Mike King

Something to Eat at UCM

I love our Something to Eat initiative.  Here is a video that shows how Something to Eat is being embraced by a major University.  So cool.

 

Something to Eat from Drew Woolery on Vimeo.

Great Day of Youth Worker Training

Here are a couple of pictures from the Training Day for Youth Workers at Youthfront last week.  More than 100 youth workers heard from Brad Griffin from Fuller Theological Seminary talk about Sticky Faith.

 

Generational Changes - 1982 to 2012

From: Best Education Degrees

Sticky Faith - It's Not Too Late!

IT'S NOT TOO LATE - Join the 111 youth workers who have already registered for Sticky Faith, a morning with Brad Griffin from Fuller Youth Institute (Fuller Theological Seminary).  Brad is one of the lead researchers on the Sticky Faith project, will help us think through practical ways to cultivate youth ministries intent on fostering vibrant faith. 

Did I remind you this training is free to youth workers?

We will start at 9:00 and end with a lunch fit for a youth worker - Oklahoma Joe's.

The Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) has conducted the College Transition Project, a national longitudinal study following over 500 high school seniors during their first three years in college. The goals of this research are to understand the dynamics of youth group graduates’ transition to college and to identify the relationships and best practices in youth ministries, churches, and families that can help set students on a trajectory of lifelong faith and service.

FYI’s research confirms that it’s never too early or too late to start developing faith that continues to grow and lasts. Sticky Faith gives parents and leaders both a theological/philosophical framework and a host of practical relationship and programming ideas that develop long-term faith in teenagers.

Click here to register, it's not too late.

Philosophy and Youth Pastors

Philosophy and Youth Pastors

By: Mark Wampler

Socrates was just a big kid-a pot-bellied, snub-nosed kid. He never stopped asking the types of questions we all asked when we were kids. You've heard kids play the why game, right? 

Here is a story my family loves to retell:

Grandma, does that mascot have boy or girl parts? (Only I didn't say it so politely.)
Uh, I'm not sure, Mark. Should you be talking like that? (Grandma's friends stifle laughter.)

Why aren't you sure, Grandma? Why shouldn't I talk like that? And on and on.

Socrates called himself a "gadfly" because he would buzz around the Agora in Athens, making people swat away his questions about the nature of truth, justice and religion. Thales, an ancient Greek who lived two hundred years before Socrates and usually considered the first philosopher, is perhaps best known for falling into a well as he was gazing into the starry heavens above. (A servant girl saw it happen and began to laugh hysterically and question the practical value of philosophy-the first critic.) Plato, Socrates' student, wrote that philosophy begins with the profound sense of wonder that youth brings to the world. At the front end of life, the world is a big mystery, one big puzzle to fit together. Who can think of a more joyful sight than a wide-eyed child discovering something awesome for the first time? Perhaps this is one of the reasons Jesus enjoins us to become like children.

Youth pastors are in the perfect position to encourage this sense of wonder and should be a sympathetic ear for those Socratic figures (Socrati?) asking the big questions. A youth pastor might be one of the only adult figures seen as an ally in the battle of life; quite different from how parents and teachers can be perceived.

Read More 

CAMP EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MARCH 2

There was an internet outage at our corporate offices yesterday for about 3 hours. Therefore, we have extended the Early Bird Camp Bucks Registration Deadline to March 2. Registrations completed by the end of today will receive FREE $15 Camp Bucks to spend at camp this summer. Make sure to reserve your child's space today!

We hope to see campers and youth workers committed to sharing life together, building meaningful relationships that extend God's love to one another from the overflow of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Youthfront Camp South is specifically programmed and structured for a changing high school culture. While Youthfront Camp West is a middle school camp which allows campers the freedom to have fun, start asking questions, and take formative steps in young faith. Whether you have been sending your child to Youthfront Camps for years or you are looking into camp for the first time, we are glad you are here and we look forward to joining you in bringing youth into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

Click Here to Sign Up
http://www.youthfront.com/camp