conversations from the couch

And the best part of it is I’m still not technically supposed to be announcing it–but I can’t stand it any longer! Plus–I just looked at the Kutless website…and NYMC is on their tour schedule…so you heard it first here!  The details have been inked for weeks–but stalled with Christmas break and a few little details to clear up (their people making sure we weren’t going to market Kutless with weird copy like “open mic night with Kutless” or “Back stage passes for everyone to hang out with Kutless in the green room” or something of that nature.)

Anyway–that’s the big announcement–(thanks to Allen Weed at Interlinc for making this a super-easy deal) The bad news is that Leeland won’t be joining us this year (in person, anyway)–Leeland had a change in their tour with Casting Crowns that kept them in Florida through Sunday too late to make the general session time.  They were legitimately bummed, and their booking agent was legitimately nervous when I threatened to post his personal cell phone and email on the blog to field complaints about the cancellation of a band this late in the game. I still think we could negotiate some free Leeland CD’s (for everyone) in return for a few days of extreme aggravation. HMMMMM….

Tim and I are out in sunny Orange County for a few days connecting with the Simply Youth Ministry folks, and finalizing the conference programming details. Went to church at Saddleback yesterday–got to hear Doug’s sermon WITH special guest Tim Timmons, our NYMC worship leader. (he was visiting Saddleback from Mariner’s yesterday) This made getting to CA from CO on a 6 am flight worth the lost sleep.

So I’m trying to work from the SYM offices today, but the lighting in their building totally sucks. I can’t even get my solar calculator to work, and this is supposed to be the sunshine state (or maybe that’s Florida).  I should go out to Starbucks and sit outside, but then I’d miss the conversations. I think I’ll go buy some lamps.

Had an amazing night on Friday listening to Jeremy Riddle. Although it was a concert, it turned out to be an incredible worship experience with a powerful take-away about abiding in God’s presence. I’ve actually been thinking about that message all weekend. Hmmmmmm.

Tim Timmons is our conference worship leader, and he’ll be opening each evening general session, as well as the closing general session on Monday. He also leads worship at Mariner’s Church , and is another one of Doug’s youth group legacies. Tim’s so talented, and has one of the most authentic, humble spirits. It’s so cool to see all of these guys grown up and passionately leading different ministries because they were so impacted by their youth ministry experience as students. We’re excited that Tim’s bringing his whole band this year.

Chris Tafalia (Taffy) is also part of our conference worship team. He’s the student ministries worship pastor at Saddleback, is absolutely hilarious, and has an incredible heart for leading students in worship. He’s bringing his student worship band to NYMC–a bunch of 15-18 year old kids that share this passion. They’ll be leading worship in the morning general sessions. Taffy is also doing a workshop on Leading Students in Worship at the National Youth Ministry Conference.

We had another meeting today about some more worship ideas, including a “worship unplugged” feature each day where we’d have some stuff going on outside of the general sessions. (late-night, etc.) We’re also talking about adding an affinity group for youth workers who are also involved in student worship. More on all of that soon…