We all want to be the first to do something at some point in our lives. Well, you have your chance…Be the first to sign your student up for the GAUNTLET 2008!! Registrations are up and running! Go to the NewSpring website and get all the information. It is going to be awesome and if you are a student you will not want to miss it!
I am loving the feel/look for this year! What do you think from the image above? This is a Joshua Blankenship original!! Is there anyone else out there looking forward to the GAUNTLET? Let me know who you are!!!
UPDATED:Â 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!
This past Sunday after the 6:45 service, I went to Arby’s to get a quick bite to eat for dinner. I was surprised to see that there were two students, Jake and Kaleb White, from our student ministry in there getting some to eat as well. I knew that I was not going to be able to sit and eat with them, so it was good talking to them while I was trying to decide what to get and they were waiting for their food.
Oddly enough, I was having a very hard time deciding, but one of the students stood up there with me. I finally made a decision and Jake asked me what I was going to get, so I told him! He preceded to give the lady enough money to cover my meal.
Of course, I tried to tell him not to, but he was persistent! His response to me was awesome. He said, “Alden, I would just take that money and spend it on something useless, at least this way I can bless someone.” WOW!! It challenged me to think about the times that I could bless someone and I have not done it! I know that from this experience I will be more aware of my surroundings and the people that are present. We should all look for those opportunities to be able to bless others! Jesus has blessed me so much, that I should see it as a privilege to be able to give something to other people.
Jake, thank you for teaching your youth pastor a lesson the other night! I am proud of you for listening to the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to guide you. You have grown is some amazing ways since the first time I met you. I am looking forward to seeing how Jesus is going to grow you and lead you in future. Keep making Jesus famous in your life!
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!!
We have finalized the dates for Gauntlet 2008! We will be going back to the Majestic Beach Towers, Panama City Beach, FL. It is going to be an amazing trip…you don’t want to miss this year!
Here are the dates:
- Middle School: July13-18 (We will leave late on the night of the 13th!)
- High School: July 20-25 (We will leave late on the night of the 20th!)
Sign ups will be available soon, so be sure to check back here and the NewSpring website for more details.
Check out some of the stories, photos, and videos from GAUNTLET 2007: CLICK HERE!
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