In a ministry sphere with countless conference options for middle and high schoolers, it is rare to find an event just for student leaders. Southeast Conclave, held in Chattanooga, Tenn., brought together youth ministry leaders from 12 states to worship and connect with others in similar positions. The South Carolina Baptist Convention’s youth ministry group – along with youth ministry groups from Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina and Alabama – hosted the event.
“I love these types of meetings, because you can come here and meet with others and know you aren’t crazy,” said main session speaker Kevin Smith, assistant professor of church and history at Southern Baptist Seminary.
“Your calling is essential to the advancement of Christ’s church and his kingdom. It is not a sub-ministry,” Smith continued.
Smith also encouraged attendees to make the word of God central in their youth ministries.
“I had a wonderful youth experience in church, but I did not know the word of God,” he recalled.
Similarly, David Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala., told attendees that a missional foundation must be present in training the next generation of ministry leaders and missionaries.
“We need no style without substance,” said Platt.
Teaching from Hebrews 13:11-13, Platt urged ministries to not “retreat into our nice big buildings,” but instead to “go outside of the city gates.”
Mark Hall, student minister at Eagles Landing Baptist in McDonough, Ga., and member of the award-winning group Casting Crowns, told participants his first priority is the local church.
“The gifts we have are for the local church. God might give us a moment on stage, but we are gifted for the church,” he said.
Hall urged attendees to begin to see the giftedness of their students and equip them to serve.
“We have to get them out of the chairs and doing something,” he said. “You are not growing an audience.”
Main session speaker Reggie McNeal, director of leadership development for Leadership Network, emphasized the importance of the new work God is doing in each ministry.
“When something new breaks out in your life, it feels like a detour. It’s only when you look back that you see that the detour was the start of something new,” he said.
“If you believe God, you stake your life on the new thing he is doing,” McNeal continued.
McNeal pointed to the spiritual focus of the current generation of students as a marker of the new work in the kingdom of God.
“You are not in the youth business, you are in the ‘reaching a large, unreached people group’ business,” he said.
The more than 1,000 participants from 12 states also attended breakout sessions on topics ranging from middle school ministry to youth facilities on a budget. Exhibitors relating to various areas of youth ministry also resourced attendees.
For more information on Southeast Conclave, including 2008 dates, log on to www.ystuff.org or call (800) 723-7242 ext. 4200.