Kick-off this Thursday, 9/20, from 12-3 p.m.! Bring your lunch and meet us at Bethlehem Covenant (3141 43rd Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406-2292). The Connection is a great time to meet with other youth pastors for connection and prayer and to know you're not alone in this crazy thing called "youth ministry."

Next month, we're meeting on 10/25 due to MEA. Brian Pingle from North Central University will be talking with us about the challenges students face as they transition from high school to college.

Other meeting dates are Nov. 15, Jan. 17, Feb. 21, March 21, April 18 and May 16.

VIVE - Oct. 6 at First Covenant, St. Paul

Do you have a high school student who's facing obstacles when it comes to college? Maybe they're the first one in their family to attempt to go or they're facing financial challenges. Think about sending them to VIVE on Oct. 6 from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. at First Covenant Church in St. Paul. They'll be inspired by Steve Fitzhugh (former Denver Bronco), interact with the North Park University worship team and learn practical ways to achieve their college dream. Breakfast and lunch are included.

Converge: Oct. 27, 2012

Make plans to send a team to the Converge leadership training event, which will take place at Redeemer Covenant Church in Brooklyn Park, MN, on Oct. 27. The one-day NWC event will feature a variety of workshops designed for pastors and lay leaders to come together to learn and be inspired. Visit our Converge page  to download a promo poster and flyer/registration form.

Reload - Oct. 27, 2012

Reload is a one-day training event for urban youth workers and youth workers dealing with urban issues. It meets at Christ Church International and the $30 fee includes lunch. For more information, go to uywi.org/events  

Time to Breathe - Oct. 26-28,  

A senior high retreat centered on spiritual practices and providing instruction in various prayer practices and lots of time for students to try them out, reflect and discuss. It's great for students just learning to pray as well as for those looking to go deeper in their relationship with Jesus.
 
This retreat is sponsored by the denomination and hosted by Salem Covenant Church. It will take place somewhere within 45 minutes of Salem (New Brighton). Cost is $65 which includes 3 meals Saturday and breakfast Sunday. We'll start Friday at around 8 p.m. and finish Sunday at around 11 a.m. If you can't stay Saturday night we can figure that out, too.  

This might be a great fit for most of your group or just a few students. If you have questions or are interested, contact Ben Pease at bpease@salemcov.org.  Here's the link to general retreat info:

Recharge 2013

This one-day youth ministry leadership training event will be Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013. The super early-bird cost is only $31 a person and includes lunch. It will again be hosted at St. Andrews Church in Mahtomedi, MN. Kara Powell, co-author of "Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids," will be one of the keynote speakers. Check out the Sticky Faith movement at stickyfaith.org.  

For more info on Recharge, check out the website: http://www.ministryrecharge.com/  

From the Boundary Waters to Knoxville, from Valley Fair to Lake Beauty, this summer was packed with events designed to challenge NWC students to live and lead out of their faith.  

AIL 

The NWC's Adventures in Leadership took place in June. Remember the Duluth flood? Well, the AIL crew was out on the trail during that time and learned to be a servant leader when circumstances are tough and miserable.

Many of this same team were able to continue learning about servant leadership at CHIC as well. The Central and Canadian conferences participated in an AIL pilot in July to see if they can adapt the principles and format to their conferences in the future.

See photos from AIL 2012 

CHIC 

July saw over 1,300 people from the Northwest Conference converge upon Knoxville, TN (that's 25% of CHIC). High school students were challenged to face their weaknesses and sin and grapple with the truth of the Gospel and how to live that out. The word we kept hearing from youth pastors was, "breakthrough," to describe what was happening with their students.

MUUUCE 

There was barely time to unpack from CHIC before August came with MUUUCE. This year, it was hosted by Crossroads Church in Woodbury and they did an amazing job! They thought of everything from MUUUCE tattoos, hair painting and hot donuts at the Welcome Fair to treats, hot coffee and a quiet room for tired adult leaders.

But beyond CHAOS games and Valley Fair rides, students wrestled with issues of faith and following Christ. Greg Speck mixed humor and stories into his messages about unleashing your inner hero (Superhero was the theme). Afterwards, he shared some of the feedback he received:

• "My relationship with Christ has never been better .... My hunger for God's Word is growing by the day. I find myself so, so excited to read my Bible and I pray throughout the day. Thank you so much for everything you said at MUUUCE, it really encouraged me :)"
• "I have been praying and talking to him a LOT more, before I went to MUUUCE I didn't really know how to talk to him and now I do!"
• "Hearing you talk at MUUUCE really made me open my eyes! I let God into my life."
• "The Lord taught me that I need to not be afraid to talk about him to other people because of what they might think of me."

Emerge 

Capping off the summer at the end of August was the very first Emerge high school leadership retreat. The Covenant is rolling out a new experience to challenge high school students to step into leadership and we were privileged to pilot it.

Almost 60 students and leaders from around our conference experienced team building challenges, reflected on how they're gifted for leadership, and how God is calling them to lead in their communities. A great example of this was shown in the worship team: Rocky Hovda from First Covenant in Willmar brought a team of students and leaders from various ministries in the community who led worship over the weekend.

The Northwest Conference is pleased to welcome Kara Stromberg as the new Director of Children & Family Ministry. She began serving in the new role on Sept. 15. 

Recently, she worked as Director of Training at Youth Leadership. Kara currently teaches adjunct courses in Mentored Leadership Development at Bethel Seminary and is a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church speaker team.

Kara and her husband, Nate, along with their children, Ben and Greta, live in St. Paul and are active members of First Covenant Church in St. Paul. Having served as a staff minister, a deacon and volunteer, Kara understands the unique challenges of ministry teams and is excited for this opportunity to focus on children and families.

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To get the latest updates on events and other youth ministry happenings for the NWC, follow us on Facebook: Northwest Conference Youth Ministry page or on Twitter @nwcym