Post-Simply Youth Ministry Conference thoughts...

So I've been asked several times yesterday and today about the Simply Youth Ministry Conference over the weekend.

A couple of things keep popping up.

First, and I totally expected this... but I'm always reminded... how incredible it is to rub shoulders with 2,500 other youth workers. Some of these folks were old friends... Dan, Ben, Doug, Brian, Josh, Jake, Matt, Shan, Dave, and others too many to continue mentioning. But many of these folks were new friends. They were folks that I sat down at the dinner table with. They were members of Dan and Ben's student leadership teams. They were folks that I sat beside and across from in workshops and behind in worship. It's always encouraging and exciting to hang out with a bunch of folks who are as crazy about working with students as I am.

Second, I was kinda caught off guard by this... I was amazed and energized by Kent Julian's workshop on Shepherds not Chaparones (he's on Twitter HERE and on the web HERE). I've been to a lot of conferences over the past 10 years of youth ministry and Kent's workshop ranks in the top 3 of workshops that I've taken... maybe even the best. His ideas were practical... they weren't particularly new as they were things that I thought to myself, "Of course... why didn't I think of that?" But they were challenging and engaging in a new way and made me rethink something that I thought a lot about. They will likely affect how I view my volunteer teams in the future. I can't wait to get my hands on his book "Inside Out Youth Worker. It will jump to the top of a very deep pile of books yet to be read.

Finally, I had a great time. I had fun laughing at the Skit Guys and Johnny and Chachi. Jake Rutenbar is incredible. TobyMac rocked the house Sunday night. I was challenged by Doug Fields, The Skit Guys and Duffy Robbins. And it was just an enjoyable weekend.

Aside from feeling a little sick... probably too many handshakes and hugs over the weekend... I feel pretty refreshed. And when I got back to Batavia on Monday, I was ready to jump back in.

Which is the mark of a truly good conference... when you get home, are you ready to go back to the trenches? If so, it was a good conference.

And it was a good conference.

Jim