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Since 1999, this week has been a special week. It would begin on Sunday evening. I would lead our Sunday night student ministry gathering, which was also our last youth gathering until Advent Sunday, and wish our students a 'Happy Thanksgiving.' I'd go home, rest and celebrate what God was doing with our students. Monday I would wake, head into the office, run through my To Do List, and clean things up in the office. Mid afternoon I would head home top finish packing and getting ready to go away.

It was the highlight of my year. I looked forward to it every year. It was a staple on my personal and ministry calendar. It was the same week every year. And I couldn't wait for it to arrive. It was the National Youth Workers Convention (NYWC).

From 1999 to 2007, I was an attendee. For 8 years I sat through workshops, seminars, general session speakers, intensives, breakouts, and roundtables. I walked the exhibit hall countless times.  I enjoyed the concerts and special activities provided. And I shopped the Convention store, browsing the abundance of resources made available.

Thousands of youth workers filled the various convention centers, hotels, coffee shops, and restaurants of the host city. There was a familiarity; a sense of homecoming as like-minded men and women gathered for a weekend of training, inspiration, challenge, worship, and fellowship. It was one of the greatest weeks of the year.

NYWC shaped so much of how I thought about ministry, family, and life. It taught me vital skills, practical helps, and important habits. I learned the importance of balance, connecting with other youth workers, and healthy spiritual discipleship. I learned how to connect with students, how to share the gospel with students, and how to show up when they needed it most. I learned youth ministry from youth workers. 

While on staff I was fortunate to meet and get to know some amazing youth workers. Through interactions with attendees I have hundreds of amazing stories. And I hope that my story and my ministry helped to encourage others I met. 

My wife and I were talking last week, and we noted how sad we are that we're not heading to NYWC this year. We really looked forward to that time away. 

Will NYWC ever return? I don't know. I would like to think that maybe, someday, we might have the opportunity to serve youth workers in that way again. But, I just don't know.

What I do know is that NYWC will forever be a special memory for the both of us. And we will always be grateful for our time attending and volunteering. As for the friendships that were made while serving, I know that they will continue to develop and grow for years to come. 

Here's the thing, whether or not NYWC returns, my hope is to highlight what these conferences mean for the youth worker. Over the last couple of years I've noticed a number of "mini" conferences popping up around the country. These conferences offer youth workers a time of training and challenge, fellowship and networking, and a chance to worship together. The smaller scale usually means a more intimate setting, a smaller price tag, and the opportunity to connect with youth workers in your region. 

I don't know if we've seen the last of the big conference, as there are still a few of the bigger conferences in operation. But I do like the idea of the "mini" conference. I am planning to attend a couple of these conferences in the new year, including the Northeast Youth Ministry Summit (February 2024), the Youth Leader Summit (May 2024), and the National Day of Volunteer Youth Ministry Training (September 2024). 

Whether it's the big, national conference or the smaller, local conference, let me encourage you to seek out a conference that will allow you the opportunity for training and growth. ​

What has been your experience? Have you attended the larger conferences? What did you take away from your time of learning? Have you attended a smaller, more local conference? What were some of the major differences? What did you learn? And which will attend most like attend in the future? Share in the comments below.

​- jay

So, I am all about youth workers and great training opportunities that help them do what they do better. I personally have had a long time relationship with another youth workers convention that has helped to shape me as a youth worker. As a youth worker, I have treasured opportunities to learn, grow, and develop my skills in administration, planning, and proclaiming the truth of God's word.

I have also written a number of blog posts encouraging youth workers to seek out opportunities for training, equipping, resourcing, and rest. We minister to a culture who is constantly growing and changing; I believe we need to be always working to grow and adapt so we can remain effective.
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This Friday, October 26th, I will join with youth workers from around the Western PA area for the Pittsburgh Youth Workers Conference. Now in it's fifth year, PYWC is expecting to welcome over 200 youth workers, along with featured speakers Josh McDowell, Bob Lenz and Duffy Robbins.

This one day conference will include 3 general sessions with worship, led by local worship band, Red Letter Hymnal, 15 breakout session led by local, in the trenches youth workers, lunch, and the opportunity to visit with this year's sponsoring organizations.

Here's the deal, this will be my first PYWC. Really! Over the last couple of years, PYWC had fallen on weekends where I have had a conflict, so I haven't been able to go. But, now that I am going, I am really looking forward to seeing PYWC for myself! I love that PYWC includes both nationally recognized speakers and local youth workers.

​"We love bringing in nationally-known speakers because of the excellent content they bring but we really get excited because doing that provides a platform for local youth pastors who are doing an incredible job to share some area of expertise that they have with their fellow youth pastors." Travis Deans.

Travis Deans and Doug Raraigh, along with Jayson Samuels got the ball rolling in 2014. That year, 100 youth workers gathered to hear from Duffy Robbins and Terry Thomas. Today, Travis and Doug welcome Duffy Robbins to their team and look forward to welcoming this year's attendees.

The 2018 PYWC will take place on Friday, October 28, at Christ Church at Grove Farm in Sewickley, PA. Organizers are looking to welcome between 200 and 250 youth workers, and I will be among them. From talking with Travis Deans, there is still room if you have not already registered.

The cost for the conference is $40 per person. That comes with 10 free tickets to the evening session with Duffy Robins. A Chick-fil-A lunch is part of the registration, and who doesn't like Chick-fil-A?

Let me encourage you to join me and a couple hundred fellow youth workers for the Pittsburgh Youth Workers Conference. It will be a day of training, networking, equipping, worship, and fellowship! Click on the link below and register for PYWC, check out the days schedule, and take a look at this year breakout session speakers.

And, look for me, I'll be there.

- jay

We're two months away for one of my most favorite and most necessary events for student ministry, the 2017 National Youth Workers Convention. It's time to start talking about the convention and what I'm looking forward to most!

One of the things that you have to know about me is that I am a huge supporter of the National Youth Workers Convention (NYWC), hosted by Youth Specialties. I attended my first convention in 1999. I had just accepted my first, full-time position as a Youth Director, for a church in the Pittsburgh, PA area. I had heard about NYWC, but hadn't yet had the opportunity to attend as I was just a kid getting started in student ministry.

The convention that year was held in two locations, the first on the west coast, the second in Cincinnati, OH. I attended the convention in Cincinnati.So I, along with my wife and our newborn son (Nate was our second son, by the way. Our first born who was already a year old stayed with some friends.) made our way to Cincinnati not sure what to expect, but excited nonetheless.

It didn't take me long to realize that NWYC was going to become a very important part of my ministry and my life. 18 years laters, NYWC is still an important part of both my ministry and my life.

Each year, as the convention approaches, I share a few things about the convention that I love, recommend, and look forward to the most. So in keeping with my tradition, let me share three things that I absolutely love about the National Youth Workers Convention.

I sat through my first Intensive in 2000. It was awesome. Then, I believe, the Intensives were 6 hours, and spanned two days. An extra fee, Intensives are designed to give attendees a long, deeper, more detailed look into various aspects of student ministry. Topics vary from year to year, but help to train up the youth worker by providing specific, helpful and practical information that really works when applied to your ministry. Led by experts, real youth workers with real experience, Intensives offer not just information, but the opportunities to ask questions, get help and really process the material so that it's something that you can use.

Over the years I have taken Intensives for worship and worship leader, culture, message prep and writing, and speaking/teaching. They have been some of the most important parts of understanding student ministry, youth culture and the role of the youth worker.

If you have not taken advantage of the NYWC Intensives, I would highly recommend that you consider registering for one of this years offerings.

Here is a quick list of topics and presenters for 2017...

• Building a Successful Marriage and Youth Ministry; Doug and Kathy Fields.
• Growing Young: Helping Young PeopleDiscover and Love Your Church; Kara Powell and Brad Griffin.
• LGBTQ Youth: Ministry Beneath the Surface, Julie Rodgers and Mark Yarhouse.
• Middle School Ministry; Sean Meade and Heather Flies.
• Taking Einstein to Youth Ministry: Faith, Science and the Faith Formation of Young People, Andy Root.
• The Racial Reconciliation Experience; Fred Oduyoye and Jacob Eckeberger.
• YS 101 Bootcamp: Core Training for Your Ministry; Kurt Johnston and Brian Aaby.

Rest is a good thing. It's a necessity. A biblical mandate. The problem is, youth workers don't rest enough. There is always something that needs to be completed, a student that needs to ministered to, and a technical issue with the VCR in one of the Sunday school classrooms. When all is said and done, we don't rest well, if we rest at all.

I loved Mike Yaconelli, co-founder of YS and NYWC. I never really had the opportunity to talk or know Mike, but every year at the first general session (now called Big Room) Mike would address and welcome the convention. It was the same speech every year. But it was one of the first times someone told me that it was okay to slow down, even stop and rest.

The convention is a placed filled with resources, exhibits, training opportunities, and possibilities for networking. But, NYWC is also a place to rest and be renewed. It's a place where you can choose to sleep in, go to bed early, or just sleep all day. It's a place to disconnect and relax, to do something fun, explore, or just be. NYWC, in wanting to give you access to some of the best resources, speakers, trainers, coaches, and entertainment, also cares about your spiritual well-being. You are encouraged to take a step back and evaluate your faith journey. We work all year to disciple and serve and teach and lead our students, too often at the cost of care for our own hearts, our own growth, our own relationship with our Savior. NYWC is a place where we can reconnect with the Lover of our souls.

NYWC offers youth workers an opportunity to visit the Sanctuary and Prayer Chapel to pray, sit, be quiet, and to be renewed. You can visit with one of a number of spiritual directors who are there to care for your soul. If you're married, NYWC is an opportunity for you and your spouse to enjoy some time alone. Take advantage of your hotel stay. Have a date night with dinner and explore a new city. Sit up late and watch a movie. Order room service and have breakfast in bed.

Rest. It's important. It's a necessity. It's good for you.

Sit in on any of the 90+ seminars and you will walk away with valuable information, tips, tools, and resources. But if you want some specific help in a particular area of ministry, you might want to consider taking one of the NYWC Tracks.

Tracks, like the Intensives, are designed to offer youth workers specific information on a given topic. These tracks are led by our youth experts who know and serve in the related areas. Go a little deeper. Ask questions. Hear practical, hands-on and effective tips that will help you in your ministry.

This year, NYWC is offering 3 Track topics;

• Small-Church Track; Brad Fiscus, Stephanie Caro and Virginia Ward.
• YS 101 Track; Les Christie, Brian Aaby, Duffy Robbins, and Sean Meade.
• Middle School Track; Sean Meade and Heather Flies.

Be sure to look these Tracks up in the schedule and think about how they might help you and your ministry.

Whether you are a long-time NYWC attendee or maybe thinking about attending for the first time, let me invite you to join us this November in Memphis, TN for the Nation Youth Workers Convention! Early-bird pricing ends on October 5th, 2017.

Visit the NYWC website today for more details and to register for the convention.

This year, I will be helping out as a volunteer, serving at the HUB. If you have any questions about the convention or needs while in Memphis come by and see us. If you found this article helpful, please stop by and introduce yourself to me, I'd love to meet you.

​If you have something you love and look forward to at NYWC, please share it in the comments below. What you love could be the very thing that someone else needs to hear to help them make the decision to join us this fall!

​- jay

A while back, I posted an article listing the 10 ways I have attempted to communicate with students and parents about what we were doing in our student ministry. As we talk about parent involvement and how we keep them in the loop, I thought I'd share a few of those ideas here with you. Let me know what you think? 

In the past I have used the following ideas.

1. Bulletin Inserts
On the last Sunday of each month, I provided a printed calendar insert as part of the worship bulletin. This calendar included dates, times, and locations for upcoming gatherings, activities, or events for both the Middle School and High School ministries. In addition to the monthly calendar, event inserts will appear at least 2 weeks prior to the event date. These inserts provide the basic information of time, locations, and cost, along with a short summary of the event.

2. Big Screen Announcements
If your church uses a projector and screen for announcements and worship, be sure to get you ministry information on the big worship screens! I tried each week to have at least one slide with information on upcoming youth ministry opportunities. Aside from promoting your upcoming events, this is a great way to keep your ministry in front of the entire congregation.

3. Facebook and Other Social Media
Social Media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, are still popular avenues for communication. However, the trends are beginning to fluxuate as more and more adult are signing on to Facebook while more and more students are leaving Facebook for Twitter and Instagram. If you have plans to use social media as a way of connecting and communicating, take a couple of weeks to do a little research to find out who uses what. Once you know who is where, you can tailor your content appropriately. The only other caution I would give is to be sure you investigate the media outlet before you commit to using it. Like anything else on cyberspace, there is always the potential for danger. Understand how the applications work, how to properly safeguard them, and have a plan for how you will manage the content and feedback.

4. The Youth Ministry Website
I started my first website for a youth group back in 2000. It was all html coded. it was rough on the edges, but it worked. Today, websites are still a valuable tool for dispersing infomation to your group. The possibilties of what you can do with a website still amazing me. But I have seen a shift in how youth ministry sites or pages are being used. Early on, they were the hub of current materials and information and included things like calendars, pictures, videos, leader materials, parental forms, and mission statements. Today, I see more and more youth ministry page become static pages with an introduction of the group and an invite to come and visit. Nothing wrong with that. But if you intend on having a website, create a plan and purpose for what your site will be and how you will use it. With todays availibility of social media apps, I don't think too many students are check out websites anymore. So think about whther or not you want to invest the time and resources into a site. You might just want to have a simple page added to your church sites which directs students to a different venue that your group uses.

5. The Weekly Podcast or Vlog
When I originally released this article, weekly podcasts and/vlogs were the latest thing. Youth workers were posting all sorts of creative videos and pocasts with everything from devotional thoughts to weekly announcements and reminds. I think these too and becoming part of internet history. Today, you might have better luck with current media options that allow you to post quick videos such Instagram or Vine. On both of these apps, you are given about 15 seconds to say what you need to say.

6. Fliers, Posters, Brochures
Not everyone runs to the internet for the latest youth ministry news. There are those who still find the simplicity of the pen and paper to be the best way of communicating. Thus, fliers, posters, and brochures will never fall out of style. Just about every thing I do, or have done in student ministry, comes with a flier, poster, or brochure. Like the bulletin insert, these printed promotional
materials provide the date, time, location, cost, and summary of the event. Leave a stack on the churches welcome table, hang them around the building, decorate your youth room with them!

7. The Evolution of Texting
Texting has evolved to an artform of communication. It remains as one of the primary ways students communicate to each other. In the last couple of years organizations such as Simply Youth Ministry (Group) and Youth Specialtites, have launch services where you can create text directories and blitz both your student and your parent population with text messages, up dates, news, and reminders. Knowing how much my own kids and my students text, if you have the resources for such service, you might want to take advantage of them. If not, there are still ways of creating a texting chain that won't cost you or your budget a thing. But that's another blog.

8. Smail Mail
When an activity or event is announced, I have always created a flier that can be mailed to the home of each student on our mailing list. Usually addressed to the student, I try to encourage parents to be sure that you read the contents of the mailing before the mail is lost in a bedroom closet. When communication is intended for the parents, address the labels as, “To The Parents Of...” This indicates that there is important information within the mailing and hopefully they read the paperwork.

9. The Weekly Email
Not as popular as it was a couple of years ago, the email newsletter can still be a helpful way of communicating with parents. it takes a little bit of time to put together, but if it is helpful to parents, it might be worth your time.

10 . The Phone Call
With all the other forms of communication, I believe the best is still the phone call. When all else fails, you know you can communicate well by placing a quick phone call. But that goes both ways. Create a policy where parents know how and when to get a hold of you. Be available to answer questions. And be sure to return messages. 

However you choose to communicate, take the time to get to your the parents you serve and find out what works best for your particular ministry. What might work for the guy at the church down the street might not work at your church, so get to know your parents. Once you have determined how you will communicate, be as consistant as possible. And with that in mind, don't bite off more than you can chew. Start simply and let the needs of the ministry drive you in how you develop additional outlets for info!

 - jay

It has been a long time practice of mine to schedule, organize, and publish a yearly student ministry calendar. This planning takes place in the late spring early summer of the year and launches at the start of the new school year. Typically, I plan for September through the end of July. This past year, I did what I've done for years. But for the first time (maybe the very first time) I am facing significant calendar changes.

Good planning is crucial to your student ministry. Even more crucial is communicating your plans so that you can maximize people, budgets, time, and dates. Early in my career I made it a habit to plan out the entire student ministry calendar and have it ready for parents at the start of the new school year. This advanced planning allowed me to lay out the year, compare it with the church calendar, lay claim to some important dates and church space, and provided parents the heads up time to schedule vacations, trips, and activities around what I was hoping to do with the student ministry.

While not fool-proof, having the calendar ready in advance helped to navigate a number of would be calendar conflicts and set us up for a good year of ministry. Sure there were the eventual conflicts, cancelations, postponements, and rescheduling. That's going to happen. Ministry is alive and breathing and there will be conflicts. But if you can reduce those conflicts, well, ministry becomes a little easier.

There were cheers and applause, congratulations and thank you's as the parents expressed their appreciation for such a well thought out calendar. Everyone seem delighted by the effort, and I, well, I loved knowing that my year was set. That is until we crossed into the new calendar year.
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At a staff meeting in early January, we pulled out the church calendar and looked at January through April. Within a matter of minutes, I saw my well thought out calendar go from a work of art to a mess of conflicts and potential cancelations. While it could have been worse, I have at least one full month of student meeting that were going to need to be completely rescheduled. Completely rescheduled!!

My first thought...this wasn't fair! I spent hours, days, WEEKS working on my calendar, why should I have to be the one who has to change everything? Hey, I'm human. But fortunately, my years of experience spoke up, and I began to see not the conflict, but an opportunity.

There will always be times in our ministries where our plans will collide with the rest of the church. Since most of us work in smaller churched where space and people are shared, we will always run into conflicts over dates, times, rooms, and even people. But here are three quick reminders to help us as we work through the pitfalls of calendar planning.

Whether you plan out your student ministry calendar 3 months, 6 months or even 12 months in advance, you need to be planning in advance. Long range planning is what many business and organizations do. It helps them to see where they are going, what's coming up next, and allows you to forecast and plan your budget and resources.The further out you are able to plan, the better you  are.

I like to look at the entire year. It helps me think about activities, themes, teaching series, and the types of trips we will take. I find that I have the time to make sure what we're looking to do aligns with our purpose and direction. I am able to ask questions, bring in ideas from other church leaders, parents and students. I can set aside budget money, or look for new sources of support to cover costs. (This proved super helpful this past year in that I was able to go before our Stewardship Team and share some plans we were making for the new year, while identifying some new costs and expenses. That meeting led to a significant increase in funds to help cover those new costs. I'll share more in an upcoming blog post.)

Your plans don't have to be concrete. They can be flexible and tentative, but do your best to be as accurate and complete as possible. And that leads us to our next thought.

No one will ever be able to create a ministry calendar and not have any changes. It's impossible! There will always be conflict. People are creatures of change, thus our plans change all the time. In student ministry, we're dealing with a lot of different people and a lot of different calendars. From families within the church and community, to the church calendar, to school calendars, to athletic calendars, to even your own, personal calendar (which you need to keep track of, by the way) there are a lot of potential conflicts. So learn to be flexible!

Yes, it is super helpful to give parents a yearly ministry calendar, but the reality is, that calendar is going to change! So make it a tentative calendar, subject to change as the year moves on. Let people know that there will be changes, cancelations, postponements, and reschedules. And ask that they be as flexible as you will be when this conflicts arise.

This is probably one of the more important thoughts, communicate the change! It's easy for us to sit in our offices look at the calendar and reschedule your events. What's harder is communicating the change so that everyone is on the same page!

When conflicts arise, remember to communicate the changes. Notify parents and students of the conflict, give a short reason for the change and update them with the necessary information. The trick, however, is in HOW you communicate. Hopefully you have a communication plan in place that helps you disseminate information. So whether it's through email, a newsletter, a text message, or by making 50 phones calls, make sure you are communicating the change.

It would be great if we never ran into a calendar conflict. But the reality is, conflict and change is inevitable. So go with the change. Be as organized and on top of things as possible, but when conflict and change come, just go with it.

For me, I am replacing most of my March and April. And instead of complaining about the conflicts, I'm looking for ways that the conflict might bless or add to our overall ministry strategy. In some cases, the conflicts are because of congregational activities that the students might not otherwise participate in. So instead of separating our student ministry out of the event, we're looking to become part of the event with the hopes of building a stronger bond between the student ministry and the congregation! And that, I believe, is a great thing!

​- jay