Renew…Educate…Connect…
Over the last few years, one of the conversations that has come up again and again in youth ministry circles is about how we approach mission and service. Many of us grew up with a model that was driven by ...
Last week, I had the chance to spend a day with our friends in Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Network at their annual conference, and it was exactly the kind of experience that fills your tank in ways you didn’t know you ...
Hello friends, In the past few weeks, news broke that Group Publishing has been acquired by David C. Cook Publishing. Once upon a time, Group was a powerhouse in the world of children, youth, and family ministry. They produced books and ...
As ministry continues to evolve, the ELCA Youth Ministry Network is walking forward with intention. In response to feedback from our community and in the spirit of deep listening, we’ve launched a comprehensive strategic planning process to guide our future. ...
The Practice Discipleship (PD) Initiative has been one of the most powerful and influential faith formation ministries to take hold in the ELCA in the last 30 years. This is not exaggeration, nor is it hyperbole. It’s just real. Literally tens of thousands of people have participated in training and education for leadership in congregational faith formation ...
The Editorial Team for the Connect Journal is looking for your assistance. The Winter 2017 issue will focus on mental health issues in children, youth, families, and those in the church who serve them. We know that many of you have experience working with young people and families who face mental health issues.Some of you, ...
This year, the Network set a $4000 goal in fundraising from our network members and friends. This does not include organizational or partnership gifts. We’re talking about $4000 in donations from individuals whose ministry has been touched by the Network and who want to support its work. With 28 days to go until the end ...
The Network received this information from our friends and partners at Wheat Ridge: Wheat Ridge Ministries Seeking Submissions for the Richard E. Herman Emerging Leader Award Do you know someone making a difference in lives and communities affected by poverty? Someone who, motivated by Christ, is responding to the needs of a community and confronting ...
I was shocked, but not surprised, when the news of the closing of Youth Encounter was released a couple of weeks ago. Youth Encounter is an organization with a rich history in the Lutheran church, and its closing is an event of seismic proportions in the world of ministry with young people. I can only ...
We’ve already written and shared thoughts about the evaluation data from Extravaganza 2016, and the E-Team is working on processing that information for future planning. We also ran some of the demographic data from registrations, some of which is pretty interesting. (I’m kind of a data nerd this way) So I thought I’d post it. ...
Dear friends, The E-Team leaders have spent the past week or two going over the details of the evaluations from Extravaganza 2016 in Anaheim. I wanted to follow up with what we learned from this year’s evals. First, thank you very much to those who took the time to fill out the evaluation forms. The ...
From the Youth Encounter web site: Posted on February 29, 2016 by Meg Sawyer After 51 years of successful and fruitful ministry, Youth Encounter is shutting down operations and closing its doors at the end of April. Youth Encounter will finish its current event season on April 3, 2016 and then host two Feed the ...
A major update to the Network’s mobile app has been released for both the Apple iOS and for Android. The iPad version of the app will be released next week. Click here to download the app. In addition to making the app a little quicker and squashing some “bugs,” the new app adds several different ...
Heidi Hagstrom, the former director of the ELCA Youth Gathering received the “Tom Hunstad Award for Excellence in Children, Youth and Family Ministry” at the ELCA Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza. Heidi is currently serving as the vicar of Fields of Grace Lutheran Parish in southwest Minnesota. From 1997 to 2015, she served as the Director of the Youth Gathering, the ...
Network is a Verb 