coming to Lancaster, PA
Project Renovation is a ministry venture from Lancaster Bible College led by Rick Rhoads, that I have had the privilege of serving with. In my opinion Rick and his team are an exemplary regional ministry and doing a great job serving, loving and caring for youth workers in Central PA, MD, and DE! There primary focus is the development of the youth worker - so through prayer, spiritual retreats and equipping conferences The Renovation Project attempts to fulfill its purpose. The times I have had the pleasure of serving with “the Project” I have been overwhelmed by the care and hospitality they have demonstrated. So it is no surprise that I am looking forward to the youth conference that Project Renovation is hosting on Saturday October 18! Mike King, president of YouthFront, will be the keynote presenter addressing the topic of “Presence-Centered Youth Ministry.”
If you are from the mid-atlantic states it may be worth checking out the Presence-Centered Youth Ministry Conference on October 18 (9 AM - 4 PM). It looks like it will be a quality day of training with some good elective options (and it is not very costly)!
I will be teaching a seminar at the conference; I have been preparing it to share at a couple of conferences I will be attending - I am looking forward to presenting what I am learning! I am calling the seminar, “On The Matter of Monks: sketching a youth ministry for today.” (Although in full disclosure - the folks at Lancaster didn’t want to freak people out - so no mention of monks is being made in the advertising! I instead refer to “transformative faith communities” or something like that.) I describe this seminar in the following manner:
In this seminar the participant will consider the history of Christian Monasticism and it’s implications for ministry with and for youth today.
Past is prologue and the future goes through the past – so youth ministry which is going to be vibrant, vital and visionary will lean back into the past to reach for the future. With this premise guiding our discussion and learning the participants in this seminar will take a shot at sketching a youth ministry that is respectful of the past; positioned for the future and transformative today.
A tall order! Absolutely, but the seminar leader doesn’t suggest to have a full-proof prescription for all times, places and people – but does desire to offer some observations, a framework and lessons learned to help participants begin sketching potential scenarios to consider, pray about and experiment with.
We will spend our time working through the outline and questions listed below:
• What is Ancient-Future? (Defining and discussing Key Terms to guide our learning)
• Why Monasticism? (What do Monks have to say to kids, anyway?)
• A Brief History of Christian Monasticism?
• A Monastic Matrix (lessons and qualities of transformative ministry)
• Sketching Youth Ministry for Today
• Q&A
If you happen to come by the conference - please say hello!
I think you should introduce yourself as Doug Jones, monk wannabe when you give this talk.
I meant that in a nice way, btw…
Oblate Doug Jones