Join a great weekend of learning and connecting at the Youth Worker Academy, May 1-3 at Living Waters Retreat Center.  The series of lectures this year is entitled: Relationships: The Care and Discipleship of Youth with Andrew Root Associate Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul MN. Youth Worker Academy 2015 can serve as an Advanced Lay Servant Ministry qualified course.

For more information and to register click here or read below.

Andrew will be sharing out of much experience and research on the following topics: Youth Ministry, the Church and the Melting of Identity; Youth Ministry and the Relational Crisis; From a Youth Ministry of Influence to Place-Sharing; The Shape of Faithful Place-Sharing; Divorce and Youth People.  Cost for the weekend is $150 and includes meals and lodging. 

Other more detailed information below: 

 Keynote Presenter: Andrew Root

Hey, my name is Andrew Root (I go by Andy), I teach classes on youth ministry, young adults, family, church, and culture (all with a deep theological bent) at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN.  At Luther I’m the Olson Baalson Associate Professor of Youth and Family Ministry and have lately been thinking and writing on issues of pastoral and practical theology.  I’ve written a number of books and have given lectures and presentations across the country and globe both to church groups, youth workers, and academic communities. I live in St. Paul, my wife Kara is a Presbyterian minister and we have two kids (Owen and Maisy) and two dogs. When I’m not teaching and writing I watch a ton of TV and movies and I’m a huge Twins and Gopher hockey fan.  Check out more about Andrew and his work at:  http://andrewroot.org/

Cost this year: $150 includes training, all meals and lodging at the Living Waters Retreat Center at Lake Poinsett Camp.  Register online right here!

Workshop Sessions:

1. Youth Ministry, the Church, and the Melting of Identity
One of the greatest pursuits for late modern people (especially those of younger generations) is to construct an identity for themselves.  But as we have seen recently, the fluidity of our culture does not allow for our identities to be carved in stone.  Instead our identities are always transitioning with new jobs, new marriages, and new ideas.  The cultural necessity of identity transition can be painful and difficult; it is easy to feel lost within the transition.  What then should the church do? And what new theological conceptions does this call for?

2. Youth Ministry and the Relational Crisis
In this presentation we will explore many of the cultural transitions that have made relationships an essential part of youth ministry.  We will explore the changes in the family, the high school, and in adolescence itself. 

3. From a Youth Ministry of Influence to Place-Sharing
This presentation will explore a theological recasting of the practice of relational youth ministry; seeing how using relationships to influence young people may be problematic. We will instead re-imagine relational youth ministry as place-sharing.

4. The Shape of Faithful Place-Sharing
How would I go about being a place-sharer in youth ministry?  What would it look like personally?  In this presentation we will explore these questions seeking to provide a way of imagining our very person in ministry with and for young people.

5. Place-Sharing - Divorce and Young People                                                                            This presentation will explore the impact of divorce on young people. Usually (both in the church and culture) we have seen divorce as a painful occurrence that can nevertheless be overcome if the young person can be taught to think correctly about the divorce of his or her parents ("it isn't your fault!"). Yet, such a perspective tends to distract us from larger realities. This seminar will examine this all too common cultural reality from a philosophical and theological perspective, seeing what difference this makes for our ministries.