Joshua Blakenship, Creative Director at NewSpring Church, has just finished up the website for UNLEASH. UNLEASH is a one day conference that NewSpring Church hosts to challenge, encourage, and motivate church leaders to take action in reaching their communities for Jesus Christ.

If you did not get to come and want to watch the videos from the main sessions that Perry taught be sure to catch up on them. You can also get the transcripts from all the breakouts…including the Student Ministry Breakout Session that Brad Cooper and I led.

Also be sure to read what Joshua wrote about the site…here!

UPDATED:  Here is a list of Student Ministry Bloggers that attended UNLEASH, at least the ones that I know of…if you attended and you are not on the list, please let me know so I can add you!

• Dave Holt - LifePoint Church, Wilmington, NC
• Lee Clamp - First Baptist Church, Barnwell, SC
• Nathan Wright - OakLeaf Church, Cartersville, GA
• Sean Rheaume - Pointe North Community Church, Moncks Corner, SC
• Dave Farwell - Sonlight Church, Chesapeake, VA
• Matthew Ray - THE ROCK of Wilmington, NC
• Chris Gastardi - Barefoot Community Church, Myrtle Beach, SC
• NEW!! Jeremy Isaacs - Mt. Paran North, Marietta, GA

Seriously, if you attended the Student Ministry Breakout and you have a blog, please let me know! I will update with the ones that come in soon!

Also, we are putting the finishing touches on the email packet to send out very soon!

Thursday was an AMAZING day! So many things happened, that almost seems like a huge blur, but here are some of hte highlights of my day:

• The volunteers of NewSpring knocked it out of the park.  We had close to 450 volunteers there to serve the over 2000 church leaders attending Unleash. They did an amazing job of making everyone feel welcome, cared for, and important!
• Got to reconnect with some old and new friends from Florence.
• Main Session #1 with Perry was amazing. Check out Tony’s notes here.
• The Student Ministry Breakout was SLAMMED in the first time slot.  It was good being able to talk about some of the practical things that help shape our ministry.
• Chic-Fil-a for lunch is ALWAYS a good thing, but even better when you can network with a bunch of cool people
• Second Breakout was just as slammed.  It was good doing the breakout twice because the questions we received from the group were different. I always love getting questions because it makes you stretch and be able to flesh out every part of your ministry!
• Once again Perry knocked it out of the park in Session #2. Check out Tony’s notes here.

I am going to be posting some of the websites of the Student Pastors that I connected with in the next couple of days.  be sure to check out some of the things that they are doing!

Unleash is only a couple of hours away!  We are sold out and it is going to crazy!  I am looking forward to tomorrow morning as we will be cranking up all day long with 2000 other church leaders!  If you are not able to be hear, we will be posting outlines from the breakouts, etc on the web at www.newspringministries.com!  Be sure to check it out later on.

Are there any Student Ministry PEEPS that will be making the trek to NewSpring tomorrow?  Let me know, but if you can’t be sure to be at the breakout.  Come loaded with questions, so we can dialogue during the breakout session!

Here are some of the things that are happening around here at NewSpring:

• Student Ministry tonight…we start a new series called FORCE!
• Transformation of our parking lot into TENT CITY! Whenever I see tents go up, I think of this video. Check it out!
• Golf carts arriving to transport people around.
• The construction crew is starting to dig some holes for the footing of the Youth Building!  I am so stoked!!!
• Parking lot being setup with massive amounts of cones!
• Brad and I put the finishing touches on our Student Ministry Breakout and got the outline finished…I am excited about this breakout, because we both wanted to make sure that it practical and full of transferable principles.  Anyway, I could go on forever about it, but be there…also be ready to ask questions.
• Perry made a HUGE announcement today to the staff!  This secret is going to kill me, so be sure to be here on EASTER the announcement!
• Tom Pellerin is the new worship leader at NewSpring Greenville!  I love Tom, he is going to do an AWESOME job! Read the announcement here!
• Student Ministry Worship band is putting the finishing touches tonight, as we speak!  It is loud and awesome!

That is about it for now.  Got to get ready for our students! Hope to see you tomorrow!

Here is a quick rundown of the some of the events that have happened so far from February 20, 2008:

• 11:45AM - We all meet in the atrium to get travel itinerary…by the way, Jennifer Barden was SUPER organized and had everything covered.  Got final instructions from Jason Wilson, our Executive Pastor.
• 11:55AM - Rev. Swole and BCoop load up in my car
• 12:00PM - We finally pull out of the parking lot
• 12:02PM - Get pulled over by a State Trooper…No, I am not kidding!
• 12:05PM - Get a WARNING for “clipping a light” and “failure to use turn signal.”  (Proof is below!)
• 12:50PM - Arrive at GSP and pack in Economy parking and start our trek to the checkout counter
• 1:05PM - Check our luggage at the ticket counter
• 1:07PM - Realize that one of our peeps doesn’t have their license, so the Operation License Search & Rescue is in motion
• 1:15PM - Find out our flight is delayed until 2:30PM
• 1:25PM - Sit down for a bite to eat with Rev. Swole, BCoop, Jake Beaty, and Michael Brown
• 2:05PM - Get in security checkpoint line that is WAY to llllooooonnnnggg!
• 2:28PM - Finally make it through security checkpoint.
• 2:35 -Finally start to board the plane
• 2:55 - We are in the air
• 3:00PM - I am sitting here watching Jason Moorhead view the movie, 300.

Needless to say, when NewSpring travels, we always want to do it with excellence or at least have a blast while we are traveling!!!  More updates and stories to come….I am sure there will be many to come your way!

C3 has been great!  It is awesome to have a good number of the staff here, as we are all able to hang out in different groups!  I have been taking notes the old fashioned way, so I will be updating soon with those.  Our internet is sketch at times, but we are about off to the next AM Session!

Tomorrow is going to a GREAT day!  A good number of the staff from NewSpring will be jumping on a plane and heading to Dallas for C3 at Fellowship Church.  I am very excited to be able to attend this year and hear some amazing speakers…yes, our pastor, Perry Noble, is going to be bringing it strong!

Well, I have to go finish packing and get some shut eye.  Anyone else out there going to be attending?

Are any of you out there attending UNLEASH? Are any of you out there Student Ministry Peeps and attending UNLEASH? You could be the High School Pastor, Middle School Pastor, Volunteer Youth Pastor, Part-Time Youth Pastor (PT…Yeah right!), maybe just a volunteer that loves students…if this is you…let me know that you are going to be here. I would love the opportunity to meet you and also see you at the Student Ministry Breakout.

Also, if you are planning on attending…think about this question: What are some questions or topics that you would really like to see covered in our breakout? Maybe it is how to care for volunteers, service related, message preparation, campus visits, small groups, parent involvement, whatever. Do not hold anything back, ask anything! We want to make this as practical as possible! So if you have a question, leave a comment or you can feel free to go to my contact page and send it in.

Look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at the conference on Thursday, March 13th!!