ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½

For its 40th gathering, PSYCM is proud to introduce World Cafe-style practical solution labs with small groups of folks serving the church with similar portfolios. Each lab will facilitate a cohort of 20 leaders divided into three working small groups. These groups will be working through shared challenges and practical solutions for their ministries across unique contexts. Ministry Solutions Labs underscore our ongoing commitment to service: we’ve always known that the wisdom is in the room. 

Tessa Armes

A fruitful children's ministry grows with care. Learn how to assess your current children’s ministry needs, build sustainable systems, and develop a cohesive strategy that partners with your families and community. 

• Gain practical steps for assessing your ministry and building sustainable systems (for the ministry and yourself) that last.
• Identify what needs to be pruned in your ministry area so the Holy Spirit can breathe life into it. 
• Shift from one-off programming to a ministry rooted in spiritual practices.
• Construct a simple, realistic plan for the next season of ministry.
• Crowdsource solutions to current issues.

Rev. Dr. Beth Evers

Wiggle Church is a worship service designed for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their grown-ups. Through a highly participatory liturgy, young children and adults form and deepen their faith. This session will explore the theology and missional goals that provide the framework for Wiggle Church. 
 

 

Rev. Michael LeBlanc

A meaningful retreat starts long before students load the van—and its impact can last long after they return home. This practical workshop helps youth ministry leaders plan retreats that deepen faith, strengthen relationships, and create space for belonging. We’ll connect the big picture of spiritual formation with the details that make a retreat work: budgets, schedules, volunteer preparation, safety, and communication. Participants will begin developing a retreat plan that fits their ministry’s size, resources, and students.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify clear retreat goals that reflect their students’ needs and their ministry’s discipleship priorities
• Design a retreat schedule that balances worship, reflection, relationship building, recreation, and rest
• Develop a planning framework that addresses logistics, budgeting, accessibility, safety, and volunteer responsibilities
• Create a follow-up plan that connects retreat experiences with students’ everyday faith and ongoing participation in ministry

Rev. Sarah Miller

How can worship become a place where young people and the young at heart are not simply present, but genuinely participate, listen, respond, and discover their own voices?

• Drawing on Call and Response for Young People: A Guidebook for Worship with Children and Youth, Year B, this interactive workshop explores practical ways to make worship more accessible, participatory, and meaningful for congregants of every age and stage. Participants will consider how Scripture, prayer, music, storytelling, movement, and intergenerational relationships can invite children and youth into the life of worship.
• Through discussion, examples, and peer engagement, participants will leave with ideas they can adapt for Sunday worship, children's moments, intergenerational services, and other congregational settings.
  
   

Rev. Erin Sloan Jackson

Screens are everywhere and AI can generate just about anything, but the church still offers something rare: real people in a real room, hands busy, making something together. This workshop explores why art and faith have always gone hand in hand and why that matters more than ever for those who lead children, youth, and families.

We'll start with the big "why," including a Wesleyan lens, then get our hands messy with mixed media, and close by sharing what showed up along the way.

This workshop is made for people who feel intimidated by art or are sure they're "not the artistic one." No talent or experience needed, just curiosity and a willingness to play. You'll leave having experienced it yourself, with practical ideas you can use right away with all ages.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Explain why art and faith belong together and why hands-on, in-person creativity matters in ministry, especially in the age of AI
• Experience art-making as a spiritual practice for their own lives
• Create safe, welcoming spaces where people of every age (and every "I'm not creative" label) can make something
• Take home simple, adaptable activities for children, youth, young adults, and families

Rev. Dr. James Woods

Per the National Institutes of Health, reported anxiety issues for youth and young adults over the past two decades have increased anywhere from 50-100%, depending on the age bracket and metrics sourced. This workshop will explore a sample of contemplative prayer practices aimed at dampening the effects of that condition. The class will briefly examine some of the physiological markers of anxiety and their potential offsets due to contemplative impact. With an emphasis on participant experience, the majority of time will feature practicing the fundamentals of Centering Prayer/breath control, Ignatian imaginative Scripture reading, and mindful eating. The session will conclude with best practices on leading others in these methods.

Outcomes

• Recognizing the physiological symptoms of anxiety
• Appreciating the physiological impacts of contemplative practice
• Engaging the fundamentals of Centering Prayer/breath control, Ignatian imaginative Scripture reading, and mindful eating as samples of contemplative practice
• Adopting best practices to guide others in these techniques

Rev. Jenny Bates

What do you want to be when you grow up? Helping our youth and young adults consider how they can use their God-given skills, gifts, and talents is part of making disciples that will transform the world. What does exploring the idea that we are all called to ministry look like for our youth and young adults, whether or not they end up in church work or in the public/private sector? Even if they've gotten the job part figured out, how can we give them a strong foundation around finding joy in their vocations?

Objectives:

• Learn how to help our students navigate the relationship between vocation and call
• Explore what vocational joy looks like for ourselves so we can model it for our students
• Collaborate with others on how we can support our youth/young adults as they enter college/the workforce
  
   

 

Rev. Dr. Tanya Campen

How can we cultivate a ministry where people use their gifts, share responsibility, and feel equipped and supported to lead? Grounded in prayer, relationships, and a shared purpose, this interactive workshop will explore a practical framework for volunteer and leadership development: discern, equip, and support. Together, we will consider how to identify gifts, extend meaningful invitations, clarify expectations, share authority, and nurture leaders through training, mentoring, and ongoing encouragement. Come prepared to share your experiences, ask questions, and consider possibilities for your context. Participants will leave with the beginnings of a shared leadership plan for one area of children’s ministry, including 2–3 practices to strengthen their team and one concrete step to take within the next month.

 

Rev. Sarah Miller

How can worship become a place where young people and the young at heart are not simply present, but genuinely participate, listen, respond, and discover their own voices?

• Drawing on Call and Response for Young People: A Guidebook for Worship with Children and Youth, Year B, this interactive workshop explores practical ways to make worship more accessible, participatory, and meaningful for congregants of every age and stage. Participants will consider how Scripture, prayer, music, storytelling, movement, and intergenerational relationships can invite children and youth into the life of worship.
• Through discussion, examples, and peer engagement, participants will leave with ideas they can adapt for Sunday worship, children's moments, intergenerational services, and other congregational settings.

Dr. Allison Sligh

Adolescence marks a massive cognitive leap from literal, concrete thinking to complex, abstract reasoning. This session equips youth ministers with developmental psychology frameworks to recognize these hidden mental shifts. Leaders will walk away with practical communication tools to scaffold theological concepts, so they resonate with a student's specific developmental stage.

Objectives:

• Identify the cognitive and faith development shifts occurring between early and late adolescence to accurately target ministry messaging
• Build a Three-Tier Question Matrix that successfully guides small groups from concrete observations to deep, abstract theological reflection
• Formulate a constructive, non-anxious response framework for navigating a student's normal cognitive disequilibrium and theological doubt
  
   

Rev. Dr. Abbey Weaver

Drawing on research exploring how teenagers seek and define success, this workshop examines the growing pressures of academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, and future planning that shape adolescent life today. Participants will learn how youth and family ministries can partner with parents to cultivate healthier definitions of success rooted in identity, purpose, and spiritual formation.

Learning Objectives:

• Examine how teenagers understand and define success in contemporary culture
• Identify key sources of pressure related to academics, extracurricular activities, and college preparation
• Explore the impact of achievement-oriented environments on students' emotional, relational, and spiritual well-being
• Develop practical ministry strategies that help students and parents pursue a more balanced and faith-centered vision of success

 

Rev. Dr. Beth Evers

Wiggle Church is a worship service designed for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their grown-ups. Through a highly participatory liturgy, young children and adults form and deepen their faith. This session will explore the theology and missional goals that provide the framework for Wiggle Church. 

 

Rev. Beth Johnson

Participants will leave with:

• a language for naming what matters in their ministry and current season
• a few practices for listening and discerning with a ministry team
• Reflective Questions to help respond to “jolts” experienced in life 
• a way to examine competing priorities without treating every good thing as equally urgent. We will look at balancing family and personal life, as well as navigating multiple roles within a church.

Rev. Michael LeBlanc

A meaningful retreat starts long before students load the van—and its impact can last long after they return home. This practical workshop helps youth ministry leaders plan retreats that deepen faith, strengthen relationships, and create space for belonging. We’ll connect the big picture of spiritual formation with the details that make a retreat work: budgets, schedules, volunteer preparation, safety, and communication. Participants will begin developing a retreat plan that fits their ministry’s size, resources, and students.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:'

• Identify clear retreat goals that reflect their students’ needs and their ministry’s discipleship priorities
• Design a retreat schedule that balances worship, reflection, relationship building, recreation, and rest
• Develop a planning framework that addresses logistics, budgeting, accessibility, safety, and volunteer responsibilities
• Create a follow-up plan that connects retreat experiences with students’ everyday faith and ongoing participation in ministry

 

Rev. Erin Sloan Jackson

Screens are everywhere and AI can generate just about anything, but the church still offers something rare: real people in a real room, hands busy, making something together. This workshop explores why art and faith have always gone hand in hand and why that matters more than ever for those who lead children, youth, and families.

We'll start with the big "why," including a Wesleyan lens, then get our hands messy with mixed media, and close by sharing what showed up along the way.

This workshop is made for people who feel intimidated by art or are sure they're "not the artistic one." No talent or experience needed, just curiosity and a willingness to play. You'll leave having experienced it yourself, with practical ideas you can use right away with all ages.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Explain why art and faith belong together and why hands-on, in-person creativity matters in ministry, especially in the age of AI
• Experience art-making as a spiritual practice for their own lives
• Create safe, welcoming spaces where people of every age (and every "I'm not creative" label) can make something
• Take home simple, adaptable activities for children, youth, young adults, and families

Rev. Brittany Richardson Watson

VBS is a long-standing tradition for many congregations, but families, volunteers, and communities have changed. Is your model changing with them? This workshop will give you a practical framework for taking a deep look at your current VBS as we discuss who it's reaching, what it’s achieving, and what it’s costing. Once we recognize “what is”, we will explore alternative models that may better meet the needs and goals of your congregation. Finally, you will have space to imagine "what’s next" for your ministry as we spend time sharing ideas and workshopping new approaches together. By the end of our session, you’ll have clarity about what is, a list of possibilities of what could be, and a starting vision for what’s next in your ministry. 

Rev. Dr. Abbey Weaver

Drawing on research exploring how teenagers seek and define success, this workshop examines the growing pressures of academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, and future planning that shape adolescent life today. Participants will learn how youth and family ministries can partner with parents to cultivate healthier definitions of success rooted in identity, purpose, and spiritual formation.

Learning Objectives:

• Examine how teenagers understand and define success in contemporary culture
• Identify key sources of pressure related to academics, extracurricular activities, and college preparation
• Explore the impact of achievement-oriented environments on students' emotional, relational, and spiritual well-being
• Develop practical ministry strategies that help students and parents pursue a more balanced and faith-centered vision of success

These 75-minute learning modules are a deep-dive into a specific practice or ministry area. A long favored feature of PSYCM throughout the years, we're proud to return Short-shops to our menu for 2027. Workshops registrants may self-selected their Short-shop course in the moment (no pre-registration is required). Some of this year's options include: 

• Raising Activists with Rev. Jenny Bates (Youth)
• Connecting with Families in Today’s World with Rev. Dr. Tanya Campen (Children)
• Studying Theology as a Next-Gen Leader with Rev. Julia Castleman (All) 
• Faith Formation Where Life Happens with Natalie Nenovich (Children) 
• Ditching the Bubble with Dr. Allison Sligh (Youth) 
• Inbe-TWEEN with Rev. Kat Smith (All) 
• Intentional Discipleship Pathways with Chris Wilterdink (Youth) 
• Pop Lyrics as Prayer with Rev. Dr. James Woods (Older children & Youth)