Youth Leadership Symposium ... Building Leaders, Fostering Faith.

The Youth Leadership Symposium strives to build leadership for fostering faith in youth ministry programs by providing quality continuing education for both adults and high school youth in leadership positions in their congregations. Both keynote addresses and the morning workshops will be addressed to all participants; however, during the afternoon workshops, we will divide into two tracks, one for adults and one for high school youth.

The Symposium is sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and Religion of Ohio Northern University and the Office of Next Generations Leadership of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church

Keynote Addresses by the Rev. Stephen Cady

“Avoiding the Slushie: GLEE-ning the Gospel from a World of Grilled Cheesus”

“Creative Encounters: Improv Everywhere and the Future of Youth Ministry”

Originally from Kansas, Cady is an ordained elder in the Kansas East Annual Conference and a doctoral candidate in practical theology with a focus on adolescent and young adult faith formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. A graduate of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and Ohio Wesleyan University, he currently serves as minister of Kingston United Methodist Church in Kingston, N.J. He describes his years since entering the ministry as “the happiest days of my life.” Cady’s particular interest is in the intersection of popular culture and the Gospel and the role of worship in youth ministry. He gives thanks for his wonderful wife, Emily, and two amazing children, Ellie and Charlie, who remind him that we are all better when we’re loved. When Cady is not playing with his children, studying or preaching, he enjoys running, collecting Superman memorabilia, and teaching people to yo-yo.

Morning Workshops (for adults and youth combined)

“A Student Leadership Revolution” – Scott Miller
Miller is a 24-year veteran in youth ministry. He is a deacon in full connection in the United Methodist Church. He has served in youth ministry in New Jersey, Texas and Pennsylvania and, for the last nine years, has served at Milford First United Methodist Church in a suburb of Cincinnati. Miller is a published author as well as a contributing writer for Ministry in Motion e-zine

“Butterflies are Good: Effective Communication in Youth Ministry” – Mike Nygren
Nygren currently serves as the director of the Idea Factory, a nonprofit leadership development program in Troy, Ohio, and the director of youth ministry at Stillwater United Methodist in Dayton. Nygren has worked with young people for the past four decades as a teacher, coach, entrepreneur, youth pastor and motivational speaker. As a visionary leader, he has traveled to more than 30 countries to better understand the need for equipping young people to become global leaders. Nygren has been married for 42 years and has two children and three adventurous grandchildren. His hobbies include the restoration of old homes, “Back Door Travel,” sailing, and Ohio State football.

“Youth Leadership Teams As Missional Investors, Empowering Youth as Missional Entrepreneurs” – Carl Gladstone
Gladstone is an ordained deacon in the Detroit Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He lives and works in the city of Detroit with the Young Leaders Initiative – a collection of programs engaging young people as Christian leaders for the transformation of the Church and world. Gladstone also works as the midwest regional staff person with the Young People’s Ministry office of the General Board of Church and Society, a position focused on gathering and sharing young people’s ministry wisdom with practitioners across the region’s United Methodist churches. When not working with youth in the church, Gladstone is a singer/songwriter whose latest project is called the “Abolitionist Hymnal,” a collection of 19th-century freedom songs set to new tunes.

Afternoon Workshops (for adults)

“Pastoral Care in Crisis and Death: From the ER to Youth Group” – Elizabeth Kelly
Elizabeth Kelly is the spiritual care coordinator at Blanchard Valley Hospital in Findlay, Ohio, and Bluffton Hospital. An Episcopal priest with experience in parish ministry, she specializes in ministry to patients (and families) with chronic progressive conditions, individuals undergoing emergency room and trauma care, and persons experiencing complicated grief. Her past presentations include “Advance Directives,” “Complicated Grief,” “Death in the Congregation (care of the congregation in the aftermath of traumatic death),” “Palliative Care in the Hospital Setting,” “Identifying your Higher Power,” and “Breaking Bad News.” She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of the South, the MDiv from Duke Divinity School, and a MSW from Ohio State University (June 2011).

"Make Mine a Double: Parenting + Youth Ministry" – Rachel Burns
Rachel (Harris) Burns, BA ’09, is the director of youth ministries at Rocky River United Methodist Church, just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Over the past 13 years, she has served in camps, para-church ministry and the local church. Burns also has been an affinity group leader and panelist on the topic of being a woman in youth ministry at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference. The past seven years have been the most rewarding and challenging for her, as she has added two children and a husband to the mix and is learning the delicate balance of parenting and youth ministry. Burns earned her Bachelor of Arts in youth ministry from Ohio Northern University.  

Afternoon Workshop (for youth) 

A campus tour and meeting with ONU admissions staff

Symposium Schedule

9 a.m.
Gathering (coffee) McIntosh Ballroom Room
Welcome and Opening Devotion
Keynote address
Stephen Cady, McIntosh Ballroom Room

11:15 a.m.
Morning Workshops
     “A Student Leadership Revolution” – Scott Miller
     “Do Hard Things” – Mike Nygren
     “Creating and Strengthening Youth Leadership Teams” – Carl Gladstone

12:15 p.m.
Lunch in the McIntosh Activities Room

1:15 p.m.
Workshops for adults
     “Pastoral Care in Crisis and Death: From the ER to Youth Group” – Elizabeth Kelly
     “Make Mine a Double: Parenting + Youth Ministry” - Rachel Burns

Program for youth:
     Campus tour with admissions staff

2:15 p.m.
Coffee break

3 p.m.
Keynote address
     Stephen Cady, McIntosh Ballroom Room

Safe Sanctuary Policy

Adult leaders are encouraged to bring youth leaders with them. However, they should follow the Safe Sanctuary Policies of their congregation.

Questions? Contact Ray Person, Ohio Northern University professor of religion, at r-person@onu.edu or 419-772-2196.

Past Youth Leadership Symposiums

April 28, 2010
Keynote addresses by Katherine Turpin, associate professor of religious education at Iliff School of Theology
“Targeted: Adolescent Faith Development in Consumer Culture”
“Beyond Branding: Faith Communities that Challenge Consumer Faith”

Workshops:
Deborah Light: “Volunteerism: Planting a Seed that Can Last a Lifetime”
Caryn Griffin: “Mental Health Issues and Youth: What Every Youth Minister Needs to Know”
Tim Van Meter: “Living in the Delight of Creation: Youth Ministry and Ecological Practices”
Kristin Shrom-Rhoads: “A Theology of Play”
Randy Kuss and Deborah Strock-Kuss: “A Call to Response-Ability”