Mike King

What role does story play in sharing our faith?

Read all three slants here on Slant33.com

$5 Training

Experience a day of affordable, practical and encouraging youth ministry training with your team. $5 training is designed to help you meet the needs of your everyday ministry to students and their families.

Join us this Saturday at Youthfront to explore topics centered around small groups, evangelism and mentoring.

Only $5 per person!

2010 5 Dollar Training Video from barefoot ministries on Vimeo.

Crouch - Contemplation or Exploitation?

One of the highlights of the recent Leadership Conference at Duke Divinity School was Andy Crouch.  His main presentation was truly profound - a real multisensory learning experience.

Here is a little 2:48 video with Andy talking about the six most influential words for a leadership posture, "We either contemplate or we exploit."  It is well worth two minutes and forty-eight seconds of your time.

The Holidays break in...

I always love coming home from the National Youth Workers Convention which happens the weekend before Thanksgiving.  For the last 15 years or so, the end of NYWC has signaled the beginning of the holiday season for me.

When I get home Vicki has the house all decorated for the holidays.  Last night we had my parents, Vicki's parents and all of  our kids for an early Thanksgiving dinner.  Since all of our families live in the KC area (except for one of Vicki's sisters) we have many family events to get in during this week.

Last night was a wonderful feast.  We also celebrated our son Micah's 30th birthday and our granddaughter Lexi's 4th birthday.  We also set at table and enjoyed rich conversation.  We had our parents share stories about their parents and grandparents to remember the stories that have shaped us into the family we are today.

Enjoy your time with family and friends during this holiday season, especially Advent.

Back from Nashville

My five days in Nashville at the National Youth Workers Convention were extremely busy, productive and exhausting in a good way.  I started with a presentation entitled, "Youth Ministry in 3D: Cultivation of Time, Place and Space for Developing a Community of Practice."  I like starting with a seminar on the first day so that I can engage with youth workers and continue the dialogue throughout the convention.

This is the third year for The Sanctuary and our awesome team did an amazing job of serving, leading fixed hour prayer, teaching learning labs, providing spiritual direction and ministering to youth workers.

Youthfront staff members Micah Thomas and Erik Leafblad joined me this year and were great help in The Sanctuary along with meeting youth workers who are interested in Youthfront stuff.

I was excited about the energy in Nashville compared to San Diego.  I believe that YS is moving again, in a positive direction.  I believe Youthworks will allow the NYWC to recover some of its past MOJO.  It's so good to have Tic Long back.  Good days are ahead.

I thought about mentioning some of the great youth workers I got to meet, hangout with and collaborate with, but I know I would leave someone out so I resisted mentioning names.  I LOVE YOUTH MINISTRY... I LOVE YOUTH WORKERS. 

 

 

Early Thanksgiving

One of the things we do monthly as a part of our Youthfront Rhythm of Life is eat dinner together.  We eat lunch together work day but eating dinner together allows for spouses and kids to join in.  This week we celebrated Thanksgiving together in the Youthfront School of Formation house  in the Argentine district of Kansas City, KS.  We crammed 50 of us into the house and feasted on great food (thanks to Erik Leafblad's speech about bringing "Substantial Sides.")  One big happy family.

 

On Research...

The latest Slant33 answers the question, What research have you come across that would be helpful for youth workers to better understand how the systems and events of this world are affecting us?  Read here.

600 shoppers break out in Praise...

A couple of weeks ago the Opera Company of Philadelphia, consisting of approximately 600 voices, spontaneously sang the "Hallelujah Chorus" during a busy shopping day at Macy's Center City in Philadelphia.   The famous Wanamaker Organ is housed in the Macy's Center City. The Wanamakr Organ was built by the Los Angeles Art Organ Company for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and was designed by renowned organ architect George Ashdown Audsley, author of The Art of Organ-Building. In 1909 it was moved to its present location.  The history of this organ is very interesting.

They called the event a "Random Act of Culture." It is extraordinary and left me in tears in a public coffee shop (I hate that, I think it scares people), nevertheless, this video is a glimpse of beauty and a wonderful Good News proclamation that is actually GOOD NEWS.  If you watched it, what was your reaction?

 

Art & Mission... compatible?

Kit McDermott, Spiritual Formation Catalyst for Imagine Northampton, has written a blog post for Origins entitled, "Can Art Be Kingdom Missional and Remain Art?"

Here is an excerpt: "I need to say the art I will refer to is never deliberately formulaic, cheesy, kitschy, propagandist, corny, mediocre, contrived, simplistic, maudlin, commercially-driven or “the Emperor’s new clothes.” Kingdom missional art will be able to stand on its own merit as art: thoughtful, well-executed, perhaps as good as anyone’s art in the world. It will be a product of skill, even mastery, careful thought and hard work. It will be of substance, even if it makes you laugh."

McDermott fleshes out six aspects of art that reflects the Missio Dei.  It is good content for conversation.  Read the post here.

A goofy moment...

Vicki and I, joined about a dozen friends for one of our son Micah's 30th birthday events.  We went to RA Sushi Restaurant at Town Center.  After a feast of happy hour sushi beyond the capacity of my ability to eat one more bit we headed to our car to head to the next leg of the party.  Vicki had the keys and we stood beside our doors as she tried multiple times to unlock the door.  The beeper kept going off, we could hear the doors unlock but we couldn't open the doors.  I tried the back door and questioned Vicki to explore if she was doing something wrong.  She just kept trying when all of a sudden it dawned on me that the vehicle next to the one we were trying to get in was identical in everyway to ours and we were trying to get in the wrong vehicle.  Duh!