Mike King

More than 4,000 Young People Spending from One to Twelve Weeks With Us This Summer

Today is the first day of our summer program at Youthfront Camp West and South.  More than 4,000 young people will spend from one to twelve weeks with us this summer.  Here are a couple of them:

Returning Summer Staff: David Beeder

Like many Youthfront veteran campers, David Beeder began coming to camp in elementary school and has been involved every summer since then -- including spending three summers on Teen Staff. Now majoring in business at the Univeristy of Miami in Ohio, David is preparing for his third year as a Summer Staffer at Youthfront Camp West, and his second consecutive summer as Sports Guy.

Having spent so much of his life at Youthfront Camp, it felt natural for him to apply for Summer Staff when he graduated from high school. He went into the summer with the idea that he would just be camping for a whole summer rather than a few weeks, and looked forward to hanging out at the ropes course as the Supervisor. Yet once he got to Summer Staff training, the reality of what he was doing set in: similar to his initial experience with Teen Staff, David’s first impression of Summer Staff showed him “just what a community of loving Believers could be.” Seeing behind the curtain for the first time, he quickly grew to love serving young people to make camp happen. By the end of that first summer, he was even more in love with Youthfront than ever.

“Serving on Summer Staff each summer is my way of paying back what was given to me,” he said.

Returning Summer Staff: Ashley Franden

Kansas State University senior Ashley Franden is returning to Youthfront Camp South to serve a second season on Summer Staff - and she can’t wait.

“I’m looking forward to the whole thing! Just being back, the environment - really everything about it,” she said.

Her excitement is compounded by the fact that it has been two years since she has been at camp. Last summer, Ashley was able to participate in a Navigators training program in Washington, D.C., where she interned for Congressman Tim Huelskamp.

Though it was an amazing experience, she admits is was hard to be away from camp last summer. This year, she says, it is really obvious that God wants her to lead young women as the Assistant Teen Staff Supervisor. Though she isn’t sure what the Lord is up to just yet, she has a hunch that this will help her in her role as a youth assistant at First Presbyterian Church of Manhattan.

“I love Youthfront, obviously,” she said. “I always have, and it’s always had a really special place in my heart.”

 

Youth Workers - Refresh, Rejuvenate, Re-Engage

Come Join US - www.youtheology.com/youthworkerskc

youTheology is a Saint Paul School of Theology Pan-Methodist program that is preparing leaders, deepening faith, providing youth ministry resources, and giving opportunities for loving and serving God and others with high school students and youth workers.

Mistakes I've Made

Here is the latest Slant33 post featuring Eric Iverson, Lilly Lewin and yours truly.  The question "How have some of the mistakes you have made helped you grow as a leader?"

Thoughts on Leadership

What three books do you recommend on the subject of leadership development and why?

A new Slant33 read here

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.

Narcissistic Pastors

  "Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm -- but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves."  T.S. Eliot

This quote is used in an article just released on LeadershipJournal.net entitled, "Pastoral Narcissism: The Shadow Side of Ambition" by JR Kerr.  So true and convicting... for some of us.

Read article here.

 

Dr. Dean Blevins expanding international leadership responsibilities...

My friend and Chairman of the Youthfront Board of Directors, Dr. Dean Blevins continues to expand his scope of international leadership in theology and Christian Education.  Here is the Press Release announcing his two new leadership roles;

Dean G. Blevins, Professor of Christian Education and Director of the Master of Arts in Christian Education Degree Program at Nazarene Theological Seminary recently accepted two new leadership roles that provide new responsibilities for the global church and greater influence within the academic discipline of Christian Education.

On November 24, 2009, Dr. Blevins was voted President-Elect of the Religious Education Association, the oldest organization guiding professional research and academic teaching in global educational ministry. The mission of the Religious Education Association (REA) is to create opportunities for exploring and advancing the interconnected practices of scholarship, research, teaching, and leadership in faith communities, academic institutions, and the wider world community. Founded in 1903, REA now combines professional practitioners, academics, and research theorists from around the world. Dr. Blevins, who has been a member of the REA Board of Directors, will serve a three-year term that includes serving as program chair of the annual meeting in 2010 and officially taking the role of President in 2010-2011.

In addition to this new profession role, the Board of General Superintendents also recently appointed Blevins as the USA Regional Education Coordinator and Consultant for the Church of the Nazarene.  Under this new role, Dr. Blevins will serve as chair and resource for the USA Regional Course of Study Advisory Committee as well as serve as USA representative to several global committees including the International Course of Study Advisory Committee (which oversees planning for ministry education around the world) and the International Board of Education. Working with Clergy Development, Blevins will resource educational institutions in planning ministry education, and be responsible for other program areas including the next Global Theology Conference.

Commenting on the two new positions Dr. Blevins stated, “It is gratifying to have the opportunity to influence the future of my academic field and also serve the general church at the same time. I am thankful to NTS for providing a context where academic passion and ministry dedication merge together. I am also grateful to an institution that allows me space to serve in these global positions. Undoubtedly the experiences I gain from these leadership roles will enrich students and ministry preparation at Nazarene Theological Seminary.”

Dr. Blevins has maintained an active role in several academic organizations including the North American Professors of Christian Education, and the Wesleyan Theological Society where he has chaired the practical theology section for nine years. He has also served the general church as a consultant to children, youth and adult ministries; and recently contributed to a new denominational study concerning family ministry. In October, Dr. Blevins was re-elected Chairman of the Board of YouthFront, a regional youth ministry based in Kansas City with national education programming in youth ministry and youth spiritual formation.

Undercover Boss

I saw some of the new show Undercover Boss which premiered after the Super Bowl.  The new CBS reality series follows high-level chief executives as they slip anonymously among the rank and file employees to examine the inner workings of their company.  

I thought what a great idea, I should go undercover at Youthfront.   Unfortunately, my cover was blown within seconds.  I don't know if it didn't work because of my poor disguise or the fact that we only have 45 employees.  Stink...

Hauerwas on Leadership

I like what Stanley Hauerwas has to say on Leadership...

Thanks to Eric Leafblad for pointing me to this.

Ed Dobson returns to Youthfront

Ed Dobson will be at Youthfront on Monday morning, November 9th from 10:00 to 12:00 speaking to youth workers, pastors and ministry leaders.  If you fit in that category e-mail me and I will let you know more details.  There is no cost for this event. 

It has been more than two dozen years since Ed Dobson has come to Youthfront.  He was a frequent speaker at our camps and other events.  Ed Dobson was instrumental in getting me to do a M.A. at Liberty University back in the mid-eighties.  We both later became disillusioned with fundamentalism and the agenda of the Religious Right.  Ed became pastor of Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Ed was also instrumental in planting Mars Hill led by his youth pastor Rob Bell.  Ed also has Lou Gehrig's Disease and has made his story all the more compelling.

Ed serves as an advisory editor for Christianity Today and consulting editor for Leadership. He was named "Pastor of the Year" by Moody Bible Institute in 1993.  Ed has been featured recently in USA Today, Good Morning America, plus many other national media outlets. Ed, inspired by A.J. Jacob's book The Year of Living Biblically, just completed The Year of Living Like Jesus.

Watch Ed Dobson discuss his book The Year of Living Like Jesus on Good Morning America.