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a different kind of youth ministry training event: The Summit

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i’ve been dreaming about this baby for two years. so i’m so completely stoked to reveal it today. The Youth Cartel is launching a new event this fall, called The Summit.

first, the calendar stuff:
-November 9 and 10
-in Atlanta, GA

and here’s the gist of it (taken directly from the event website):

There are other amazing youth ministry events. We love ‘em (they’re mostly run by friends of ours). But we at The Youth Cartel wanted to try something different, something we’ve been dreaming about for two years.

We’ve always been big fans of TED talks, and are creating an event with that vibe. We want our imaginations stirred. We want to dream together. We want to grab hold of hope. And we want to do all of this with you.

The theme for The Summit this first time out is PANORAMA. Let’s link arms (and brains and hearts!) as we pause to grasp a big-picture view of youth ministry present and future.
Each of the main sessions will have 4 to 6 presenters carefully selected for what they will bring. We’re not just inviting “good speakers” or big names; we’re choosing (and working with) presenters who will help us pull a thread through the entire event.

Session 1, on Friday evening, will focus on Hear and Now. Each presenter will offer a different look into a facet of our current reality.

Session 2, on Saturday morning, is called Peripheral Vision. These presenters will help us look to the side, to consider what we might learn from other fields of knowledge and experience.

Session 3, on Saturday afternoon, will bring our attention to The Horizon, where the presenters will suggest hopeful possibilities of where we might be going in our collective effort of youth ministry.

Session 4, early Saturday evening, will offer a keynote speaker to wrap things up, as well as some extended worship.

Sessions 1 through 3 will be followed by opportunities to meet with individual presenters who will respond to questions and prod you (and your team) to wrestle with contextual application of the combustible ideas they are passionate about.

The Summit doesn’t fit the categories for what you’ve experienced at a youth ministry event before. It’s different.

the line-up of presenters and topics is already shaping up to be WAY cool:
(session 1)

    Nikole Lim (topic TBA)
    Aaron Arnold, topic: Global Youth Culture
    Dori Baker, topic: Capacities of Teenagers

(session 2)

    Ben Chestnut, topic: Creating an Environment for Creativity and Empowerment
    Bobby John, topic: Entrepreneurship and Risk
    Mark Oestreicher, topic: Theory U and Transformation

(session 3)

    Charles Lee, topic: Birthing Ideas
    Gregory Ellison II, topic: Learning to Notice Marginalized Teenagers
    Chris Folmsbee, topic: Hopeful Imagination
    Seth Barnes, topic: Ruining Teenagers and Young Adults for Jesus

we’ll be adding more presenters over the months to come, so check the site for updates.

we really hope you’ll join us. we really hope you’ll bring a team (especially if you live in the southeast and can drive!). let’s dream together, baby!

11 thoughts on “a different kind of youth ministry training event: The Summit”

  4. hey mark – yes, the Youthwork Summit is a “sister event”! the organizers of that event are good friends of mine. we’d both been thinking about an event like this, simultaneously but without knowledge of each other’s thoughts; but they got theirs going first. i’m excited to come over to it in may!

  7. That’s cool, I didn’t want to come across as snarky, just seemed odd that two similar events are starting up so close to each other but that makes sense, guess the time is right for this sort of thing!

  11. Pingback: The Summit teaser video

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