Take a breath. Give yourself some space. Discover your humanity.

We know how you feel. As much as you want to discover ways to keep growing your ministry, the truth is you probably need a minute, right? After what we have experienced collectively, specifically as ministry leaders over the last 2 years, you just need the space to be; to be present with your own emotions; to be aware of what’s happening in your own hearts, away from the sometimes overwhelming nature of ministry. You could probably use a little time to breathe, decompress, and invest in you as a whole human.

That’s why we created the Discovery Sessions. These experiences are designed for you to reflect, reset, and return to your “why.”

Say What You Need to Say is a reflection experience designed to explore the power of words and how we can use them to help us reconnect with our own humanity, with others, and with God. This experience will be an ongoing, repeating reflection during each breakout. It is designed for you to opt-in at any time, or you can plan ahead by registering early!

Mindfulness in Motion is an audio experience designed to guide you into spending time being present in mind, body, and spirit. This experience will be a self-paced audio practice that you can download on your mobile phone and use at any time.

Since both of these experiences will be an ongoing, repeating reflection during each breakout, it is designed for you to opt-in at any time, or you can plan ahead by registering early!

Filters, streaks, TikTok trends, likes, and follows. The digital universe isn’t necessarily bad, but there are elements of these tech products that often cause teenagers in our ministries to act and feel less-than-human. Join Max Stossel, Youth & Education Advisor to the Center for Humane Technology to for an open discussion about how technology is affecting the teenagers in our communities, and what we can do about it.

*Live Spanish Interpretation Included

There’s a generation inside and outside the Church watching how we respond to human struggles perpetuated by racism in our communities. But these struggles aren’t only represented by what’s happening in the news—racism is historically significant in our theology and ministry practice as well. While some dismiss or elevate racism as part of a political agenda, there are a growing number of Christians who believe how we navigate justice and reconciliation will directly impact the faith of a generation. Join Albert Tate as he gives practical insights for examining how we see and understand each other so we can know how to love each other as Jesus called us to love.

For the past decade, Christian research has suggested that there’s a direct correlation between service and spiritual formation. Simply understanding the brain development of teenagers and their increased desire for adventure and purpose should make us rethink how we program. Yet, there’s a tendency during the teenage phase to make events and environments more important than consistent opportunities to serve. Spend time with other leaders to reimagine ways youth ministry can put service at the center of the strategy to disciple a generation.

There are more digital opportunities to learn about God and grow in discipleship than ever before—and that’s a great thing! At the same time, research indicates that young people are still looking for physical spaces to show up and be with other humans. Now like never before, we have to re-imagine physical experiences so they excel at the things that can only happen with physical proximity. Join us for a conversation about how to completely re-imagine your ministry experience so teenagers will want to attend.

It’s no secret that the past few years have created new challenges for recruiting and retaining volunteers. Yet in order to effectively disciple teenagers, we need to re-engage volunteers to show up—even if the volunteer roles for youth ministry are shifting. In this session, we’ll share what some of the most innovative ministries are learning about volunteerism and how we can develop a volunteer culture where every relationship matters.