Youth Leader Training
The Sower’s Way
Youth leaders have one of the most challenging and important jobs in the church. Most of the major decisions that define someone’s entire life are made during the formative teen years. What an opportunity leaders have to speak into this growth process! And what a challenge it can be when kids are going off the deep end.
With the level of crisis facing teens today, it’s common for those in youth ministry to feel that what they’re expected to handle or provide answers to is “above their pay grade.” Many pastors, regardless of training and experience level, may feel ill-equipped to help families facing real crises in their homes. Beyond prayer and loving support, what can be done?
Refine Your Skills, Restore Your Soul
The Sower’s Way is our answer. It’s an 8-day spiritual retreat to the mountains of Colorado and an intensive crash course in youth mental health all rolled into one. Our goal is that ministry leaders would feel equipped to handle the “hard stuff” with youth and families in their local communities, becoming the heroes those families need in the midst of challenge.
During this training, participants will learn the main tools we utilize at Seeds with at-risk youth to build rapport, teach emotional awareness, and communicate about real-life stuff at the heart-level. Whatever your role in ministry, this track will equip you well to handle the behavioural or mental-health challenges teens in your community are dealing with.
In addition to the robust equipping piece, ministry leaders will experience their own personal growth journey in the way of Jesus, with guided retreat times, practice of spiritual disciplines, and authentic connection with other ministry leaders. Our goal is for each participant to experience God’s heart for them, understand themselves more deeply, and leave the mountain with greater resilience for the ups and downs of ministry.
Why the Emphasis on Personal Growth?
We believe we are called to minister out of our overflow of what Jesus has done for us. Said differently, we minister best from the practical and experiential transformation we have been through personally. This retreat will help you experience breakthroughs in deeper areas of your walk with God and your leadership journey. You will meet with Jesus in the beautiful mountains of Colorado, so you can help others meet with Jesus as they climb the mountain in their lives.
We believe that much of the mental health crisis in America’s youth can be prevented through relational connection to others, both in the Church and the family. We feel called at Seeds to give back to the Church (and her leaders) the best of what we have learned over many years of youth ministry work, so the Church can join us in this needed work of prevention. And that starts with each leader’s own depth of transformation.
Learning Objectives Include:
- Art of Relational Rapport
Building rapport and trust to earn the right for a student to ask, “Hey, can we talk?” This happens through a leader’s own vulnerability and relational availability… it’s the best prevention against everything that causes addiction, troubled behaviors, motivation and identity issues.
- Navigating Mental Health & Crisis
Key warning signs for mental health issues and some symptoms to watch out for. Participants will learn to lean into the relationship here, using the trust they have built.
- The Way of Experiential Discipleship
Exploring how Jesus used experiential discipleship and learning when he trained his followers. Leaders will process how to bring experiential discipleship into their church or group.
- Power of A Debrief
How processing and debriefing can significantly enhance an experience, changing it from just an activity to a life-changing, identity-forming event.
- A Personal Encounter
Having a personal spiritual experience with Jesus in the following ways: Transformative community, silence and stillness, listening prayer, awe, gratitude, and dependency on the Father in formative places.
- Multiplying the Mountain
Process how to take the magic of the mountain into weekly discipleship. Everything we do on this retreat is meant to spark the question, “How do we take this home and multiply it?”
Be the First to Know
Something transformative is happening in Colorado this September.
Fill out this interest form to receive the official itinerary and registration details as soon as they drop. (Those on this list may have the opportunity to speak into the final dates chosen!)