deeper issue was her hesitation about justice work in the first place. God was inviting her son to participate in the kingdom through acts of justice, but allowing her son to RSVP to that invitation felt way too uncomfortable.

As youth workers, the justice invitation we extend doesn’t stop at the in-box of the fourteen year-old. Like pretty much everything else we do in youth ministry, our impact on both the fourteen year-old and our planet will be magnified when we do the hard work of adding parents’ names to our invitation list.

[Kara Powell is the co-author of Deep Justice in a Broken World, and a main session speaker at Shift 2008. This blog post is the first in a series provided by Fuller Seminary's Center for Youth and Family Ministry. Other free resources and articles like this are available at www.cyfm.net]

Switchfoot Coming to Shift 2008!

We're excited to announce that Switchfoot will be joining us this April at Shift 2008. The band will be part of our Thursday Night Experiences, playing an acoustic set of their music, followed by a Q&A session.

For more info this exciting addition to our event, click here.

Podcast with Scot McKnight

The first podcast of 2008 is now posted in the Podcasts section of the site. It features an interview with Scot McKnight, professor at North Park University, and writer of the popular blog, jesuscreed.org.

Check out the podcast by clicking here.

What is The Emerging Church (and Is It Safe)?

by Brian McLaren

"The Emerging Church" can be a defined in a few ways, but I think it's best to be broad and global and say it like this: the church around the world, in all its denominations and forms, is continually emerging. Some move faster and others slower, but all of us are continually adapting to changes in our world.

The early church emerged from a period of persecution into a period of acceptance and endorsement, for example, under Constantine. The church of the Middle Ages emerged into the modern era through the work of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others. And now, in many varied ways, the church of the modern, colonial, industrial, Enlightenment world is emerging into the postmodern, postcolonial, post-industrial, and post-Enlightenment world.

It's a complex process, and it looks different in Buenos Aires than in Boston or Berlin or Kuala Lumpur, but the similarity is that people are seeking to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ in a changing world.

Transitions like these are never safe: we can seek to retain things that should be let go, and we can let go things that should be ret