PDYM '09 – Session 1
I was bummed I missed dinner and the first hour of PDYM tonight. It’s all part of being a volunteer… got earn the money so I can afford to serve.
Ben Mclary was there the whole time and has some thoughts on his blog that you may want to check out.
To see a list of people blogging about PDYM 2009, MoreThanDodgeball.com has the information.
What I did see, however, was awesome! When I arrived, Doug Elliott was on stage talking about his experience with youth ministry. There was a whole line of youth workers and students whose stories intertwined to show different youth ministry principles. It was a no-frills way to drive home some vital youth ministry concepts. Very powerful.
Doug Fields took the stage after this to introduce the heart behind PDYM. He mentioned that we’re back to what we do best; small, intimate, raw youth ministry training. We are showing what we have to work with and how we do it. Doug said that neither of these have anything to do with our facility… which he’s right. Of course, the Refinery is great and we have no complaints. However, our ministry was not built on a building, it was built around relational youth ministry implementing 5 biblical purposes.
I love that we’re back to the basics for the conference. We got kind of big for a few years. Tonight felt like we were just a few people pulling back the curtain and taking a peek backstage to see what happens behind the scenes. Backstage is where things are messy, unpolished, and exposed. It’s great to see fellow youth workers getting a first-hand look at the simple, unimpressive, no-brainer principles that make Saddleback Church Student Ministries keep molding young lives for Christ.
The session ended with one of our youth bands and the youth choir leading 3 songs. The choir was junior high and high school students combined. That was cool to see because they don’t do that very often. I’m so glad that our students lead worship at the conference. Seeing our students leading youth workers in worship kind of melts my heart. Even though I see them leading worship each week, it’s so great to see them leading in this setting with such enthusiasm.
Afterward, we played killball. Click here to see the pics.
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