The event will be held July 6 – July 12. The program is being held only one week rather than two as in past years due to renovations at the dormitories on campus. Churches should submit applications by the end of May.
Youth pastors choose one or two high school students in their junior or senior years who they consider to be potential ministry leaders of the future. They will receive instruction from seminary professors on various topics in the mornings and participate in service projects during the afternoons.
Several of the service projects are changing from past years, says Bob Auger, who is coordinating the event. Attendees also will experience Chicago cuisine and the city’s unique culture during free time.
Roughly 15 students and 15 adult leaders will be picked for the program. Cost is a registration fee of $50 per church and 25 percent of travel expenses. Youth Nexus is part of the seminary’s Making Connections Initiative and is funded by a Lilly Endowment grant.
“We want to help juniors and seniors learn what it means to think theologically at that age and consider whether they might be being called to ministry,” Auger says. Students also will be encouraged to apply what they learn when they return to their youth groups.
Seminary and university faculty teaching this year will be John Weborg, Ginny Olson, Kelly Vanderbrug, Phyllis Shepherd, Paul DeNeui, and Debbie Blue, executive minister of the Department of Compassion, Mercy, and Justice for the Evangelical Covenant Church.
For more information and applications, visit Youth Nexus.
