What happens when over 1500 students and leaders converge in one place? The Spirit moves. Imaginations begin to run wild. An energy erupts with a passion to change the world for His glory. Today's Teens Conference is the longest running training event in Ontario. Inspiration and challenge flowed from the keynote speakers Duffy Robbins and Jason Ballard. Dozens of workshop leaders walked through practical steps to help transform youth ministries.
Sometimes, in the midst of leading a ministry, seldom do we get a chance to take a step back to see what's happening at that moment ... unless we intentionally do so. Whether we like it or not, things change and things evolve. But if we don't take that step back every so often, the changes/evolutions happen right under our nose. Last year, we launched the ministry audit. While it
Every retreat weekend brings a combination of challenges and celebrations. This weekend was no exception. But those challenges did not become insurmountable obstacles. Rather, they became a rallying point for many to dig deeper into who God is. The key to God's message this weekend was the framing of the message of salvation. Essentially, it isn't something to just grasp for ourselves, but understanding that his salvation for us must
This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password:
Ask a church their definition of "youth ministry", you'll probably get a variety of responses. Many define it as a program where youth are the target audience. Others emphasize mentoring and relationships with youth. Recently, some are expanding it to be family ministries i.e. ministering to parents and their families. Over the last few months, I've (Alvin) recognized there is a distinction between youth ministry and a church's reponse to
It's been less than 12 hours since all students, leaders and staff left Muskoka Woods. For 40 hours, we went from -25'C weather on Friday night to a "balmy" +2'C on Sunday. In fact, half the snow was sliding off the Music Hall. In that time, we've heard stories of many students seriously considering how God views them in light of what was shared. Chris Tompkins, our speaker, challenged "You're
In the next nine weeks, I'll be involved in 3 retreats, 1 leadership conference, organizing 1 Compassion Experience and a Raptors outreach event (plus we'll throw in 3 church consultations). This is our high season at CBOQ Youth. In the midst of the organized chaos, God gave me a reminder from a devotion shared by Gloria Stafford at our last Avalanche planning meeting based on Ephesians 3:14-21. The one phrase
In CBOQ Youth's calendar, Christmas is usually down time (compared to our other youth ministry colleagues in churches who have a lot to take care of before December 25). Given that our high season is just around the corner, our office will slow down with Matt and Alvin taking some time off and Angie scaling back her office hours. As you head into the heart of this Advent season (with
One Baptistic value we hold is "association". While every church has its own autonomy and can individually discern where God is leading them, many congregations recognize they can't do everything by themselves. Even the formation of our area associations and CBOQ itself is based on this. Two specific examples of association are our CBOQ Youth retreats and Centre Court events. Retreats like Avalanche and Blizzard require a certain critical mass
As Advent approaches, I usually hear from our youth leaders this is one of the busiest times of year. (For us at CBOQ Youth, it's actually a slower time because no one really needs us.) While celebrations and other activities take time and energy to plan, I wonder if it becomes over-programmed. For instance, ask yourself some of these questions: As you enter December, do you feel more strained or
