[North Georgia Conference Youth]

YOUTH WORKER TRAINING & COMMUNITY GATHERING
with Charles Harrison “When Grace is the Chauffer”

In the fall of 2001, Andy Lewis, Charles Harrison, Georgia Harrison, and Andy Stoker gathered around a table and dreamed about an alternative model for Youth Ministry that would reflect our shared Wesleyan values as United Methodists. Through this process, “When Grace is the Chauffer” was born.

Through this model we tried to answer some questions:

If John Wesley was the Youth Minister in any Church we have served, what would he have done differently?

How can we implement into our shared ministries with Youth the latest psychological and sociological research that helps us understand developmental issues and respond appropriately to meet Youth where they are?

How do Youth form their identities?

What happens during conversion?

How do we form community?

What should discipleship and evangelism look like?

Should we re-think how we involve Youth in mission work?

Is Wesleyan theology still viable in the Post-Modern Matrix?

What about the “worship wars” of style versus substance?

We also wondered out loud together about some other trends we knew about:

Why is the turnover in Youth Ministers so frequent?

Is “big-box” Youth ministry the best way?

Why has entertainment become a dominant model of “ministry” with Youth?

Why are so many United Methodist Churches buying educational resources from non-Wesleyan para-church organizations and/or from non-Wesleyan mega-churches?

Why has the mission “to make disciples” been corrupted by the measurements of membership?

What started out as a conversation about Youth soon turned into a model that involved the entire Church in a Holistic way. We decided that Youth Ministry must be fully integrated into a Church model that was distinctly Wesleyan.

Join us on May 3^rd as we begin to address these questions through the direction of Charles Harrison and Andy Stoker. Mark your calendar! For more information about the Center for Wesleyan Renewal, www.cfwr.org.

The Source

Are you in need of spiritual and ministerial rejuvenation? Come to The 'Source, a yearly gathering for adult workers focused on enhancing personal spiritual growth and exploring new resources for ministries with youth and young adults.

Click here for more information.

Youth Ministry Institute

A Skill Set Training for adults that seeks to provide essential tools for Faithful Ministry; including the Biblical, theological, spiritual, historical, and contextual grounds of youth ministry. Participants will be exposed to practical ministry skills that help strengthen ministry with youth and explore their gifts, graces, and call to ministry with youth within an atmosphere of academic excellence and personal spiritual enrichment. A new class will begin each fall at Camp Glisson along with four subsequent Thursdays throughout the year at Roswell UMC. For questions contact Tina Pinkston. Registration is limited to the first 25 applicants. To view the YMI website with more information click here. Registration for our class beginning fall of 08 will commence in May.

For YMI alumni- we'll meet during each of the one day's at Roswell for a reunion- we'll hit on a topic for each gathering. Visit yminstitute.org for more information

Youth Ministry Forum

Sign up for the 2008 Princeton Forum on Youth Ministry in Nashville, Tennessee on January 7-11, 2008. These cutting edge conferences provide theological education for people in ministry with youth. If you can not make it to the Nashville Forum please consider the Forum April 28 - May 1 in Princeton, New Jersey.

The theme for the 2008 Forums is "And You Will Be My Witnesses...." We will be examining missional theology and missional models of church along with their practical implications for how we engage in ministry with young people. Leaders include Dina Butler Bass, Kenda Creasy Dean, Darrell Guder, Douglas John Hall, Roland Martinson, Fred Smith and many others.

For Forum details and registration, including course descriptions, schedules, lodging details, and more information on what to expect, please visit the website http://www.ptsem.edu/iym