Over the weekend, I spent some time up in Montoursville, PA at a Purpose Driven Youth Ministry seminar, hosted by the kind folks at Faith UMC.

The seminar focused on the five biblical purposes (worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism), the five types of youth ministry students (community, crowd, congregation, committed and core) and how to create programs that effectively pair the desired purpose and type of student. I read Doug Fields’ Purpose Driven Youth Ministry about six months ago so this information wasn’t exactly new, but it also wasn’t the main reason why I attended.

The main reason I attended was to get to know other youth workers and to learn what they’ve found works, doesn’t work, etc. Sure, not every youth ministry is the same, but there are definitely lessons to be learned that can save lots of time, effort and, perhaps, heartache.. Take the ICTHUS Student Ministry from Faith UMC. They have opportunities for all kinds of youth: from a Sunday night program called Overflow for all students (particularly non-Christians), to small groups that help youth connect and form meaningful relationships, to a discipleship program called Divin Deeper for youth who desire to go deeper into God’s word.

This event got me really excited about what we (i.e., the leadership of my church’s youth group, The Gathering) can do to reach out to more youth and provide more depth for those who desire it. There’s a youth workers conference at Messiah College at the end of March that looks like it has some interesting sessions that could aide this effort. Stay tuned for more information about this event at the end of March/beginning of April