Youth Ministry
CLC brainstorms strategies to strengthen youth engagement
Mennonite Church USA’s Constituency Leaders Council brainstormed strategies for strengthening youth engagement at its first meeting of the 2023-2025 biennium via Zoom on Oct. 27, 2023. To read a full report of this meeting, including comments from Ohio Conference Moderator Ken Sims, see the MC USA news release: https://bit.ly/CLC-YouthEngagement.
Youth ministry webinar recordings available
This spring Ohio Conference hosted a series of webinars for youth workers. If you missed them, don’t worry: Video recordings of four of these webinars are now posted on the “Youth Ministry” page of the Ohio Conference website. To view them, go to https://bit.ly/OCYouthMinistry.
Youth worker seminar series continues
Next Tuesday, April 12, Ohio Conference will host the second in a series of free online seminars for youth workers. “Jesus as Model: Youth Ministry Reimagined” is the theme of this series, which features a variety of presenters. Seminars are being offered from 7 to 8:15 p.m. on Tuesdays. Remaining dates include April 12, 19 and 26, and May 10,…
First youth worker seminar is March 22
Coming soon: Ohio Conference is offering a series of free online seminars for youth workers during March, April and May. “Jesus as Model: Youth Ministry Reimagined” is the theme of this series, which will feature a variety of presenters. The first of these seminars will be this coming Tuesday, March 22. Seminars will be offered from 7 to 8:15 p.m.…
Register online for youth worker seminars
Update: The number of youth worker seminars has changed. The series of seminars will begin on March 22 instead of March 8. Please see the updated schedule below. Ohio Conference is offering a series of free online seminars for youth workers during March, April and May. “Jesus as Model: Youth Ministry Reimagined” is the theme of this series, which will…
Free youth worker seminars planned
Update: The number of youth worker seminars has changed. The series of seminars will begin on March 22 instead of March 8. Please see the updated schedule below. Ohio Conference is offering a series of free online seminars for youth workers during March, April and May. “Jesus as Model: Youth Ministry Reimagined” is the theme of this series, which will…
Register now for Youth Worker Retreat
Sept. 24 is the deadline to register for the Ohio Conference Youth Worker Retreat. This event will take place Oct. 15-17 at Camp Luz in Kidron. Retreat speaker Glen Guyton, executive director of Mennonite Church USA, will focus on the theme “Equipped for the Journey: The who, what and how for youth workers.” We strongly encourage your congregation to GIFT this…
Equipping youth workers — an interview with Glen Guyton
How do we disciple young people in the church? How can we help them discover their calling in a cluttered world? In this episode of the Ohio Conference Cast podcast, Glen Guyton, the executive director of Mennonite Church USA, considers these questions and reflects on his years in youth ministry. He notes that we often don’t realize the long-term effects…
Camp Luz to host youth worker retreat
Ohio Conference will hold a retreat for youth workers Oct. 15-17 at Camp Luz in Kidron. “Equipped for the Journey: The who, what and how for youth workers” is the theme of this retreat, which will be led by Glen Guyton, executive director of Mennonite Church USA. The cost of this retreat is $125 per person for members of Ohio…
Retreat to focus on equipping youth workers
Coming Oct. 15-17, 2021: Ohio Conference is excited to announce its next youth worker retreat — Equipped for the Journey: The who, what and how for youth leaders. This event will be held at Camp Luz in Kidron. Glen Guyton, executive director of Mennonite Church USA, will be leading the retreat. Participants will be challenged to settle into who God is…
Glen Guyton to lead youth worker retreat
Ohio Conference will hold a youth worker retreat Oct. 15-17, 2021, at Camp Luz in Kidron. Glen Guyton, executive director of Mennonite Church USA, will lead the retreat, focusing on the theme Equipped for the Journey: The who, what and how for youth leaders. Participants will be challenged to settle into who God is calling them to be as leaders,…
An important part of Christ’s Body
By Ramon Lianez Central Mennonite Church I believe that young adults are an important part of Christ’s Body, but we are not ministering to them accordingly. The ball is being dropped on both sides; however, through appropriate means and in God’s timing, we all can turn our present situation around. I do not attest that I am an expert in…
MMN resource is designed for youth groups
Mennonite Mission Network has released a new resource for youth groups, “Making faith sense amidst the pandemic.” This resource is designed to guide conversation with youth as part of an online group meeting. You can learn more and download the resource at https://bit.ly/MMNYouthResources.
Webinar to focus on youth ministry, online tools
Shana Peachey Boshart, MC USA denominational minister for faith formation, will host a one-hour webinar called “Virtual Tools for Real Youth Ministry” on Tuesday, April 7, at 4 p.m. EDT. To learn more about this webinar and get more suggestions for working with youth during this time of social distancing, see the latest Faith Formation e-newsletter from Mennonite Church USA: http://bit.ly/FaithFormationYouth.
We want to hear from you
The Youth and Young Adult Ministry Development Team is seeking stories from our Ohio Conference congregations about how they are working with youth and young adults. We would like to hear from you. What have been your successes? How have you learned from your failures? Where is God working now? If you have a story that you would be willing…
Youth and young adults: the NOW and FUTURE church
Photo credit: “Bulletin Board” by chelmsfordpubliclibrary is licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. By Alex Dye She was 8 years old, chin up with eyes squinting, scrutinizing the faces on the bulletin board. Her gaze glanced across the names under each face and fell upon accompanying titles like “Church Council Chair” and “Worship Committee Chair” and “Trustee” and “Elder,” all designations…
Kidron Mennonite to host ‘Growing Young’ seminar
Kidron Mennonite Church is sponsoring a “Growing Young” seminar on Saturday, April 14, from 9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. This seminar will focus on making young people a priority in your church. Speaker Dr. David “Duffy” Robbins, professor of youth ministry at Eastern University, will share about Keychain Leadership, empathy, taking Jesus’ messages seriously, and creating a warm community that…
Bible studies for youth to be livestreamed
The Mennonite Inc. is teaming up with Michele Hershberger, professor of Bible at Hesston College, to offer a series of four virtual Bible studies for junior and senior high youth groups in June. Whether your youth groups are headed to the Mennonite Church USA convention in Orlando this summer or not, they’ll be sure to benefit from Michele’s four-week Bible…
AMBS to offer !Explore program for youth
This summer Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana, is offering !Explore, a theological program for high school youth in grades 11 and 12. This program includes both congregational experience and a group experience on the AMBS campus. Registration deadline is Feb. 1. To learn more, see http://bit.ly/AMBSExplore.
LEAD3D focuses on youth leadership
Do you know a junior or senior in high school with budding leadership potential? LEAD3D (Discover, Develop, Disciple) is the leadership development program just for them! During two weekend retreats at Camp Luz in Kidron, students will evaluate their natural leadership tendencies, learn about principles of Christ-centered leadership and take steps toward discovering and developing a personal leadership style. Intentional…
2016 Youth Worker Retreat
Ohio Conference held a Youth Worker Retreat at Camp Luz in Kidron Sept. 30-Oct. 1. Presenters were Dr. Randy Keeler, associate professor of religion at Bluffton University; and Brent Lacey, author of the book Rural Youth Ministry: Thrive Where You’re Planted.
Everence has resources for youth
Everence continues to be a valuable resource to help us as we navigate our stewardship journey. A great resource for youth is a three-session study called Real life talk about money: navigating the money maze. The goal of this series is to introduce young people to real-life application of biblical principles about money so that young people will prepared to…
Gathering Place is for youth leaders
The Gathering Place is an interactive website for Anabaptist youth leaders to find connection, resourcing, networking, mentoring, and spiritual formation. Check out the website at www.thegatheringplace.us. You can subscribe to receive the latest information from the Gathering Place.
Experiencing God in the summer
By Erin Dye Adriel Chaplain Eleven themed weeks. Ten memory verses. Forty-two youth. More than 275 hours of activities. What do these numbers represent? They are merely an outline of all that occurred during Adriel’s summer program! Many people have shared in these precious summer months at Adriel over the years and know the value of time spent under these…
Randy Keeler reflects on his sabbatical with Ohio Conference
By Randy Keeler During the 2014-2015 academic year I had the privilege of spending my sabbatical year as youth ministry resource person for the Ohio Conference of Mennonite Church USA. Besides serving as a resource to congregations in specific situations when called upon, I also planned six workshops for youth workers in different locations around the state in an attempt…
My Trip to a Farm
Girl Talk is a ministry of Friendship Mennonite Church in Bedford Heights, Ohio for girls ages 9 to 13. The majority of the girls who attend are from Bedford Heights Daycare, a 35 year old community daycare that rents space from the church. Pastor Nan Kanagy leads the group. My name is Michelle and I am here…
Leadership Experience Benefits Mission
By Anita Shetler Ask any leader in the church or business world and they will likely tell you that leadership skills did not necessarily come easily or naturally for them. A case in point is Berlin Mennonite Church member and local businessman, Jeremy Kauffman, the Executive Director of Walnut Hills Nursing Facilities. He said, “At an early age, I was…