I am excited to announce a partnership with the Youth Cartel in hosting “Open Paris” this May 10-11, 2013 at The American Church in Paris.
http://openym.org/2012/06/14/open-paris-is-official/
I have known the guys behind the Cartel for a number of years and have always appreciated their passion for student ministry and visionary leadership.
Adam McLean and Mark Oestreicher’s dream is to provide great resources for all youth workers and especially opportunities for everyone to have a voice in youth ministry.
I love the idea behind the Youth Cartel and these “Open” events…. “Celebrating fresh ideas in youth ministry.”
These are open sourced gatherings of youth workers and practitioners sharing and discussing ideas…sort of like a large think tank. There are no “experts” since, to be fair, what exactly is an expert in youth ministry? It is certainly not someone who has written books or been in the field for twenty years. (although I have much respect for them) Sometimes the youngest and least experienced have the greatest insight into youth culture and God’s active engagement. These gatherings in Seattle, Boston, and then Paris will be a wonderful opportunity to explore a new city and culture while truly learning together in community.
Of course I highly recommend taking a trip to the City of Lights and join us in Paris. We will have a great group of youth workers and theologians from across North America, the U.K. and Europe. This will certainly give Open Paris an international flavor. I will admit I have learned valuable lessons from my European colleages since arriving in Paris last year. As American culture is trending towards Europe/Scandinavia is many ways, what better source for collaboration and friendships than youth workers from there!
For more information on all of the Open events, please click the link below
The closer we get we will be posted more information and have an updated site for Open Paris. Stay tuned! à bientôt
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