Spiritually Influencing the Next Generation

July 6, 2006 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Calvin College will host a three-day conference in mid-July called "Googling
Youth in Troubled Times: A Conference for Those Working with Youth Amid the
Culture Wars."

The event will take place July 13-15 at Calvin and be preceded by a July 11-15
workshop sponsored by the Kuyers Institute at Calvin called "Soul-Searching:
The Spiritual Development of Today's Youth."

Organizers say the topic is an important one for churches, schools, and
parents who are trying to figure out how to spiritually influence the next
generation in the context of a complex and fast-moving cultural setting.

Says Quentin Schultze, director of the Calvin Workshops in Communication and a
professor of communication at the college: "Christian families, schools, and
churches can feel as if they are becoming culturally irrelevant to today's
youth. They also feel like their efforts become fragmented as churches, youth
ministries, parents, and schools struggle to communicate effectively with one
another."

So one of the key questions to be addressed at Calvin from July 13 to 15 will
be: How can those involved in discipling young people work most effectively to
nurture faithful youth amid the tensions that divide, discourage, and confuse
them?

Scheduled speakers include Claudia Beversluis, new Calvin provost; Darwin
Glassford, associate professor of church education at Calvin Theological
Seminary; Denise Isom, assistant professor of education at Calvin; Dan Beerens,
director of curriculum and instruction for Holland Christian Schools; David
Smith, director of the Kuyers Institute; Lew Vandermeer, senior pastor of New
Community Church; and Schultze.

For the full story see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2005_06/googling_youth.htm

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Received on Thu Jul 6 12:09:55 2006