Preteen Leaders Conference 2011

Mark your calendars now for the one and only Preteen Leaders Conference:  April 6-8, 2011 in Rocklin, CA.

For Thanksgiving last week, the family and I drove from Southern California to Northern California.  My wife has family in Sacramento, so every year we spend a week with her mom and other family during Thanksgiving week.

One of my friends, Sean Sweet, lives 10 minutes from my mother-in-law’s house.  So, I got a chance to grab lunch with him at Chipotle last week.  Nothing like a burrito & Izze with a friend!

Each year Sean hosts the Preteen Leaders Conference at his home church, Sunset Christian Center.  I got a chance to ask him some questions about this years conference and wanted to share our conversation with you.

ME: Tell us a little about the conference.

SEAN: The Preteen Leaders’ Conference has a blend of:

– Large sessions, led by some of the country’s top preteen leaders.
– Small group sessions focused on particular areas (worship, curriculum writing, preteens and grief, etc.).
– Networking sessions, where folks have the opportunity to meet and connect with other participants from around the country, as well as find the answers to specific questions they have.
– Optional fellowship time around delicious meals cooked by our amazing chef (provided as part of registration).
– Times of reflection, worship, and prayer.

ME: What is unique about the conference?

SEAN: The Preteen Leaders’ Conference is a unique conference for a couple of reasons: 1) the focus is on a specific developmental age – 9-12 year olds, and we go in-depth in understanding how to best reach this age group.  2) the attendees contribute as much to the discussion and learning as the speakers do.  It is a gathering of people with the same focus, all pooling ideas.  3) because of the small size of the conference and the dynamics of the schedule, there are great opportunity for networking and fellowship.  4) the conference is put on by a church, not an outside organization, so the focus never strays from providing the best possible experience for ministry leaders working with preteens.

ME: Why host a conference focused on preteen ministry?

SEAN: Three years ago, when our church decided to make our preteen ministry a separate department from Children’s, I went online to find a preteen ministry conference that I could attend.  When I couldn’t find one, another staff member suggested that we host one here.  My focus has always been to create the conference that I, as somebody who leads and ministers to preteens, would want to attend.

ME: What’s different for this year?

SEAN: Our theme for 2011 is reDEFINE; participants (myself included) are going to be challenged to take a hard look at the way we do things and really question if there is a more intentional, effective way to accomplish those things.  What items should we put on our “stopping doing” list?  What “golden calf” is it time to get rid of?  What new idea, that perhaps we’ve been resistant to, is it time to give a try?  Another thing I’m very excited about this year is the schedule…We’re going Wednesday night (optional) to Friday evening.  This will create a different flow of events, which can be examined on the conference website.  Another great thing for 2011 is the presence of FourFiveSix at our conference.  If you’ve been checking out fourfivesix.org, you know that this is a group of people that “gets it” when it comes to preteen ministry.  All of the leaders from FourFiveSix are planning to be in attendance at the conference, and most are leading sessions.

ME: What are you most excited about this year?

SEAN: I’ve made some great friends through the conference, so I’m excited to see them again….and get to spend time with them.  Also, along the same lines, I’m looking forward to meeting some new friends, colleagues that have similar focus and passion in their ministry.  I really am excited for the conference…I look forward to seeing you there as well.

If you lead a preteen ministry, I highly recommend coming to the conference.  Mark your calendars now.  Hope to see you there!