conversations from the couch

I think it started as an idea during an Affinity Group leaders meeting at NYMC 2008 (Brandon or someone came up with this I think) Everyone wanted to keep the conversations going beyond the conference and give youth workers a place to keep going back to so the relationships and discussions that started at NYMC didn’t just vanish at the end of the 4 days. A few Affinity Groups started their own blogs and Facebook pages, but we have FINALLY pulled this all together in one online community!

Check out NYMCconnect.com and get started by joining an affinity group. All of the Affinity Group leaders from last year are getting plugged back in now to start some discussions, and we’re hoping a bunch of folks can reconnect here, and new people can also get talking before NYMC. It’s just starting out–so help this get rolling by jumping in and starting a discussion!

The casual, quiet pace of the office during the holidays puts me in the mood to chat–so instead of my usual barrage of email correspondence, I opted to pick up the phone and connect with a few conference speakers I needed to connect with.

I talked with Danette Matty, an energetic, dynamic youth worker from Minneapolis who is leading the Women in Youth Ministry Affinity Group, and teaching a few workshops (one on setting boundaries, one on recovering from the aftermath of a youth ministry scandal/mess, and one just for volunteers) We burned up the phone for nearly 2 hours–talking conference schedule and workshop content–bouncing ideas all over the place. Danette has such a sparkly nature–but with a powerful groundedness, transparency and intelligence that makes her brilliant.

We landed on a great plan to shift some workshops a bit and offer late-night breakouts on some hard hitting subjects. We added a new ”recovering from the aftermath” breakout for Sunday night based on our interesting discussion on setting appropriate boundaries in youth ministry–and what can happen when there aren’t boundaries. Danette shared some painful stories about situations that resulted in tremendous pain for some youth workers–and for the youth workers who followed in the footsteps of the mess.

It’s cool how the conference is “owned” by the hearts and minds of the people who are coming to serve in speaker and ministry mentor roles. (and by youth workers who are willing to share their thoughts!)Everyone has an opinion–backed by years of experience, success and failures that give such authentic dimension to every detail!