Schedule Details

General Sessions: Moving teens from apathy to passion

Speaker: Jeremy Hughey.
We’re all in youth ministry because we want to see teenagers develop a growing relationship with Christ, but how do we feed kids who have no spiritual appetite? The general sessions will give you a biblical strategy for moving students from spiritual apathy to spiritual passion while ensuring that your ministry is naturally balanced between biblical depth and evangelism, thus creating a ministry that is both “Deep and Wide.”

For more information, visit the Deep and Wide website.

Workshop Sessions @ 10:30 AM

  • Dealing with the difficult and disruptive student. Speaker: Dan Schmoyer.
    Almost every youth group has that student who is often disruptive, rebellious, and hinders the growth and learning experience for everyone else in the group. How can you turn that energy into something positive? How can you reach that hard-to-reach teenager? This workshop will give you some practical strategies for harnessing the full potential in that student as well as address some different ideas for handling discipline when the need arises.

  • Answering the tough questions. Speaker: TBD.
    Kids have some tough questions. Homosexuality, suicide, pornography, honoring ungodly parents, alcohol, and abuse all effect a teenager’s perspective of God and His Word. How can you best answer some of these tough questions from a biblical perspective?

Panel Discussion @ 1:30 PM

Moderator: Jeremy Schneider.
It doesn’t take a genius to see that teenagers are hurting. Almost everywhere we look there are kids experiencing intense levels of pain, sometimes self-inflicted, sometimes not. Even if you haven’t experienced it yet in your youth group, you will soon. We want you to be prepared! That’s why we’ve assembled some of the best Christian counselors in our area to do nothing but answer your questions about how to help students with issues like eating disorders, sex, drugs, alcohol, cutting, abuse, and addictions.

Workshop Sessions @ 2:45 PM

  • Developing the heart of a leader. Speaker: Mark McClintick.
    We agree: youth ministry is awesome! It’s a ton of fun and has some wonderful perks, but should that be our motivation for working with teenagers? This workshop will review the critical issue of evaluating our hearts and what our attitude should be as we work with the Lord’s students.

  • How to lead a small group. Speaker: Tim Schmoyer.
    Small groups can be effective tools for creating a relational environment that connects the Word with real life. This workshop will give you the tools you need to lead life-changing discussions, handle different personalities, grow numerically, and cast a compelling vision that the students will rally behind.

  • Using music in ministry. Speaker: Joe Schoenack.
    Almost every kid has an iPod crammed full of their favorite songs where they listen to different messages played over and over again. Music is a very powerful tool that youth ministries cannot take for granted. This workshop will help you utilize music to your advantage both in worship and in connecting with the audience when you teach the Word.

Breakout Discussions Groups

The Allies Conference isn’t about jamming your brain with information. We want you to process the information with others who are in the trenches of youth ministry. The breakout discussion groups give you the opportunity to interact about what you’re learning, share ideas, discuss current issues in your ministry, receive encouragement, pray together, and more.