Mike King

TEAM DAY District NYI Youth Worker Training Saturday, February 23rd

Mark your calendars for this valuable opportunity to come together with other youth workers from around our KC district to learn and grow together!  The cost will be $15 which includes lunch .  Click here to register for this great day of training, resourcing and connection.  Below is the great youth worker line up we have for this year...many of these speakers are people who have spoke at national youth ministry conferences, so it's like attending a national conference at a great local ministry price!  Please invite as many youth workers as you know.  Scholarships are available if you know someone in need - Contact Tom Craig at tcraig@olathewestside.org if you or someone you know needs a scholarship to attend.

Marriage Seminar with Grant and Emma Wood

My dear friends Grant and Emma Wood are leading a Marriage Retreat at the Embassy Suites on the Plaza!  Grant and Emma Wood practice at Resonate Clinic. They are amazing, so treat your marriage to this great weekend.

 

The cost of the retreat is $150 and includes an overnight stay at the Embassy Suites plus Breakfast and Lunch on Saturday. Register by Monday, January 14th, 2013. For registration or to get more information email Rachel Reynolds.

Come Join Me at the National Youth Worker Convention Theology Track.

A delegation of 14 youth workers (mostly Youthfront staff members) from Kansas City will head to Dallas later this week for the National Youth Workers Convention. 

Laura Larsen is one of those 14 and below she tells you where you will find her during the convention.

 

On some level, I go to the National Youth Workers Convention because it gives me what I want.  I want to connect with old friends and meet new ones.  I want to hear great music, to flip through piles of great resources, to spend time praying in the Sanctuary and meeting with a spiritual director.  I attend each year because I want to remember that even though I am the only youth worker at my church, I am not alone in youth ministry.

There are so many things I get from attending the NYWC, but there are also things I really need - and like in so much of life, the things that I want and the things I need aren’t always exactly the same.  While I may want some easy answers, I don’t really need someone teaching me the hottest game.  I could probably just ask my students to teach me their favorites when I get home. And I don’t really need someone else to tell me what worked at his church.  You have 48 adults leading small groups and I am ministering to 9 young people – please, I struggle with comparison enough as it is.

What I do need, though, is to be asked hard questions. I need someone to force me out of the pragmatic grind of programs and plans and into wrestling with significant issues that I rarely confront.  I need someone to peel back the layers of my ministry and poke at the assumptions that undergird it.

I need someone to ask me if I understand what it means to be human.  Because my understanding of that humanity – the way it causes me to interact with the students in my group while we play Mafia and Toilet Tag – is what makes my job as youth pastor distinct from PE teacher.

I need someone to carve out 90 minutes in my schedule, sit my butt in a chair and ask me to think deeply about how I understand sin.  Because while alliterated points are nice and knowing that a kids attention span generally correlates to their chronological age gives me a head start, the talk itself is worthless if I don’t have a robust hamartiology to begin with.

I need a panel of minds much sharper than my own to muse about the implications of Christian sexuality and identity, because if my students want to talk about anything, you better believe they want to talk about sex.

In a few days I’ll gladly travel down to Dallas.  I’ll wander the exhibition hall and hopefully drink coffee with friends, old and new (You?! Holla at me – I’ll even buy! @thelauralarsen)  I’ll pray and laugh and wonder.  Mostly, though, I’ll be at the theology panels and theology cafe.  They don’t always give me what I want - last year I left most of the theological panels with more questions than answers – but they offer me what I need.  

I sure hope you’ll join me.

What a Great Thing to Attend Between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

AND as a SPECIAL BONUS, HANG OUT WITH AYME's DISTINGUISHED CHRISTIAN EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR, KENDA CREASY DEAN.

 

What is the future of Christian proclamation in a society increasingly driven by networked technologies and 140-character communications? What place does preaching to young people have in such a society, and what form might it take? How might we move from mere sermons and “youth talks” into affecting the lives of young hearers?

I'm excited to participate in this important Conference.  COME JOIN US.

You can receive a 20% discount by entering this code - preach

MORE INFORMATION HERE

Only Ten More Spots

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From Text to Speech

What is the future of Christian proclamation in a society increasingly driven by networked technologies and 140-character communications? What place does preaching to young people have in such a society, and what form might it take? How might we move from mere sermons and “youth talks” into affecting the lives of young hearers?

I'm excited to participate in this important Conference.  COME JOIN US.

MORE INFORMATION HERE

How Does Scripture Function?

In our Theology Track at the National Youth Workers Conventions this fall we are addressing the topic, "How do Scripture and Theology Interact?"

 “What is the point of reading the Bible?” What youth worker hasn’t heard that question? How that question gets answered depends on theology. Any answer we give suggests something about God, the church and discipleship. The Bible and theology are inexorably bound together, so this panel will engage broadly around the topic of their interaction. How do theological commitments impact how we interpret Scripture? How does culture shape our understanding of the Bible? What role do communities play in helping us read Scripture? What really is the point of reading the Bible? And, are we ever just reading the Bible? How do we help young people grapple with a Bible that is complex, ancient, enigmatic and yet normative and authoritative for our faith?  

One of our panelists is Dr. Dean Blevins.  Here is a guest blog post by Dr Blevins to help frame this topic.

I am looking forward participating in the Youth Theology panel discussions at the National Youth Workers Convention in San Diego and Dallas. The panels, sponsored by Immerse Journal, are designed to engage youth ministers theologically, encouraging a deeper reflection over the role of theology in the practice of ministry.

I am thankful Mike King invited me to address this issue with a really stellar panel of youth ministry specialists who share deep theological convictions. The challenge reminds me just how deeply theology shapes our reading of scripture alongside how scripture informs our theology. This may be a “chicken and egg” issue since we never come to scripture without some theological assumptions (a theological horizon) which influences our understanding of scripture. To be sure, we ought to be disciplined enough to attempt to take scripture seriously on its own merits. However, I really do not believe we can ever approach scripture without a theological framework. The challenge may be more accepting our assumptions first and then recognize how they may or may not hinder our interpretations.

However, I really wonder if our theology remains so deeply rooted that often it shapes our understanding of the very role of scripture. In short, what do we assume happens when we read, teach, discuss, and engage scripture? How does the Bible “function” in our ministry from the standpoint of how it informs actual participation in the Christian life? What actually “happens” when we read scripture and what does the Bible “do” for us as we read it?  

The question came home early in my ministry when I was engaged in a conversation with a really intelligent young adult finishing his doctoral program in American history. He was struggling with his faith journey and I was there to help him sort out his past with his vision for God’s salvation at work in and through his life. I asked if he read scripture and, if so, why? He frankly admitted he never read scripture anymore and saw no need. When pressed why, he merely replied “I already learned all the answers so why bother?” The response took me off guard. Much like passing a driver’s license exam, my friend was raised to see scripture as a deposit of data, a manual, with requisite data to be memorized, tested, and passed. He did admit that he might consult scripture when he “forgot” the guidelines for a particular way of living, much like checking for a long forgotten traffic law. The very source of life for some Christians had become a hurdle to overcome and nothing more. It was almost “been there, done that, bought the t-shirt” Bible study. Why?  READ THE REST OF THE POST HERE.

There Are a Few Spots Left

Countdown to National Youth Worker Conventions

This Ages Me...

I had so many highlights from the recent Wild Goose Festival. One of the most spiritual profound moments for me was on the eve of the festival. Ian Cron, Joy Wallis, Todd Fadel and Topher Philgreen were sitting in a circle engaged in conversation about the festival and the conversation turned to music that shaped us spiritually. Since we were all pretty much from the same era some blasts from the past emerged. One of the names that came up was Evie Tournquist. I know that ages me. We even had a little Evie sing-a-long. At that point, the night took a magical turn and reached a crescendo when we each picked a favorite hymn and together joined in singing it. Holy, Holy, Holy; I Love Him; I Come to the Garden Alone, and on... transcendent, enriching and worshipful. Todd Fadel oversees the music for Wild Goose and he is a wonderful man, follower of Jesus and has a sweet family. Todd just sent this Evie song to me and Joy (because we declared ourselves the Evie fan club). Maybe you had to be there but I think it is beautiful. Thanks Todd.