2 seminars coming up

There are two upcoming seminars which will be helpful for youth parents and youth volunteers.

Here they are:

The College Transition:  Your purpose, your faith, and your community

March 20, 2011: 2pm-5pm The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg Pre-registration: $10 student/$20 max family · All seats at door (if available): $15 per person Register online

This seminar is designed for college-bound high school students (9th-12th) and their parents and will address the transition from high school to college. This multimedia seminar is engaging, interactive, and challenges teenagers and parents to think deeply about the most crucial questions to ask before entering college. Designed to focus on the unique pressures and influences students face in higher education, this seminar and related support materials will help students and parents better understand and prepare to face these pressures and challenges from a distinctively Christian perspective. Youth leaders and Christian School teachers are also highly encouraged to attend. Derek Melleby is the Director of the College Transition Initiative at CPYU and the Coalition for Christian Outreach. He is the author of the just released book,  Make College Count: A Faithful Guide to Life and Learning and co- author of The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness. His seminars have been presented across the country to students, parents, educators and pastors. For more information on this event, please visit http://theconnectionministries.org/events/the-college-transition or call 717-545-9500.

Hope and Healing for Broken Kids  A one day training event from CPYU

REGISTER TODAY! Walt Mueller invites you to CPYU's one-day training seminar for youth workers, educators, parents, pastors and counselors. Saturday, April 9, 2011 8:45am-5pm Monroeville Assembly of God Church 4561 Old William Penn Highway Monroeville, PA 15146   Click here to learn more. Click here to register.

Presenters Rich Van Pelt is the National Director of Ministry Relationships for Compassion International. Rich has expertise in dealing with struggling adolescents, crisis intervention, and postvention-helping kids and parents navigate some of life's toughest stuff. Marv Penner, CPYU Associate Staff, heads up Youth Specialties, Canada and is director of All About Youth and the National Center for Excellence in Youth Ministry. In addition to his teaching, speaking and writing, Marv specializes in parent/adolescent conflict resolution, sexual abuse recovery, eating disorders and marriage and family issues.

Great article about helping students find their identity

Here it is:

https://www.cpyu.org/files/Engage/PDFs/2011/January/Youth%20Culture%20Now%20-%20Who%20am%20I.pdf

Parenting Beyond Your Capacity

Hello parents!

You have heard me talking about the concept of "Orange", and I wanted to  make you all aware of this book that is put out by "Re-Think", which is where  all this Orange stuff comes from anyway.

It is written just for you as parents, and it boils down the parental portions of  the book "Think Orange", giving you something tangible to apply to  parenting.

As parents we know we are called by God to disciple our children, and in our heart we really do want to. At times it is hard to know where to start, or what it really looks like in real life. That is where this book comes in - it is practical advice on how to disciple your children for God's glory.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book - so much so that I bought 2 copies and put them in the church library so you can read them. So I want to really challenge you to take the time to check it out of the library and read through it. It isn't that long, and I really believe it will be super helpful.

Be sure to let me know what you think of it when you do read it! I want to dialog about this stuff.

 

YouthMinistry.com "Daily"

YouthMinistry.com has started something recently that I have enjoyed - it is a very brief daily email newsletter called (appropriately enough) "daily".

It is one way to daily think about how to minister to students. You can see what the emails look like by scrolling down in this post. If you decide this is something you would want to subscribe to, you can do so here: http://simplyyouthministry.us1.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=71e6b0d8edbf781322013b57d&id=1e59a6ca94

ideas, thoughts, and occasional insights for leadership & relationships www.youthministry.com what are they hearing from you?CATALYTIC CHALLENGES? Doug Fields & Matt McGill You have the potential to be a catalyst in your teenagers' lives. After the memories have been made and the relationships established, there will be moments when you will have the opportunity to challenge a teenager to make a new spiritual step. With discernment, the right word can propel him/her to connect with God in deeper ways. Here are 7 ideas to help you positivity provoke teenagers: Start out slow. Build bridges by talking about normal stuff, don't jump straight into the deep end and ask them to dress like John the Baptist and prophesize like Jeremiah. Every conversation doesn't have to be a tipping point opportunity, so don't feel the need to force it. Draw them closer to Jesus. This sounds like a no-brainer, but there is a subtle temptation to become "the wise one" and cultivate greater loyalty to you and/or the ministry. Instead, make it your goal to help want to be more like Jesus instead of you. turn the corner on your relational ministry and develop mentors Be committed to their self discovery. It's so much easier to get out the soapbox, step up and preach. Instead, be a guide in your relationships and set the course, but allow them to set the pace and take breaks along the way. They may not want to go as deep as you do right away, that's okay. Slow, incremental progress is perfectly okay. Occasionally getting stuck in confusion is fine, too. New vistas of insight are often discovered beyond a plateau of confusion. A common tendency in discipleship is to assume others will grow the same way you do. Ask questions. A strong, definitive statement typically mutes a response or is met with shallow agreement or hesitant ambivalence. The beauty of a question is that it puts the ball in the teenager's court and gives him/her space to reflect. When they ask you a question, slow down, don't rush an answer and when you do answer, do so carefully. Sometimes the best answer can be another question. Listen well. It's a gift to a teenager when someone fully pays attention and isn't preparing an answer while pretending to listen. If good listening results in a short time of awkward silence (because you're thinking about a response once the teenager has finished) that's totally acceptable! When you say, "That's good… let me think about that for a second," you affirm their question. Don't interrupt. Let them finish. Everyone knows you're passionate! How can you not be? But the expression of a little self control will net big results. Focus on being faithful rather than successful. It's okay if they don't get it (what you're trying to convey/convince them of), rarely do we learn something the first time we hear it. Planting seeds is success, even if they don't yet sprout. A quick aside: refresh yourself with Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman as a way to gain additional insight for how conversation can change lives. Good leadership builds healthy relationships with your students. Great leadership also challenges them to go deeper. turn the corner on your relational ministry and develop mentors doug fields @dougfields matt mcgill @mattmcgill Rug Burn: Indoor Youth Ministry Games Grass Stain: Out Door Youth Ministry Games Devoted: 31 Days with Jesus (youth devotional) Old Testament Heroes: Bible Study for teens Prepared: Getting Ready to Teach the Bible © Simply Youth Ministry 2010

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