fbpx
Featured

Ministry and Marriage Markers

Josh Griffin
August 22nd, 2019

I remember the first time my wife and I went to a youth ministry conference together. I was the youth pastor serving in a small church and my spouse fell into that “kinda roped into everything youth ministry” category. The conference was a blast. We enjoyed being together, laughing and at one point … crying. It was like they had been to our church, sat in on the board meetings, and heard our secret prayers. It was the most life giving few days we had ever experience in our young marriage and ministry.

From that point on, every year, we would go to the conference. Year after year it has served as a marker for where we are in our ministry, our marriage and family. Sometimes we attended the conference when the ministry was on the brink and came in defeated. And at other times we attended when our ministry was thriving and life-giving. Regardless of how we came, we left the same way every single time: Closer and ready to go back to help teenagers love Jesus. We even started calling our time at the convention “the marker” and used the time to reflect on the journey we were on. Incredible! I wouldn’t change those days for the world.

Fast forward a few decades of youth ministry. Today I’m part of the leadership team that gets to create this conference for you! We are creating something you simply can’t miss. If you want your ministry to be more marathon than sprint and your relationships deeper and richer, you’ve got to make plans to attend the National Youth Workers Conference! Admit it, like me, you need the time to reflect on your ministry and create an annual “marker” for yourself. And if you’re married, may I suggest bringing your spouse, too. Go to Doug and Cathy Fields’ Deep Dive on Marriage & Ministry. A spouse registration ticket is super discounted and you can … ahem.., “share” the hotel room, too. 

In fact, the conference being in Tampa, Florida this year opens up a whole lot of options for mini-vacation, team-building, and memories that will bond your team and refresh your heart. There’s a little place called Disney World just down the way in Orlando, you could jump on a Carnival Cruise (about 2 hours after the last session ends on Sunday), and Universal Studios would be fun with the kids or the interns. There are options people! Really cool options!

We’ll see you in Tampa this November. It’ll be a year to remember and a year that could be a great marker for your ministry and relationships. Can’t wait to see you there!

Josh Griffin

With more than 20 years of experience, Josh Griffin is one of the leading voices in youth ministry. Most recently, he served as the high school pastor at Saddleback Church. He’s the cofounder of DownloadYouthMinistry.com, and he hosts a weekly youth ministry podcast with Doug Fields. Josh has created more than 50 youth ministry resources and authored several books, and he just completed a new freshman Bible curriculum for the Awana program. Josh and his wife have four children.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the YS Blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of YS.

close