Youth-Net Youth Worker Sabbath Retreat

Transcription

1 2009 Youth-Net Youth Worker Sabbath Retreat November 9th-11th at Sky Ranch Camp in the beautiful Piney Woods of East Texas Join with your fellow metroplex youth workers for a FREE time of Rest, Spiritual Revitalization, Fellowship & Fun! Co-sponsored by Sky Ranch Camps and Wonder Voyage Missions There is limited space so check your calendar and Register ASAP. Any Full Time, Part Time or Volunteer Youth Worker welcome, limit 2 per church. Editors Note: If you think you re too busy to attend, it s a sure sign that you NEED to! We assure you God can take care of your youth ministry, family, and the world while you come hang out with Him and care for your soul. To register for this retreat or for more info go to Youth-Net Youth Worker Luncheon & Race Day Youth-Net Youth Worker Night at the Dallas Stars Game! Friday September 18th, 2009 Youth Pastor and One Guest per church are invited to come experience our 3 new race tracks, electric alley arcade, speedway miniature golf and a catered lunch, all for FREE! Special Vip Luncheon starts at 12 noon to 1:00pm and then Unlimited Play & Racing from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Monday October 19th, 2009 Youth Pastor and One Guest per church are invited to attend the Stars vs. Los Angeles Kings game and experience First Hand our NEW All-You-Can-Eat Group Meal Deal as our guest. Special Pre-Game program starts at 6:30 and includes an opportunity to win autographed items, sit in the penalty box & more! To RSVP or for more information on these events visit our website at Packed full of Youth Ministry Resources to Kick-off the New School Year!

2 Local Network Leader Contact Info DFW/N. Texas Metro Area Coordinator Mark Whittaker Greater Dallas Area Coordinator Rawd Jones Our Organization... The Youth Outreach Network is the DFW/ N Texas association of Youth Workers and the local expression of the National Network of Youth Ministries. Our Biblical Mandate... Jesus Prayer, John 17:21 Father, my prayer is for their unity, that they will all be one, as we are one, so that the world will believe you sent me. Our Mission... Is to unite the Body of Christ to reach out and minister to all youth in the DFW/N. Texas Area. Every Kid, Every Campus, Every Community. Our Strategy... Is to facilitate the Networking of youth workers for prayer, fellowship, mutual encouragement and the sharing of resources as a basis for cooperative outreach to the youth of their community. Bottomline... We are Better Together! The Youth-Net News is a publication of the Youth Outreach Network. Subscriptions are provided for Network members as a part of their membership contribution. Mark Whittaker, Executive Director/Editor Aaron Whittaker, Office Mgr/Graphic Artist City Vision - Youth Outreach Network is a nonprofit organization recognized for tax deductible giving by the federal government. Send correspondence to: Youth Outreach Network PO Box Arlington, TX Phone: (972) Fax: (817) us at: [email protected] Website: Arlington Josh Johnson... Park Row Church of Christ (817) Shane Johns... Park Springs Bible Church (817) Burleson/S. Ft. Worth Joe Echols...Crosstimbers Baptist Church (817) Sam Dallas...Reece Prairie Baptist Church (817) Carrollton/Farmers Branch Matt DeBlanc...Valley Creek Church (972) Central/South Fort Worth Stu Cocanougher... Southcliff Baptist Church (817) Duncanville/Desoto/Cedar Hill Kevin Mulkey... Cornerstone Bible Church (972) Flower Mound/Lewisville Darrell Halk... Lakeland Baptist Church (972) Frisco Jason Stevenson...Stonebriar Community Church (469) Ben Graham...Frisco Bible Church (972) Grand Prairie Chris Jones... The Oaks Baptist (972) Hurst/Euless/Bedford Leaders Needed... (972) Irving Richard Caldwell... Oakview Baptist (972) David Grant...Irving Bible Church (972) McKinney Grant Byrd... First Baptist (972) Mesquite/Garland Adrian McConnell...Spirit & Truth (469) N.E. Dallas/Richardson Doug McKinney... Big Springs Baptist Church (972) Rawd Jones...Pure Ministries (469) Oak Cliff/S.W. Dallas Danny Noah...FCA (214) Plano Area Benton Hall...Student Venture (214) Jeff Miller... Canyon Creek Baptist (972) Tyler Area Jason Abney...Church of Living Hope (903) Hispanic Abel Lopez... Mundo De Fe (972) Sam Lara...First Spanish A/G (214) Metroplex-Wide Parachurch Resources Jay Sedwick...Dallas Theological Seminary (214) Rick Bowles...FCA Dallas (214) Richard Ross...Southwestern Baptist Seminary (817) Billy Beacham... Student Discipleship (817) Tom Bridges...Student Venture (972) Nick Manos...Young Life DFW (214) Kyle Embry... Youth Alive (817) Leighton Flowers...Youth Evangelism (214) Geoff Reese... Youth For Christ N Texas (817) If you are not sure which network to plug into or would like to start a local network in your area, please call the Youth Outreach Network office.

3 What do you get when you mix: 3 Waterparks 64 Youth Workers 187 Family Members Free Admission Free Food Fellowship & Fun? You get some much needed R&R between camps and mission trips at the Youth-Net Youth Worker & Family Appreciation Days at Hawaiian Falls The Colony, Mansfield, and Garland!

4 ARLINGTON Josh K Johnson Park Row Church The Arlington Youth Ministry Network is going strong! We are a group dedicated to service and ministry to the city of Arlington. Each summer we organize a week of service called Project Serve. This is our main thrust for the network in Arlington. We encourage our students to serve and give to their community. This was our best year yet! God truly blessed us as 26 people that our youth ministered to through Mission Arlington gave their lives to Christ - praise God! We were all reminded that missions begins where we are at. Arlington is the mission field God has granted us and Project Serve seeks to encourage students to see it as such. For more info call me at or me at [email protected]. Editor s note: Arlington also has a monthly youth workers prayer gathering on the third Thursday of each month. Please read what Gene-o Parenica from Crossroads of Arlington has to say about the group, Our gathering consists of youth pastors, interns, and parachurch ministries that come together for the simple purpose of praying for the youth of our community and our city. We start the prayer gathering with a meal and fellowship with other youth workers who have a heart for the youth of our city. Each month different youth workers lead the gathering, we might have singing intermixed with Scriptures as we focus on lifting up our leaders, schools and students to God. In the fall we are seeking God s timing for a prayer gathering of 120 students who will pray for their schools. We believe prayer is crucial if we want to see true changes occur in our city. If you are in Arlington and you too would like to join us in our monthly prayer gathering, we meet at: Crossroads of Arlington, 3221 West Pioneer Parkway, the third Thursday of each month, 11:30 am 1:00 pm. If you would like more information or to let us know that you are coming, contact me at [email protected] We look forward to you joining us. PLANO Benton Hall Student Venture The Plano Pack has one of the longest and most fun histories of uniting youth workers and students to impact their friends, families and city in the North Texas area. Citywide Disciple Nows, Rally s at Clark Stadium, SYATP Rallies, youth pastor fishing and hunting trips, annual Christmas dinners with spouses...and the list goes on and on. At the core is the acknowledgment that the Lord has called each of us to this area to serve and that only a youth worker can understand what another youth worker is experiencing. It has been, on balance, a caring and safe place for full time, part time, and volunteer youth workers to share, laugh and pray together. This September we are inviting Mark Whittaker and Rawd Jones to come join us and help us make plans for the future. Mark has helped launch Networks all over Dallas and Ft. Worth during the past 20 years. His vision and energy are equal to none and His passion for the Lord will encourage us, while he and long time Network Coordinator Rawd Jones...former head of the North Dallas Network...step in and help re-launch the Pack for Don t miss it! We need everyone because as the National Network of Youth Ministries slogan says, We Are Better Together! For more info call me at (214) or [email protected]. MCKINNEY Dr. Grant T. Byrd First Baptist McKinney The McKinney area network met this spring together to plan and get ready for the 16th year of Mission: McKinney. The area mission trip where we paint homes of needy families and then at night we come together for youth rallies. The last trip was well attended by 300 students from 9 area churches! The students painted the 195th house of the ministry program and completed 17 homes this year. The McKinney area youth guys have a good time meeting together and serving together. For more info call me at or me at [email protected] CENTRAL/S. FORT WORTH Stu Cocanougher Southcliff Baptist Church Though our network has not met together for some time...it is my hope that this semester our network can have a new beginning. There are two main areas that I would like for us to focus on: The first is supporting one another in prayer. Serving in youth ministry can be stressful. Often times we feel we have to put up a front that everything in our lives is perfect. We need to move beyond talking about our programs and start praying for each other. The second area that I would like our network to explore is connecting veteran youth workers with those who have less experience. The goal is for new youth ministers to have mentors who can help them as they get started in youth ministry. Finally, if you are out there and serve in South/Central Fort Worth give me a call. I can be reached at or send me an at [email protected]

5 BURLESON Joe Echols Crosstimbers Baptist Church The LINC is a network of student ministers serving the churches of south Tarrant and Johnson counties. We have some great network events coming up including an amazing See You After The Pole Rally Wednesday night, September 23rd at the Burleson High School Auditorium. With Wade Morris speaking and the Chris Clayton band leading worship, this will be a powerful evening for all involved. Other events like STORM, an area wide D-Now weekend, and Students of the Way, a month focused on campus outreach follow. All area church youth leaders are invited to join us for our monthly lunch meeting on the first Wednesday of each month at 12:00 noon at the Student Discipleship Ministries office in Burleson. Join us for what is sure to be a great year south of the metroplex. For information on LINC, please contact Joe Echols at [email protected]. MESQUITE/GARLAND Adrian Mcconnell Spirit and Truth Church Though with a small start as a spin off of the N. Dallas/Richardson Network, the Mesquite/ Garland Youth-Net Network has since become a refreshing haven for youth leaders in the area. From the group s inception, Rawd Jones, Matt Ford, Doug McKinney and Adrian McConnell have played an intricate part in its foundation. The Network has worked diligently to make its presence known to area Youth workers, pastors and leaders from churches, campus ministries and parachurch organizations. The network is a synergy of youth workers gathering to encourage, pray, connect, share resources, mutually encourage and maybe do some events together. The Garland/Mesquite Network officially launched on April 23. Matt Ford of Lakeview Christian Church gladly allows us to use the church s facility on the 4th Thursday of every month to gather for our meetings. The discussions during our meeting times have been relevant and encouraging. We have seen great growth since the birth of the network and project to see more starting in the fall. For more info [email protected] or call me at (972) DUNCANVILLE/DESOTO/CEDAR HILL Kevin Mulkey Cornerstone Bible Church This Spring our network continued to spend time together gathering once a month for a meal and a time to encourage each other and enjoy the highs and lows of ministry. There were no events to spend time planning so the conversation was able to just focus on what s going on in each others lives. It was exciting to see some new faces join us this year and to share a common goal that breaks down denominational walls as members of the Baptist church, Church of Christ, Bible church, Methodist church, Church of God, Young Life, and others joined together to share ideas on how to reach teenagers for Christ. We are currently looking to the Fall to put together a common event in the hopes of reaching more students in the duncanville/desoto/cedar hill area. For more info on call me at or me at [email protected] N.E. DALLAS/RICHARDSON Doug McKinney Big Springs Baptist Church The North Dallas Network of Youth Ministries was revived in February of Youth workers from many different denominations came together to form a varied yet cohesive group with one goal seeing God do amazing things with and through the youth in the N. Dallas area. Every meeting included fellowship, discussion over a specific topic, prayer, and, of course, FREE FOOD. The most recent discussion topic for the network was Mark Oestreicher s book Youth Ministry 3.0. We spent 2 meetings fleshing that out and seeing what YM 3.0 might look like for us. Meetings take place from 11:30 am until 1:00 pm at Fellowship Dallas (9330 N Central Expy) on the third Thursday of every month. As we get back up and running, we ll be emphasizing prayer, encouragement, and interaction between fellow youth workers. If you re a youth worker in the North Dallas area, we d love to have you join us on Sept. 17. In the mean time, don t just take my word here s what Mike Heinz of Fellowship Bible Church has to say: This year I was part of the North Dallas / Richardson area youth pastors network. It provided a good mix of food, discussion and fellowship. It is a place where I was able to exchange ministry ideas and pray with fellow youth pastors. It was good to hear the struggles of fellow laborers and I felt comfortable to share my own. The food was always good and the sponsoring companies had great opportunities for youth groups. I liked the group dynamic of reading a youth ministry-type book and coming ready to discuss its content. I thought these times of interaction were some of the best I ve experienced in such a setting with other youth pastors. There was a good mix of rookie and veteran youth pastors that created a rich environment and discussion. I look forward to starting back in the fall and sharing life with my friends/co-laborers in youth ministry! For more info call Doug at or him at [email protected]

6 Fall DFW Youth Leader Training Events Chap Clark When Kids Hurt Dr. Chap Clark (Professor of Youth, Family, and Culture at Fuller Seminary and popular speaker for Youth Specialties) will present practical research based strategies to assist parents and youth leaders to help teenagers God has placed in our care to navigate their way successfully through adolescence. Saturday / October 3 Fellowship Bible Church Dallas TX (800) (see flyer enclosed) BGCT Youth Ministry Conclave The Conclave provides training conferences and worship experiences for adults who oversee and serve in the youth ministry in their churches. Conferences include training in youth Bible study leadership, youth evangelism and administration. Saturday / October Arlington Convention Center Arlington, TX (888) (see flyer enclosed) Fall DFW Youth Conferences Revolve Tour Girls Conference Award-winning bands & speakers with Real, Relevant Messages. 4Real combines amazing music, relevant real-life stories, drama, excitement and fun for a one-ofa-kind inspirational weekend for teen girls. Bring your teens they ll love it! Friday & Saturday / October 9-10 Fort Worth Convention Center Fort Worth TX (800) (see flyer enclosed) Men at the Cross Conference This is a great opportunity for your teenage boys to be challenged in becoming men of God and catching a vision for discipleship. This year the Men at the Cross conference has a special emphasis targeting teenage boys. Three of the sessions are specifically for the boys! Student price is only $19! Saturday / October 10 TCU Daniel Meyer Coliseum Fort Worth, TX (see flyer enclosed) Both of these conferences are the same weekend so you might want to plan a Girly/Burly weekend to challenge your students in their walk with God!

7 Date Event Location Phone Website August 25 Hillsong United Tour Dallas Natalie Grant Concert Flowermound September 18 Youth-Net Speed Zone Lunch & Play Dallas Texas Rangers Youth Night with Mercy Me Arlington See You At The Pole Local Flagpoles D6 Conferencewith Mark Matlock Dallas Rush of Fools Arlington October 2-3 Sage Girls Ministry Training Conference Arlington Chap Clark When Kids Hurt Conference Dallas [email protected] 9-31 Hell House open weekends in October Cedar Hill The Revolve Tour Girls Conference Fort Worth REVOLVE 10 Men at the Cross Fort Worth Follow You Tour Leeland, Brandon Heath Arlington Free Youth Worker Night at Stars Game Dallas Youth Ministry Conclave BGCT Arlington David Crowder Band Church Music Tour Dallas November 7 Men at the Cross Dallas Youth-Net Youth Worker Sabbath Retreat Van Hawk Nelson, Skillet and Decyfer Down Dallas Mark Your Calendar Copy And Post See You at the Pole, September 23, 2009 See You at the Pole is all about prayer. It s about you coming together and laying aside all the labels and groups for one day, to simply connect with God in prayer and connect with fellow Christians in unity around the flag pole whether jocks, preps, geeks, Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, sophomores, or seniors. Have your youth join their generation Wednesday, September 23, at 7 a.m at their school flagpole. Pray for your school, friends, families, and world. SYATP PO Box Fort Worth, Texas NOTE: Please confirm these dates. All events are subject to change without prior notice.

8 City Vision Youth Outreach Network PO Box Arlington, TX Non-Profit US Postage PAID Permit #115 Arlington, TX If the person below is no longer at this church or organization then please pass this on to the new youth leader and update their info on our website at It s time again for you to Help us Help you! Dear Fellow Youth Worker, Hope you re having a great summer of ministry! In anticipation of your 2009/10 Membership, we have sent you the Back To School Youth-Net News packed full of information and flyers to keep you up-to-date about everything going on in the DFW/ N. TX area like conferences, concerts, crusades, youth activities and FREE Youth-Net Youth Worker Lunch and Appreciation Days! (For you, your spouse, & family) As the local association of Youth Workers, the Youth Outreach Network exists to help you, whether full time, parttime, or volunteer, to reach new youth and to more effectively minister to your group. We do this: Professionally - by exposing you to ministry resources, training events, strategies, etc. and Relationally - by facilitating interaction, fellowship, and cooperation with your peers through local network groups. If you are not currently in a local network and would like to be visit our website and we will help you get plugged in! P.S. We will be ing you more information about our Free Youth Worker Appreciation Days so be sure to go to our website at and give us your preferred address and update your contact information, and as always, if you ever need help with something don t hesitate to call us at ! Please pay your membership online at so you will not miss out on your next issue of the Youth-Net News or your next invitation to our FREE Youth Worker Appreciation Days.