How can we help high school students transition smoothly into vibrant young adult communities? With experience launching multiple young adult ministries (including one that grew to 550 people!!!) Mike will explore what youth workers should do now to help their students thrive in young adult ministries in their future. You'll also learn practical ideas and principles for building a healthy, growing young adult ministry in any context.

Youth ministry often brings challenging questions and complex situations. This interactive workshop, Addressing Tough Issues in Youth Ministry & Prioritizing Safety, equips leaders to navigate sensitive topics with wisdom, compassion, and confidence. Drawing on Plan to Protect® insights, participants will explore practical strategies to respond to emerging issues, maintain appropriate boundaries, and foster a culture of trust and safety. Discover how prioritizing protection strengthens ministry impact and models care that reflects Christ’s love for every young person.

In a multicultural Canada, students from every corner of the world are now gathered in the same youth room. But sharing the same space does not necessarily lead to belonging. Culture is the invisible stuff that shapes how we engage with each other. In this interactive session, we'll uncover the hidden cultural layers. You’ll walk away with practical tools, deeper self-awareness, and new insight into how to build a youth community where every student feels at home — without leaving who they are at the door.

In a world where young people live both online and offline, how can we help them follow Jesus in both spaces? This breakout will explore how digital tools, platforms, and habits can be used for genuine discipleship, not just promotion. Together we’ll look at practical ways to build digital rhythms that form faith, create meaningful online community, and equip youth to become digital disciples themselves. You’ll walk away with fresh ideas, examples, and frameworks for leading ministry to and with youth in the Digital Age.

This session focuses on bringing encouragement and relief to participants to tackle stress and anxiety during and after a pandemic. Learning components include the connection between social media, empathy and the health benefits of face to face interaction, and practical take-aways on how to create stronger bonds with others. (60 min)

If we have any hope of leading healthy youth ministries that make disciples, then we are definitely going to need some healthy volunteers who can share this vision. I believe finding, keeping and developing these volunteers is probably one of the greatest challenges facing youth workers/pastors/leaders today. If you agree, why don't you come join us as we take a deeper dive into this area.

Building healthy, Jesus-centred relationships are at the core of what we do as youth workers. Have you ever felt stuck, awkward, or insecure in your relationships with students? You’re not alone. Come and discover how we can engage with our students in healthy and impactful ways inside and outside of the church.

Youth aren’t just the future of the Church—they’re leaders today. In this workshop, we’ll explore how we can disciple students by calling out their God-given potential, equipping them to serve, and walking alongside them as they grow in faith and influence. You'll leave with practical tools to empower the next generation to lead with purpose—starting this week.

Ever feel awkward trying to bring Jesus into a conversation? You’re not alone. Today’s students—especially Gen Alpha—are surprisingly open to talking about faith, but they can spot inauthenticity a mile away. In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore what research tells us about how Gen Alpha thinks, feels, and engages spiritually—and how we can meet them there. Through stories from Jesus’ own conversations and practical tools for listening, asking better questions, and responding with empathy, you’ll learn how to turn everyday chats into natural, meaningful opportunities to help students take their next step toward Jesus.

The average person spends 7 hours a day using screens, that’s nearly 50% of their waking hours. Typically our children are spending 2-5 hrs of this on social media. Today's trends of anxiety, depression, FOMO, loneliness, social isolation, sexting, sextortion, cyber bullying, misinformation and phubbing are all related to media. Your kids need help to navigate it all safely. But who’s going to help you know how to navigate this? Brett Ullman’s Media Talk: Navigating Everything is an essential discussion for both parents, students, and youth workers.

In a time of spiritual drift and cultural shifts we need to learn how to better encourage, equip, celebrate and empower the next generation of leaders. These are the most connected and yet most disconnected times and yet we have emerging generations of incredible purpose and possibility! A mentored life is a transformed life and a transformed life is poised for impact to serve the world for the Kingdom in powerful ways.

Working with people is one of the hardest yet most rewarding aspects of leading in church. How do we do this effectively so that more people follow our leadership? What are three ways to lead three different types of people? How do you get people recruiting people to join us? Come and be encouraged in your leadership

The stereotype of middle school ministries comes in one phrase: out of control! The label is understandable when you think of the chaotic combination of hormones, drama, and energy. Is it possible to have chaotic fun and structure? Absolutely! We'll look at creative and effective programming for middle schoolers-- activities that will leave your students wanting more. Plus, we'll introduce simple and essential guidelines that will allow you to retain your volunteers, parents' respect, and personal sanity!

Small groups can be a catalyst for inspirational fellowship and growth… or they can be draining spawns of destruction. Which kind is yours? This workshop will offer 4 tips on improving small group dynamics.

Co-vocational youth ministry means you’ve got two job titles and one big calling—serving your church while also working in another vocation. It’s not just a way to pay the bills, it’s a way to live out faith in both the church and the wider world. This seminar gets real about the juggle: how to balance two vocations, set boundaries that stick, and even use your “other job” as a surprising asset in ministry with students and families. Walk away with tools and encouragement about the holy chaos of this dual calling.

Did you sign up for youth ministry thinking you’d lead a Bible study only to discover it feels more like group therapy? The truth is, those emotions aren’t a problem to fix; they’re a vital part of how teenagers grow. Today’s culture often tells teens to follow their feelings, while past generations tended to silence them. That tension leaves students fluent in emotional language, but still learning what it really means. In this session, we’ll explore how to disciple teens through their emotional highs and lows with curiosity and care. Rather than trying to suppress or correct feelings, we’ll discover how to embrace them as God-given opportunities for deeper self-awareness, resilience, and spiritual growth. Come ready to laugh, learn, and maybe pass the tissues—because the feels (and the free therapy vibes) will definitely be strong with this one.

In a world that emphasizes self-love and living one’s truth, how can we effectively disciple young people to remain faithful to Jesus and embrace self-denial? Amidst the pervasive messaging of self-exaltation, the call to discipleship must be clear, integrated, and most importantly, rooted in Scripture. This session will equip you to lead in biblical discipleship, address the topics of identity and gender with compassion and truth, and guide youth towards a life shaped after Jesus’ example.

There are few things more central to deep discipleship than helping students see the beauty of Jesus in His Word. Scripture is the place we see Jesus most clearly, and Jesus Himself said we should teach others to obey all that He has commanded. But sometimes leading a bible study feels like the opposite of discipleship. It feels like painful discipline! In this session we will walk through steps for leading an effective bible study.