SYM Youth Ministry Freebees Group Magazine Missions Conference

Register Now

Questions? Call Matty.

Connect

Facebook   Twitter

 

Twitter Updates
  • SYMConference
    It's a privilge doing ministry w/ @dougfields, but even more of a privilege to call him friend.Thx DF for your wisdom, humor and grace! about 6 hours ago reply
  • SYMConference
    @benreed: Sauerkraut serves no acceptable purpose as a food. It shouldn't even BE in the food category. about 2 days ago reply
  • SYMConference
    overheard:Suffering is like a pile of rocks.You can carry the load, throw them at someone, let it lay there, or you can build an altar.//wow about 2 days ago reply
  • SYMConference
    RT @kurtjohnston: Saw this on a church sign yesterday: Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand around my mouth. about 9 days ago reply
Follow me on Twitter

Continue checking back as we'll be posting more speakers!

1
Doug Fields Picture Doug Fields
Doug Fields has been a pastor to teenagers and ministry leader for over 30 years, serving the past 18 years at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. Amidst the growing demand of speaking, writing and ministry consulting, Doug resigned from Saddleback Church in September 2009 to pursue ministry opportunities that best aligned with his gift for relational leadership and still allowed him to engage in his first love: in-the-trenches ministry to teenagers and youth workers.

Doug is the author of more than 50 books, including Purpose Driven Youth Ministry which is a Gold Medallion award- winning book and a youth ministry textbook used all over the world. He is the founder of Simply Youth Ministry, and later partnered with Group Publishing to bring these two leading youth ministry resource providers into collaboration for wider, global impact.

Of all these things, Doug would say his greatest accomplishment is marrying way out of his league to Cathy, his wife of 25 years, and having three teenage children; Torie, Cody and Cassie.
2
Louie Giglio Picture Doug Fields
Louie Giglio has been a pastor to teenagers and ministry leader for over 30 years, serving the past 18 years at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. Amidst the growing demand of speaking, writing and ministry consulting, Doug resigned from Saddleback Church in September 2009 to pursue ministry opportunities that best aligned with his gift for relational leadership and still allowed him to engage in his first love: in-the-trenches ministry to teenagers and youth workers.

Doug is the author of more than 50 books, including Purpose Driven Youth Ministry which is a Gold Medallion award- winning book and a youth ministry textbook used all over the world. He is the founder of Simply Youth Ministry, and later partnered with Group Publishing to bring these two leading youth ministry resource providers into collaboration for wider, global impact.

Of all these things, Doug would say his greatest accomplishment is marrying way out of his league to Cathy, his wife of 25 years, and having three teenage children; Torie, Cody and Cassie.
4
Glenn Packiam Picture Glenn Packiam
Glenn Packiam is an Executive Pastor at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he oversees Spiritual Formation and serves as the teaching pastor for NewLifeSundayNight. As one of the founding leaders and songwriters for the Desperation Band, Glenn has also been featured on several Desperation Band and NewLifeWorship and recently released his debut solo album, Rumors and Revelations, also with Integrity Music. Glenn has written a few well-loved worship songs like "Your Name", "Everyone (Praises)", and "My Savior Lives."

Glenn is also the author of Butterfly in Brazil: How Your Life Can Make a World of Difference and Secondhand Jesus: Trading Rumors of God for a Firsthand Faith.

What all this means is that Glenn talks with a lot of people, plays a lot of music, and drinks a lot of coffee. And all of that makes for a wonderful life. Glenn, his wife, Holly, their two daughters, Sophia and Norah, and their son, Jonas, are enjoying life in the shadow of the mighty Rocky Mountains.
4
Ruth Haley Barton Picture

Ruth Haley Barton
Ruth Haley Barton is founding president of the Transforming Center.  She has been a student, a practitioner, a teacher and a leader in the area of Christian spirituality and spiritual formation for twenty years.  A spiritual director, teacher and retreat leader, she is the author of 7 books most recently Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry (InterVarsity Press, June, 2008) and Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation (InterVarsity Press, 2006)

Ruth consults with leadership teams in church and organizational settings, providing teaching and guidance in the areas of spiritual formation, leadership development, and discernment at the leadership level.  Ruth has served on the pastoral staff of several churches, including Willow Creek Community Church.  She has taught as adjunct professor at Wheaton Graduate School, Northern Seminary, and Mars Hill Graduate School.

Ruth received her training in spiritual direction through the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation (Bethesda, MD) under the guidance of Tilden Edwards, Rosemary Dougherty and Gerald May.  Educated at Wheaton College (IL), Northern  Seminary (Lombard, IL) and University of Loyola Institute for Pastoral Studies (Chicago), she's also a student of family systems theory as it relates to congregational life (Lombard Mennonite Peace Center).  She has also studied the Enneagram with Russ Hudson of the Enneagram Institute.

Contact Ruth at ruthbarton@thetransformingcenter.org
5
Eddie James Picture Eddie James
Eddie James (Skit Guys) has a passion to equip leaders, students and adults with the tools they need through the exciting medium of drama. As a creative arts minister, and one of the Skit Guys, Eddie serves students and adults in the Dallas area.
6
Tommy Woodard Picture Tommy Woodard
Tommy Woodard's (Skit Guys) favorite thing to do in high school was to pretend to be different characters, like Psalty, the Singing Songbook with his best buddy, Eddie James. (Who knew they’d still be doing it 20 years later?) When Tommy isn’t on the road with Eddie doing Skit Guys stuff, he serves as the associate pastor/minister of creative arts at NEWCHURCH in Oklahoma City.
7
Rick Lawrence Picture Rick Lawrence
Rick Lawrence has been editor of Group Magazine for 22 years and is in a leadership role for Group’s youth ministry training events, printed resources, and web resources. Rick has authored hundreds of magazine articles and is the author, co-author, or editor of 26 books. His latest books are Youth Ministry in the 21st Century and Jesus-Centered Youth Ministry. He’s also a consultant to national youth-serving organizations and a convention/workshop speaker.
8
Josh Griffin Picture Josh Griffin
Josh Griffin is the high school pastor at Saddleback Church. He blogs more than anyone in the world (shameless plug: www.morethandodgeball.com) and is the host of the Simply Youth Ministry podcast. Would you believe he also owns www.theforce.net? Seriously, he does. May the Force be with you.
9
Jake Rutenbar Picture Jake Rutenbar
Jake Rutenbar connects with students using media and humor as well as playing video games. Recently he broke a personal best with a 64% on Guitar Hero (easy difficulty, Hit Me With Your Best Shot). He is a partner on the youth ministry team at Saddleback Church.
Boshers
Bo Boshers Picture Bo Boshers
Bo Boshers is the executive director of student ministries in the Willow Creek Association. Bo teaches how to reach and lead this generation to Christ by building prevailing student ministries. Bo is currently the chairperson for the National Network of Youth Ministries and author of several youth ministry resources.
Caro
Stephanie Caro Picture Stephanie Caro
Stephanie Caro has been working with children, youth, and adults for over 28 years in all aspects of church ministry. Stephanie’s humorous, yet straightforward style has made her a popular speaker at youth gatherings, camps, conferences, training events, retreats, women’s ministries, and more. She’s also a frequent contributor to both Group and Rev! Magazine plus several ministry resource books. Stephanie leads the SYMC Inside Track Team.
Clark
Chap Clark Picture Chap Clark
Chap Clark is the professor of youth, family, and culture and department chair at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the senior editor of YouthWorker Journal and the president of ParenTeenTM Seminars. As a leading academic and researcher, Chap is also a uniquely gifted trainer-teacher and energetic speaker.
Cote
Keith Cote Picture Keith Cote
Keith Cote is a consultant for the Willow Creek Association. He is also the Executive Director of LEAD222. With his 20 years of experience, Keith teaches and trains other leaders and students around the world on how to build high-performing teams. He consults on leadership and organizational development and is the author of Beyond the Game and coauthor of Vision Moments.
DeVries
Mark DeVries Picture Mark DeVries
Mark DeVries is the author of Family-Based Youth Ministry and Sustainable Youth Ministry and has served as the Associate Pastor for Youth and Their Families at First Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee for the past 24 years. Mark is also the founder of Youth Ministry Architects, a consulting team that helps churches build sustainable youth ministries, one church at a time.
Dunn-Rankin
Jeff Dunn-Rankin Picture Jeff Dunn-Rankin
Jeff Dunn-Rankin Jeff is the Vice President of Consulting at Youth Ministry Architects, and has been director of youth at Christ United Methodist Church in Venice, Florida since 1998. He had been an active youth volunteer for more than a decade with church and para-church organizations. He currently lives in Venice, Florida, with his wife and two children.
Edwards
Katie Edwards Picture Katie Edwards
Katie Edwards has served in middle school student ministry for 16 years. She currently oversees the junior high and high school volunteer teams at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. Katie regularly speaks at youth ministry events, and she’s the co-author of Full of It: Ideas to Fill Youth Ministry Volunteers With Encouragement with Kurt Johnston. She is more brilliant than she’ll ever get credit for, and she gets a ton of credit.
Hutchinson
Megan Hutchinson Picture Megan Hutchinson
Megan Hutchinson is a veteran youth worker who currently serves as a student minister at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. She’s a secret survivor who also coauthored Life Hurts…God Heals, an 8-step recovery program for students with unresolved pain and addiction. In her spare time, Megan and her husband, Adam, can be found at the beach, making sandcastles or surfing with their two boys, Jack and Parker.
Johnston
Kurt Johnston Picture Kurt Johnston
Kurt Johnston has been in junior high ministry since 1988 and is currently the junior high pastor at Saddleback Church in Southern California. Kurt is also an author of youth resources, the founder of simplyjuniorhigh.com, and a contributing editor for Group Magazine.
Julian
Kent Julian Picture Kent Julian
Kent Julian is founder and president of Inside Out Youth Ministry (IOYW), an organization dedicated to helping all youth workers live and lead from the inside out.  Specifically, IOYW focuses on equipping youth pastors and their adult volunteer leaders to serve together as a team, and empowering volunteers to use the 3 to 7 hours a week they give to youth ministry to shepherd, not just chaperone, students.  Kent lives in the Atlanta, Georgia area with his incredible wife, Kathy, and their three awesome children.
Lawrence
Rick Lawrence Picture Rick Lawrence
Rick Lawrence has been editor of Group Magazine for 22 years and is in a leadership role for Group’s youth ministry training events, printed resources, and web resources. Rick has authored hundreds of magazine articles and is the author, co-author, or editor of 26 books. His latest books are Youth Ministry in the 21st Century and Jesus-Centered Youth Ministry. He’s also a consultant to national youth-serving organizations and a convention/workshop speaker.
Levert
Tim Levert Picture Tim Levert
Tim Levert has been working with students since 1992. He earned a PhD in youth ministry and pastored a missional church in the Baltimore- Washington corridor. Tim is currently the youth pastor at Reynoldsburg United Methodist Church in metro Columbus, OH.
Bomar
Chuck Bomar Picture Chuck Bomar
Chuck Bomar served for almost 9 years as pastor of student ministries at Cornerstone in Simi Valley, California, Chuck is now lead pastor of Colossae, in Portland Oregon.  He wants every church to embrace ministry to college age people as a vital part of their church, and has devoted his life to seeing this happen. He’s founder of CollegeLeader (www.CollegeLeader.org) and author of several resources for college ministries including, College Ministry 101: a guide to working with 18-25 year olds.
Burns
Jim Burns Picture Jim Burns
Jim Burns is President of HomeWord and host of HomeWord’s radio broadcasts heard on over 800 releases a day around the country. Jim speaks to thousands of people around the world every year. He is a three time Gold Medallion Award winning author and has written books for parents, students, children, youth ministry and church leaders. Jim has over 1.5 million resources in print in over 20 languages. His most recent resources include The Purity Code, Teaching Your Children Healthy Sexuality and Accept Nothing Less; God Made Your Body; How God Makes Babies; Confident Parenting, Creating an Intimate Marriage; Closer: Devotions to Draw Couples Together; The 10 Building Blocks for a Happy Family; and The Youth Builder. Jim and his wife, Cathy, and their daughters Christy, Rebecca, and Heidi live in Southern California.
Carson
Jason Carson Picture Jason Carson
Jason Carson has been the Youth Pastor for 9 years at Mission Hills Community Church in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. Jason authored the resource, “Worship Band From Start to Finish: How to Start and Maintain a Healthy Worship Band.” His desire is to see churches and youth groups around the world equipped and trained to get kids involved in leading worship, no matter how big or small the group. Jason was the founding member of The OC Supertones, one of the most popular bands in all of Christian music. He has spoken at numerous Harvest Crusades, Billy Graham crusades, Food for the Hungry events, Creation festivals, and youth camps.Jason and his wife, Julie, have been married for 11 years and have 3 beautiful daughters.
Edwards
Katie Edwards Picture Katie Edwards
Katie Edwards has served in middle school student ministry for 16 years. She currently oversees the junior high and high school volunteer teams at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. Katie regularly speaks at youth ministry events, and she’s the co-author of Full of It: Ideas to Fill Youth Ministry Volunteers With Encouragement with Kurt Johnston. She is more brilliant than she’ll ever get credit for, and she gets a ton of credit.
Franklin
Doug Franklin Picture Doug Franklin
Doug Franklin is the president of LeaderTreks, a leadership development ministry serving students and youth workers. He was a youth pastor for 12 years, leading both jr. high and high school students. Doug’s passion is partnering with youth workers to help them develop students into leaders. You can read his blog at www.dougfranklinonline.com.
Gray
Derwin Gray Picture Derwin Gray
Derwin "Dewey" Gray, former NFL player, (also known as “The Evangelism Linebacker”) is the Lead Pastor at Transformation Church, a multi-ethnic, multi-generational, mission-shaped new church plant in Charlotte, North Carolina. Derwin also serves as the President of One Heart At A Time Ministries.  He is a 2004 graduate of the Billy Graham Institute of Emerging Evangelists and a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Southern Evangelical Seminary with a Masters of Divinity with Apologetics.  Derwin is the author of Hero: Unleashing God’s Power in a Man’s Heart.  Learn more about Derwin at www.oneheartatatime.org
Griffin
Josh Griffin Picture Josh Griffin
Josh Griffin is the high school pastor at Saddleback Church. He blogs more than anyone in the world (shameless plug: www.morethandodgeball.com) and is the host of the Simply Youth Ministry podcast. Would you believe he also owns www.theforce.net? Seriously, he does. May the Force be with you.
Johnston
Kurt Johnston Picture Kurt Johnston
Kurt Johnston has been in junior high ministry since 1988 and is currently the junior high pastor at Saddleback Church in Southern California. Kurt is also an author of youth resources, the founder of simplyjuniorhigh.com, and a contributing editor for Group Magazine.
Lamb
Jason Lamb Picture Jason Lamb
Jason Lamb has served in youth ministry for over 10 years and currently works as Director of Youth Ministry Services at Dare 2 Share. He is also a volunteer youth group leader at his home church in Brighton, Colorado. He holds a degree in Religious Studies from Gardner-Webb University.
Maguire
Jeff Maguire Picture Jeff Maguire
Jeff Maguire has been in full-time youth ministry for about ten years. He has served as Mariners Church in Irvine, CA for the past 8 years and is currently the Student Ministries’ Pastor. Jeff enjoys spending time with his wife, Amanda, and teaching their three beautiful children, how to battle with light sabers.
Mwaura
Maina Mwaura Picture Maina Mwaura
Maina Mwaura - Eighteen is the number of years that Maina has been in ministry, and it was also the age that he accepted his call into full time ministry. Maina is the former student director for the Baptist Convention of Maryland Delaware. Currently Maina is traveling and speaking to students and youth leaders. When he is not traveling, you can find Maina at home with his wife, Tiffiney.
Nappa
Amy Nappa Picture Amy Nappa
Amy Nappa is Executive Editor and Champion for Women’s Ministry at Group. She cheats at miniature golf, never misses a stop for ice cream, and has more pairs of shoes than she’s willing to admit in public. She’s involved in both women’s ministry and girl’s ministry at her local church.
Brazelton
Andy Brazelton Picture Andy Brazelton
Andy Brazelton wears a lot of hats at SYM and Group, but no one actually knows what he does. Rumor is the hats just help to hide his massive ears. We know he’s getting something done though, because products are still being created, the web site is running, and the office lights are still on.
Burns
Jim Burns Picture Jim Burns
Jim Burns is President of HomeWord and host of HomeWord’s radio broadcasts heard on over 800 releases a day around the country. Jim speaks to thousands of people around the world every year. He is a three time Gold Medallion Award winning author and has written books for parents, students, children, youth ministry and church leaders. Jim has over 1.5 million resources in print in over 20 languages. His most recent resources include The Purity Code, Teaching Your Children Healthy Sexuality and Accept Nothing Less; God Made Your Body; How God Makes Babies; Confident Parenting, Creating an Intimate Marriage; Closer: Devotions to Draw Couples Together; The 10 Building Blocks for a Happy Family; and The Youth Builder. Jim and his wife, Cathy, and their daughters Christy, Rebecca, and Heidi live in Southern California.
Caro
Stephanie Caro Picture Stephanie Caro
Stephanie Caro has been working with children, youth, and adults for over 28 years in all aspects of church ministry. Stephanie’s humorous, yet straightforward style has made her a popular speaker at youth gatherings, camps, conferences, training events, retreats, women’s ministries, and more. She’s also a frequent contributor to both Group and Rev! Magazine plus several ministry resource books. Stephanie leads the SYMC Inside Track Team.
Christie
Les Christie Picture Les Christie
Les Christie has been in youth ministry for more than 40 years and has led popular seminars all over the world, training more than a million volunteers from a wide variety of organizations. Les is the author or co-author of more than 20 books and has been the chair of the Youth Ministry Department at William Jessup University since 1993.
Early
Brandon Early Picture Brandon Early
Brandon Early has been a junior high pastor for over nine years and is currently the pastor of student ministries at First Evangelical Free Church in Rockford, IL.  He’s a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute with a Master of Arts degree in Transformational Leadership at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, MN.  Brandon is an event and retreat speaker and guest-teaches on using multimedia in ministry for college level youth ministry classes.  From video editing and graphic design to vlogs and viral marketing, Brandon strives to engage youth and grab their attention in ways that are creative and relevant.
Edwards
Katie Edwards Picture Katie Edwards
Katie Edwards has served in middle school student ministry for 16 years. She currently oversees the junior high and high school volunteer teams at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. Katie regularly speaks at youth ministry events, and she’s the co-author of Full of It: Ideas to Fill Youth Ministry Volunteers With Encouragement with Kurt Johnston. She is more brilliant than she’ll ever get credit for, and she gets a ton of credit.
Fields
Doug Fields Picture Doug Fields
Doug Fields has been a pastor to teenagers and ministry leader for over 30 years, serving the past 18 years at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. Amidst the growing demand of speaking, writing and ministry consulting, Doug resigned from Saddleback Church in September 2009 to pursue ministry opportunities that best aligned with his gift for relational leadership and still allowed him to engage in his first love: in-the-trenches ministry to teenagers and youth workers.

Doug is the author of more than 50 books, including Purpose Driven Youth Ministry which is a Gold Medallion award- winning book and a youth ministry textbook used all over the world. He is the founder of Simply Youth Ministry, and later partnered with Group Publishing to bring these two leading youth ministry resource providers into collaboration for wider, global impact.

Of all these things, Doug would say his greatest accomplishment is marrying way out of his league to Cathy, his wife of 25 years, and having three teenage children; Torie, Cody and Cassie.
Fields
Cathy Fields Picture Cathy Fields
Cathy Fields has been a volunteer youth worker for 20 years and has served in every role known to youth ministry, from camp speaker to bus driver to youth pastor’s wife. She helped start Simply Youth Ministry with her husband, Doug Fields, and is currently loving teenagers at Saddleback Church with her husband.
Franklin
Doug Franklin Picture Doug Franklin
Doug Franklin is the president of LeaderTreks, a leadership development ministry serving students and youth workers. He was a youth pastor for 12 years, leading both jr. high and high school students. Doug’s passion is partnering with youth workers to help them develop students into leaders. You can read his blog at www.dougfranklinonline.com.
Gilmour
Kami Gilmour Picture Kami Gilmour
Kami Gilmour As the prodigal child of youth worker parents, Kami spent her teen years plotting youth ministry destruction. Thanks to God’s sense of humor, she’s now the event director for Group’s Simply Youth Ministry Conference, where her passion is invested in equipping and encouraging youth workers. Since 1995 she’s served in a variety of roles at Group and the Group Workcamp Foundation, and is a board member and international speaker for the non profit ministry, Magazine Training International. Kami and her husband, Tim, live in Colorado with their five children.
Gray
Derwin Gray Picture Derwin Gray
Derwin "Dewey" Gray, former NFL player, (also known as “The Evangelism Linebacker”) is the Lead Pastor at Transformation Church, a multi-ethnic, multi-generational, mission-shaped new church plant in Charlotte, North Carolina. Derwin also serves as the President of One Heart At A Time Ministries.  He is a 2004 graduate of the Billy Graham Institute of Emerging Evangelists and a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Southern Evangelical Seminary with a Masters of Divinity with Apologetics.  Derwin is the author of Hero: Unleashing God’s Power in a Man’s Heart.  Learn more about Derwin at www.oneheartatatime.org
Griffin
Josh Griffin Picture Josh Griffin
Josh Griffin is the high school pastor at Saddleback Church. He blogs more than anyone in the world (shameless plug: www.morethandodgeball.com) and is the host of the Simply Youth Ministry podcast. Would you believe he also owns www.theforce.net? Seriously, he does. May the Force be with you.
Edwards
Katie Edwards Picture Katie Edwards
Katie Edwards has served in middle school student ministry for 16 years. She currently oversees the junior high and high school volunteer teams at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. Katie regularly speaks at youth ministry events, and she’s the co-author of Full of It: Ideas to Fill Youth Ministry Volunteers With Encouragement with Kurt Johnston. She is more brilliant than she’ll ever get credit for, and she gets a ton of credit.
Fields
Doug Fields Picture Doug Fields
Doug Fields has been a pastor to teenagers and ministry leader for over 30 years, serving the past 18 years at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. Amidst the growing demand of speaking, writing and ministry consulting, Doug resigned from Saddleback Church in September 2009 to pursue ministry opportunities that best aligned with his gift for relational leadership and still allowed him to engage in his first love: in-the-trenches ministry to teenagers and youth workers.

Doug is the author of more than 50 books, including Purpose Driven Youth Ministry which is a Gold Medallion award- winning book and a youth ministry textbook used all over the world. He is the founder of Simply Youth Ministry, and later partnered with Group Publishing to bring these two leading youth ministry resource providers into collaboration for wider, global impact.

Of all these things, Doug would say his greatest accomplishment is marrying way out of his league to Cathy, his wife of 25 years, and having three teenage children; Torie, Cody and Cassie.
Franklin
Doug Franklin Picture Doug Franklin
Doug Franklin is the president of LeaderTreks, a leadership development ministry serving students and youth workers. He was a youth pastor for 12 years, leading both jr. high and high school students. Doug’s passion is partnering with youth workers to help them develop students into leaders. You can read his blog at www.dougfranklinonline.com.
Haley Barton
Ruth Haley Barton Picture

Ruth Haley Barton
Ruth Haley Barton is founding president of the Transforming Center.  She has been a student, a practitioner, a teacher and a leader in the area of Christian spirituality and spiritual formation for twenty years.  A spiritual director, teacher and retreat leader, she is the author of 7 books most recently Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry (InterVarsity Press, June, 2008) and Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation (InterVarsity Press, 2006)

Ruth consults with leadership teams in church and organizational settings, providing teaching and guidance in the areas of spiritual formation, leadership development, and discernment at the leadership level.  Ruth has served on the pastoral staff of several churches, including Willow Creek Community Church.  She has taught as adjunct professor at Wheaton Graduate School, Northern Seminary, and Mars Hill Graduate School.

Ruth received her training in spiritual direction through the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation (Bethesda, MD) under the guidance of Tilden Edwards, Rosemary Dougherty and Gerald May.  Educated at Wheaton College (IL), Northern  Seminary (Lombard, IL) and University of Loyola Institute for Pastoral Studies (Chicago), she's also a student of family systems theory as it relates to congregational life (Lombard Mennonite Peace Center).  She has also studied the Enneagram with Russ Hudson of the Enneagram Institute.

Contact Ruth at ruthbarton@thetransformingcenter.org

 
Hutchinson
Megan Hutchinson Picture Megan Hutchinson
Megan Hutchinson is a veteran youth worker who currently serves as a student minister at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. She’s a secret survivor who also coauthored Life Hurts…God Heals, an 8-step recovery program for students with unresolved pain and addiction. In her spare time, Megan and her husband, Adam, can be found at the beach, making sandcastles or surfing with their two boys, Jack and Parker.
Johnston
Kurt Johnston Picture Kurt Johnston
Kurt Johnston has been in junior high ministry since 1988 and is currently the junior high pastor at Saddleback Church in Southern California. Kurt is also an author of youth resources, the founder of simplyjuniorhigh.com, and a contributing editor for Group Magazine.
Julian
Kent Julian Picture Kent Julian
Kent Julian is founder and president of Inside Out Youth Ministry (IOYW), an organization dedicated to helping all youth workers live and lead from the inside out.  Specifically, IOYW focuses on equipping youth pastors and their adult volunteer leaders to serve together as a team, and empowering volunteers to use the 3 to 7 hours a week they give to youth ministry to shepherd, not just chaperone, students.  Kent lives in the Atlanta, Georgia area with his incredible wife, Kathy, and their three awesome children.
Lowe
Ted & Nancie Lowe Picture Ted & Nancie Lowe
Ted & Nancie Lowe - For the last eight years, Ted Lowe has served as the Director of MarriedLife at North Point Church, in Alpharetta Georgia. His wife Nancie plays a huge role in hosting and planning MarriedLife events at North Point. Prior to their work at North Point, he and his wife Nancie traveled the country playing various roles at marriage and youth events. Ted and Nancie also served on the youth and drama staffs at Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest, California. Ted and his wife Nancie, have three 3 children, Chapman age 10, Judson age 7, and Teddie age 4 and live in Cumming, Georgia.
Penner
Marv Penner Picture Marv Penner
Marv Penner chairs the youth and family ministry department at Briercrest College and Seminary in Saskatchewan, Canada, and is the director of the Canadian Centre of Adolescent Research. With 34 years in youth ministry, he has written: Help! My Kids Are Hurting, The Youth Worker’s Guide to Parent Ministry, and Creative Bible Lessons in 1 & 2 Corinthians.
Riddle
Mark Riddle Picture Mark Riddle
Mark Riddle is an entrepreneur, speaker, writer, and owner of the Riddle Group, a ministry coaching and consulting firm committed to making life better for senior pastors, youth pastors, volunteers, parents and teens. With more than 15 years experience in vocational ministry, Mark collaborates with local church leaders to promote and develop sustainable ministries that impact youth and their families. Mark lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with his wife, Pam, and their three kids, Zachery, Jaden, and Mikayla.
Robbins
Duffy Robbins Picture Duffy Robbins
Duffy Robbins is Professor of Youth Ministry of Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. When Duffy isn’t teaching, he’s speaking at conferences and workshops all over the world. In addition to his speaking ministry, Duffy has authored 17 youth ministry books and textbooks.
Rubin
Scott Rubin Picture Scott Rubin
Scott Rubin is the junior high pastor at Willow Creek Church outside of Chicago he's been on the staff there since 1991. The ministry he leads at Willow is called Elevate. He's had a blast writing a few youth ministry resources and encouraging other middle-school ministers to explore what God can do in their ministry!

Built By www.snapshotweb.com Group Publishing Simply Youth Ministry SnapShot Web - Websites for Churches and Ministries