YMCP has become one of the primary ways i spend my time. and i love it. i’ve spent a good amount of blog real estate explaining why, and the impact; so i won’t do that again here.

i just wanted to communicate a “where it’s at” (thanks, beck), so i have a place to point people for info on the current sitch.

YMCPv – online groups

today i started my fourth concurrent online group. these groups have 5 participants plus myself, and meet for 3 hours every month for 9 months. the “curriculum” has some similarities to the full program, but is significantly condensed. these groups are going well, but i highly doubt i’ll be able to start any more of them during this calendar year. i’ll probably start a couple more early in 2014.

YMCP – full cohorts

the full program of YMCP consists of cohorts of 8 – 10 youth workers meeting for 2 days every other month over a year (6 meetings). of course, this is substantially more robust than the online groups. and you’d be hard pressed to find one of the 80 or so graduates who would tell you it wasn’t worth every dime and all the hassle of travel and such.

i have two cohorts meeting at this point — one in nashville, and one that i co-lead with matt wilks in calgary.

the western NC conference of the UMC has pulled together funding for a 2nd cohort (i completed a cohort there last year), which i expect to start in august or september. and the SC conference of the UMC is in the final stages of filling a cohort also. if you’re a UMC youth worker in south carolina, and would like to consider being a part of that cohort, please let me know ([email protected]), and i’ll put you in contact with the point person.

i have a handful of other “closed” cohorts in the wind: the EPC (evangelical presbyterian church) is trying to fill a cohort, and has about 4 or 5 committed so far. if you’re an EPC youth worker who’s interested, let me know. and there’s another group of UMCers in TX talking about starting a cohort. again, contact me if you’re interested in that one.

the cohort i’m really hoping to fill at this point is the next san diego (SoCal) cohort. i have 5 committed to it at this point, and only need 8 to launch here (since i don’t have travel costs). i’ve had a hard time filling this one this time around; but i sure would love to get it going in the late summer or early fall. if you have any interest in this SoCal cohort (you don’t have to be from SoCal – i’ve had plenty of participants from other parts of the country in the past two SoCal cohorts), please shoot me an email (again, that’s [email protected]).

that’s the skinny at this point. anyone interested?