Northwest Conference Youth Ministry news
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Ministry with Special Needs in Mind 
Thursday, March 21 12 - 3 p.m. Bethlehem Covenant (3141 43rd Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406) www.bethlehemcov.org Bring your lunch. More and more frequently, youth ministries are reaching adolescents with special needs. With statistics like 15% of kids being identified as having a developmental disability, or 1 in 88 kids identified as having an autism spectrum disorder, how disability-sensitive is your ministry? At our Connection, Kathy Castor will briefly explore disability areas, parent perspectives, and introduce strategies that will help you begin to think more purposefully about students with special needs. Kathy Castor, MS, CCC-SLP, is the mother of three future adults - a developing cartoonist, an on-the-go adventure seeker, and a warrior princess. She is a Certified Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) and is currently working in a suburban school district. In this role, she works with students from kindergarten to age 20 in Lifeskills classrooms, designed for students with severe disabilities. Kathy has been involved with youth ministry and/or children's ministry for over 20 years. Kathy comes to the topic of Ministry with Special Needs in Mind as a parent, a professional, and a Jesus-following youth worker.Coming Connections:
April 18 - Michael Novelli: founder of Echo the Story, senior curriculum developer for Sparkhouse, and former youth pastor. "For several years Michael has been developing narratives and training to help others discover the art of 'Storying,' a dialogical approach to Bible learning. Michael is continually seeking the most effective ways to help people learn." http://echo.wearesparkhouse.org May 16 - Dr. Paul Eddy, Biblical and Theological Studies professor at Bethel University, will be talking about theology and youth ministry. |
MOVE 2013 to feature worship led by JonCarlos Velez MOVE (Mission Outreach Venture and Experience) is April 12-13 at First Covenant Church in Minneapolis. It's a great opportunity for high school students to experience serving in an urban environment while being challenged to see the invisible around them: invisible people, invisible injustices, invisible peers. Amy Williams is our speaker. An 18-year youth ministry veteran, Amy follows her passion to minister to teens involved in gangs, youth on probation/parole, and those lost in the juvenile justice system - at the core of which life-on-life mentoring is her key strategy. As a certified Gang Intervention Specialist, she heard God's call to move into a Latino gang neighborhood in Chicago's Humboldt Park community to be a "Hope Dealer" doing street outreach. Amy has pursued her calling as a youth pastor, reentry coordinator for paroled youth, and mentor trainer/coordinator. JonCarlos Velez and his team will lead worship. Currently the Creative Arts Pastors at Northstar Community Church in Coon Rapids, MN, JonCarlos and his wife Gabriella help lead people into God's presence. He's also been known to bust out some random salsa moves on occasion. For more MOVE details, registration info, poster, etc., visit our MOVE Page. Registration deadline is Thursday, March 28.
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Kara Powell to speak at NWC Annual Meeting April 26-27  NWC Annual Meeting, April 26-27 Minnehaha Academy, Minneapolis, MN FREE You had a chance to hear her at Recharge. Now, cast the vision of whole church youth ministry by bringing your senior pastor, leaders, parents and others who care about youth. They'll hear how adults (not just the youth pastor) need to come around adolescents to help create a faith that sticks beyond high school. Friday night, Kara is preaching at the worship service on "Sticky Faith Churches: The Relationships and Worship that Benefit All Ages." Afterwards, stick around for a dessert gathering to meet other youth and children-type people in our conference. Saturday morning, Kara is leading a seminar on "Sticky Faith: Practical Ideas to Deepen Your Ministry." Both Friday and Saturday's gatherings are free and open to the public.
To download promo materials or register for the meting, visit our NWC Annual Meeting page. For more information about Sticky Faith and free, downloadable resources, go to stickyfaith.org. |
Summer NWC Events 
Adventures in Leadership - June 15-22 Deadline for applications is April 9 Do you have a high school student leader who is ready to be challenged to grow in his/her leadership abilities? Nominate 1 or 2 of your key leadership students for AIL. This amazing leadership development experience affirms the leadership potential of students and captures their imaginations on how God can use them as leaders. Because of its impact, other ECC conferences are now looking to replicate the AIL experience for their students. If you're interested in being an AIL leader, contact Jon Kramka. Promo and application materials are now available on our AIL page. MUUUCE - August 15-17 The Most Unbelievable Ultimate Urban Camping Experience for middle school/jr. high students will be at Crossroads in Woodbury, MN. Heather Flies is our speaker! More details to come. Emerge - August 23-25 Begin to plan now for this conference-wide high school leadership retreat. It's a great opportunity to build your student leadership team and launch them for the school year. It's at Lake Beauty Camp. More details to come. |
In our region ...
Youth Specialties' Unconference April 4, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Substance Church Operations Center 2776 Cleveland Ave N.,
St Paul, MN 55113 Free, including lunch "A YS UnConference is designed around collaboration, discussion and relationships. It isn't about lectures or training but rather about learning from each other, identifying and solving problems we share in the field of youth ministry. Rather than a person or committee planning the direction of the event from the top down, the event 'self organizes' from the bottom up." ysunconference.com/twin-cities Autism: Tools to Integrating the Church and the Student - April 8 Youth Leadership Join Lisa Fernelius and Bekah Miller for an education about autism and learn practical, hands-on ideas to help integrate students with autism in to your youth ministry setting. You will also learn communication techniques (with parents, other leaders and students themselves), making realistic expectations (for yourself, your ministry and your students), and how to create an Individual Ministry Plan for students within your church. If you attended this 1-hour workshop at Recharge - get ready to take things to another level. More info: www.youthleadership.org/3HOUR-Training.aspx
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Denominational Youth Ministry Updates
Check out the denomination's youth ministry blog to find out what's going on in youth ministry beyond the Northwest Conference: http://blogs.covchurch.org/ywupdate/. You can also subscribe to the Youth Worker Updates, both weekly and monthly versions.
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March 21, 2013
Youth Pastor's Connection
- Bethlehem Covenant in Minneapolis
April 12-13, 2013 MOVE - First Covenant Church, Minneapolis, MN
April 18, 2013 Youth Pastor's Connection - Bethlehem Covenant in Minneapolis
April 25-27, 2013 NWC Annual Meeting - Minnehaha Academy, Minneapolis, MN
April 28, 2013 Minnehaha Academy Centennial Celebration - North Campus, Minneapolis, MN
May 16, 2013 Youth Pastor's Connection - Bethlehem Covenant in Minneapolis
June 15-22, 2013
Adventures in Leadership - Adventurous Christians, Grand Marais, MN
August 15-17, 2013 MUUUCE - Crossroads Church in Woodbury
Aug. 23-25, 2013 Emerge - Lake Beauty Bible Camp
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Superintendent Mark Stromberg Director of Church Planting Mike Brown Director of Congregational Vitality Jon Kramka
Director of Youth Ministry Ginny Olson Director of Children & Family Ministry Kara Stromberg Office Administrator Cheryl Theilen Director of Communications Bryan Malley 612.721.4893 800.756.6692 |
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