Marriage isn’t easy; ministry is tough. Put the two together and things don’t get any easier. This intensive course will focus on the vulnerability of a ministry marriage and offer many positive and practical ideas on how to keep your marriage growing, even during ministry stress.
This intensive affirms the significant role that youth workers play as caring, involved adults in the lives of hurting teenagers. Marv helps listeners understand—in everyday language—what is going on behind behaviors like self injury, substance addictions, eating disorders, and bullying, and gives practical help in determining appropriate responses to some of the wild stuff students do.
In this intensive, Katie and Josh draw from more than 45 years of collective experience to share their successes and failures, as well as some very practical ideas on youth ministry. They’ll give you the strategies to build a solid foundation for a fruitful, long-term ministry and offer advice on how to enjoy the ride.
In today’s world, nothing is truly as it seems. This leads teenagers to abandon their faith as they enter college years and are caught off guard when difficult questions arise. In this session, Dan will discuss ways to pro-actively teach youth to respond to difficult questions.
This session helps prepare youth ministry staff to work more effectively with youth who are unsure about their sexual identity. Mark and Julie offer a developmental model that provides windows of opportunity to address meaning, purpose, and identity as well as provide support to those who are questioning or who identity as LGBT.
Why is it that almost 1 out of 2 graduating seniors will pick up their diplomas and ditch their faith? This seminar takes a practical look at research conducted by the Fuller Youth Institute to unearth some of the myths students believe about the gospel, the church, their family, and youth ministry that cause them to shelve their faith.
In this session, speakers will explore the importance of organization in ministry. The practical session comes out of more than 20 years of experience and will help you develop a framework of support in more than 10 important areas like risk management, communicating, budgeting, leader meetings and more.
Compline comes from the Latin word meaning “completion.” This peaceful and reflective 15-minute service is the liturgical equivalent of being tucked into bed. We pray, listen to God through scripture and silence, and ask God to watch over us as we sleep. On Saturday, communion will be offered during Compline.
Start your day by praying the hours as observed by God’s people for thousands of years. Join the sanctuary team in this simple, 15-minute time of scripture, silence, music, and spoken prayer.
“Go and create disciples throughout all the world, baptizing them and teaching them to do as I have commanded.” How do we change? Is there more we can do to grow in our walk with God? What does a vibrant life in the Kingdom look like? What is the Kingdom of Heaven? How do we become more like our incredible teacher, savior, and king Jesus? Practical steps, ideas, and disciplines can shape and form us. We will explore the basics of Christian spiritual formation and our unique role in life with a good and beautiful God.
This 15-minute service is designed to briefly interrupt us in the middle of our day in order to refocus our attention on God as the center of our lives and worthy of our praise.
Learn a brief history about the origin and spiritual practice of the stations of the cross. Engage in this powerful pilgrimage of prayer and meditation with other youth workers as together we commemorate the death of our Savior through the stations of the cross, depicting the final hours of Jesus Christ.
We were created in the imago dei. We were designed to create, to be imaginative people who cooperate with God, the source of beauty and creativity. In this session, we will create art together in response to scripture readings.
Research demonstrates that teenagers are increasingly disenchanted with the church; yet joining the body of Christ is essential to being a Christ-follower. This seminar proposes a new form of outreach that begins with what we SEE. This seminar will provide a biblical and theological framework for SEEing teenage potential as a starting point for outreach.
Learn about a framework for understanding sexual identity in a way that will affect how you minister to sexual minority youth. We will discuss how sexual identity develops, as well as learn about competing responses from the gay community and the local faith community as we focus on implications for youth ministry.
What are the cultural forces shaping the values, attitudes, and behaviors of students living in today’s world? In this practical and hope-filled seminar, veteran youth culture-analyst Walt Mueller will overview and critique of five of the most powerful cultural realities. Walt will also detail strategies for guiding students through these forces in a manner that will help you help them flourish by living life to the glory of God and realizing their created purpose.
Where will students be 5, 10, or 20 years from now in their walk with God? Most of us understand that real-world youth ministry is not about how well they start; it's about how well they finish. This seminar looks at the four key components of a youth ministry that stands the test of time.
If we want students to follow Jesus for a lifetime, then we have to identify what doesn’t work and what is the real goal. In this seminar, we’ll remind each other what we don’t want to be doing and talk practically about implementing a theology and praxis that moves us toward developing teens who primarily identify themselves as followers of Jesus.
Did God make a mistake when God created people with disabilities? Why don't we see more people with disabilities in our churches and youth ministries? Join us for an honest and compelling look at ministering with youth with disabilities and practical tips to help your church be welcoming and inclusive.
The stereotype of middle school ministries comes in one phrase: out of control! Is it possible to have chaotic fun and structure? We'll look at creative and effective programming for middle schoolers. We'll introduce simple and essential guidelines that will allow you to retain your volunteers, parents' respect, and personal sanity!
If students feel vulnerable, defenseless, exposed, or at risk in a group, they will not feel free to engage in community. We have the opportunity to create space that is safe for all the students in our care. In this practical seminar, Marv will help you think through ways to make sure that students are safe—relationally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally.
The young people to whom we minister find themselves living in many different worlds, confronting distinct and sometime opposed ideologies, world views, and practices. One of these direct oppositions is the church's ideas of faith and their school's teaching and commitment to science. Young people often come to us wondering if faith and science are in deadly competition, and if not, then how can things like Genesis and evolution fit together? Do faith and science really oppose each other? And how might we engage in such conversations with our young people? The seminar will present the findings of the John Templeton Foundation research project, with a panel and room to discuss what is needed to help a conversation between faith and science happen in our youth groups.
Sponsored by: Sparkhouse / InterVarsity Press / Youthfront / Nazarene Theological Seminary / Fuller + Fuller Youth Institute / Howard Payne University / Gordon College / Luther Seminary / Seattle Pacific University
Jesus’ call to ministry brings influence. What, then, is the posture of ministry leadership? How do influences like assumed or appointed authority and power fit with the servant leadership model and teaching of Jesus? This session will explore the Christian calling to leadership and influence and their relationship to a healthy walk with Christ.
Perhaps change is in the air? Personnel transitions in ministry can be difficult, in this seminar we'll look at three main categories:
1. Leaders on the move-- leaving well
2. Leading in transition-- volunteers carrying the load
3. Leading a new ministry-- starting well
You’ve got what it takes! Understanding your God-customized personality not only helps in understanding yourself (and your friends), but this same understanding impacts your youth ministry in a mighty way. Personalities’ connection to spiritual gifts and Strengths Finders 2.0 will be considered here as well.
Imaginative prayer involves contemplatively interacting with scripture, listening, looking, and being wholly engaged and present. We make ourselves totally available, body, mind, soul, and spirit, to the Holy Spirit. We listen. We practice patience. We enter into the depths of scripture.
Compline comes from the Latin word meaning “completion.” This peaceful and reflective 15-minute service is the liturgical equivalent of being tucked into bed. We pray, listen to God through scripture and silence, and ask God to watch over us as we sleep. On Saturday, communion will be offered during Compline.
Tommy Woodard and Eddie James are The Skit Guys. They have been best friends since high school. Think of them as the wise guys in class who had everyone laughing and managed to make a career out of it. They've been teaching God's word using comedy, drama and whatever category talking action figures fit into for over twenty years.
Jared Hall will keep you on the edge of your seat, unable to look away as he makes audience members float, performs a straight-jacket escape, or simply finds your chosen card. He uses illusions and comedy to present the gospel of Jesus Christ in relevant, engaging ways. Traveling extensively across the nation, Jared performs his illusions for conferences, festivals, outreach events, youth camps, and Upward award nights.
http://vimeo.com/88289305
Do you have an idea that’s been brewing for a while and you’d like to see if there’s a audience beyond your ministry? Whether your interest is curriculum, an article, a blog or a full-blown book, this practical seminar will help you begin to navigate the publishing waters. We’ll talk about creating a strong proposal, understanding the youth ministry publishing world, and what goes into developing your platform.
Start your day by praying the hours as observed by God’s people for thousands of years. Join the sanctuary team in this simple, 15-minute time of scripture, silence, music, and spoken prayer.
This is an invitation to come and recover your life. The truth is, we are loved and accepted as we are. However, most of us live like we still have something to prove. This need to prove ourselves over and over again leaves us feeling exhausted and anxious which leads to being judgmental and irritable. Come to the Sanctuary and spend time with God as the beloved, the already good enough. We will participate in the practice of visio divina as we meditate and reflect together on Rembrandt's painting, “The Return of the Prodigal Son.”
This offering will allow you to turn your “tourist jaunts” into an experiential prayer walk. Leave the convention center and hotel environment behind and enter into a prayerful journey through the neighborhood, labyrinth fashion. We’ll practice opening our eyes and hearts to the presence of Christ through the historical landmarks, public arts, and other sights, sounds, and smells of the city. Meet outside the Sanctuary room.
Together we will focus on the uniqueness of poetry as a form of human expression and explore how to incorporate it into prayer personally and with students. This practice involves reading poetry mindfully as well as praying with poetry and even experimenting with writing poetry.
In Victor Hugo’s classic, Les Misérables, we find the two main characters, Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert, representing law versus grace; the theme clearly comes through in the book as well as various plays, movies, and musicals. We will contemplate Hugo’s life, what drove him to write this novel, and how it affected society when it was written. Through readings of the book and the use of video clips from movies of this war between law and grace, we can relate this to our own journey with God.
Facilitators: Archie
This 15-minute service is designed to briefly interrupt us in the middle of our day in order to refocus our attention on God as the center of our lives and worthy of our praise.
This session will provide an introductory overview of group spiritual direction. We will cover the process and guidelines of and discuss how it can be used with your students, adult leaders, and staff.
This session will help you grasp an understanding of the physiology and psychology of what happens when we breathe correctly, and how this can prepare us for prayer/meditation/action. We will practice how to breathe deeply and how to share this with students.
Les will show you why teens get rowdy, how to set rules and consequences, and how to praise kids. He also has dozens of proven specific ideas you can use to feel confident when you deal with those particular students who drive you up the wall.
Do your students own their faith or are they living on a borrowed faith of others? How do you know? Could a crisis of faith be a sign of spiritual growth? Research on adolescent identity formation demonstrates that ownership of faith requires significant questioning and reflection. When teenagers fail to engage in such questioning before high school graduation they often drift from faith in college. How do we stop the drift? This seminar will include an actual lesson you can use with students and parents to help introduce them to the process of fostering faith through moratorium.
Five years ago, we learned that students ages 8 to 18 were spending more than 7 and a half hours per day engaged with media. As people called to help students live out their faith in every nook and cranny of their lives, youth workers must equip students and their parents to follow Jesus onto the media landscape by training them to engage thoughtfully, intentionally, critically, and Christianly with media and music. In this seminar, Walt will teach you about the powerful life-shaping role that music and media play in student’s lives, along with a very practical, biblical method to teach students that will develop their ability filter their music and media choices through a Christian world and life view.
Beginning with the goal of middle school ministry, this seminar will detail the 5 essentials from which everything we do flows. From understanding development to discussing what middle schoolers need, we will provide the scaffolding for an exciting, vibrant, and life-changing ministry.
Join other women as we discover the gifts boys bring to our ministries, ideas on how to dig deep in conversation, and how to train our guy youth workers to minister well. We’ll also honestly look at issues middle school girls face, Scripture that relates to these chaotic times, and the practical, effective ways we can minister to them!
This seminar will offer a big picture vision of what it means to build disciples, and offer a practical framework for fleshing out this vision in the context of a youth ministry program.
Small groups are a proven way to help teenagers connect and feel heard, but effective small groups require good leaders. The this workshop provides 5 basic tools that will help anyone leading a small group (and one of them is duct tape!).
The National Study of Youth and Religion and more recent research shows that many students in our own youth groups do not believe that Jesus Christ is the one and only way of salvation. They no longer believe in the historic Christian faith, but rather their “faith” is a smattering of quasi-religious fumes, endured with a hefty back story of tolerance, that rides on the nationality of the metanarrative congruence of all faiths. One can certainly do youth ministry from all three pluralism platforms: historic (Jesus is the only way), modern (Jesus is a good way, but there are other ways), or postmodern (who cares about religious dogma; it’s not important anyway), but the this-world outcomes are very different. This session explores in what respect a historic Christian Christology is vital for actual disciple making youth ministry, as well as for youth flourishing.
Sponsored by: Sparkhouse / InterVarsity Press / Youthfront / Nazarene Theological Seminary / Fuller + Fuller Youth Institute / Howard Payne University / Gordon College / Luther Seminary / Seattle Pacific University
This session is for women who are married to youth workers. It's a time to come together and get ideas and input on some of the issues we all face in our roles in ministry. Come prepared to encourage others, be encouraged, talk with other wives, and learn from their wisdom.
The biblical Daniel lived and led with excellence and he was placed in charge of an entire empire. The four characteristics that made Daniel a great leader can make you one too—learn how to utilize them in this informative session.
Let’s face it: Teaching week-after-week is a very difficult task. Doug has been teaching teenagers every week for more than 30 years and has learned a few things along the way that seem to work. In this breakout session, he’ll share with you some of his “secrets” to being a more effective communicator. Keeping kids awake, teaching effectively, and moving an audience toward life-change requires skill and hard work. Doug’s goal is to help you win—not with a bunch of theory but with tested ideas that will help you be a more effective communicator.
This seminar is designed for student pastors to know that just because their calling has changed, they still have a place in youth ministry.
Perhaps the most spiritual thing you could do during NYWC is take a nap. Youth workers are not exempt from the sleep-deprived condition of our culture. Sleeping was an essential step back to spiritual and physical health when Elijah encountered God after being overcome by his situation and his futile attempt to flee from his problems. The Sanctuary will provide a peaceful and quiet place for you to learn your limits and take time to rest.
Lectio Divina is the spiritual practice of divine reading. This classic practice of meditating on scripture, historically embraced by all Christians, is being rediscovered as a transformational way to engage with sacred text.
For more than a thousand years, thinkers, creators, and preachers have been describing, defining (and often complaining about) the stage of life known as "adolescentia." And what they described, defined (and often complained about) sounds surprisingly similar to today's rhetoric. What does that mean for us—the generation of youth workers who've been told that we're dealing with a recent, man-made, culturally constructed stage of life?
Research shows a majority of Christian youth doubt their faith, but few ever talk about it, leaving teenagers to doubt alone. In this seminar we'll consider practical ways to journey alongside youth who are doubting their faith. Grounded in both theology and research, we'll explore various kinds of adolescent doubt while learning to engage their doubts and questions as a vital part of discipleship.
Almost half a century ago, Bob Dylan wrote this famous lyric, “The times, they are a changing.” That statement is true now more then ever. What we are seeing in recent years confirms that the United States is moving closer to a post-Christian world. How is this affecting students and how do we respond as youth workers? Come hear the latest research and some innovative ideas for reaching today's teenager.
Various studies show that the average teenager in our youth groups, when asked to speak of her faith, is speechless. When we have a hard time talking about something, we often have a hard time believing that thing is true. This seminar is designed to provide practical thoughts and tips on how to empower our teenagers to speak publicly about their faith.
Lots of people run the other direction when they see junior high students. But you know that God can and does reach into their lives. This seminar will help you think about who a middle schooler is, why reaching them in junior high is so crucial, and how to shape a ministry to help them grow and learn.
Adults promise children that if they stay in school they will be equipped to succeed in life, but we have failed to make good on that promise for generations and too often our campus ministry efforts amount to little more than fish poaching strategies. Come explore how churches are rediscovering saltiness as they partner with local public schools for transformational change.
In the United States, race, racism, and racial construction has and continues to have an indelible impact on the landscape of youth ministry. Regardless of geographical location, denominational affiliation, ethnic background, or economic position, the category of race has shaped the lives of teens and youth workers in many faith communities. Yet, race remains a virtually non-existent category in most professional youth ministries, particularly within evangelicalism. This forum will flesh out some of the recent historical and social realties that have shaped what seems like an impasse in evangelical youth ministry. In particular, we will discuss how the historic lack of racial awareness and the development of tangible incarnational theologies amongst racially diverse populations created today’s current ministerial divorce between persons of color and many white evangelical churches and professional youth workers. We will explore how we might embrace a constructive framework for moving forward through a racialized incarnational theology that engenders concrete practices for youth ministry in the 21st century.
Sponsored by: Sparkhouse / InterVarsity Press / Youthfront / Nazarene Theological Seminary / Fuller + Fuller Youth Institute / Howard Payne University / Gordon College / Luther Seminary / Seattle Pacific University
Businesses around the world use "human-centered design" methods create new products and services that meet the needs of their customers. And these same tools—developing empathy, identifying insights, prototyping solutions, and iterating—work in the church world too! Learn the fundamentals of design thinking and ways to use design to address challenges, problems, and opportunities in your youth ministry.
Youth ministry today requires a youth leader/worker who can serve youth and their families holistically. Today's youth and their families need additional support to raise youth who are Christ-centered. Using the acronym HOLI, this workshop will empower youth leaders with tools to serve youth holistically in every environment.
Why is it that the only glimpse you get of some of your students’ parents is their taillights on their way out of your church parking lot? How come parents say they want resources and training from you but then don’t show up for seminars and don’t even open e-mails you send them? What can you do in every grade of middle school and high school to help families develop faith that lasts? This seminar takes a practical look at Sticky Faith research conducted by the Fuller Youth Institute on students and families just like yours. Thanks to case studies of churches like yours and interviews we’ve conducted with amazing families nationwide, you’ll leave with all sorts of super practical ideas you can use this month to partner with parents and equip them to point their kids to Jesus all week long.
Youth workers are wired for relationships, not reviewing budget reports. Yet any strong youth ministry requires that you use your administrative skills as well. Get tips on the basics of ministry management, especially finances, risk management, and scheduling.
We all experience loss and so do our students. Some loss is “ordinary,” like the loss that comes when we change jobs, move, or marry. Some loss is “extraordinary,” like losing someone we love, or finding out we have cancer. Loss changes us. We can go the way of the world and ignore, minimize, or numb out to the things that hurt us, or we can find ways to grieve honestly, openly, and creatively. Loss can connect us more deeply with God, others, and ourselves. We will explore spiritual practices that allow us to say “yes” to God in all that life brings.
An interactive exploration of how we change and impact the world. We all want to change the world in one way or another, but why and how? Following Jesus is about taking on his life in mind, heart, and soul. We will explore ways to cultivate the same intimate embrace of the world that Jesus revealed to us. Mission is fueled by Christ’s life and love pulsing through us daily.
Compline comes from the Latin word meaning “completion.” This peaceful and reflective 15-minute service is the liturgical equivalent of being tucked into bed. We pray, listen to God through scripture and silence, and ask God to watch over us as we sleep. On Saturday, communion will be offered during Compline.
Propaganda
http://www.humblebeast.com/propaganda
With an uncompromising message intertwined with hot rhythms and beats, LA’s Propaganda puts together lyrically potent, relevant music that reaches across the spectrum of youth and pop culture. Bringing with him years of classroom teaching and community service experience, he is eloquently bold in the message of each song and never shies away from a strong poetic element in his music.
Dialogue with seasoned youth leaders in an evening of insight and discovery. Learn best practices for reaching today’s students and ask questions about the challenges you're facing in a post-Christian world. This session will also provide an exclusive first-look at a new youth video series.
In this gritty and dramatic talk, Ted Swartz walks you through his relationship with friend and business partner, Lee Eshleman, who took his own life in 2007. Ted explores the paradox of working with a comedic partner struggling with bipolar disorder, as well as the challenge of writing and performing stories about God while experiencing the absence of God after Lee’s death.
Using multi-media and his twenty years of storytelling experience, Laughter is Sacred Space is honest, funny and vulnerable, and reveals the unique journey of working as a comedic actor under the shadow of a mental illness, and offers hope and humor in a way that only Ted could deliver.
Sponsored by Eastern Mennonite University
For seven years, the Fuller Youth Institute has blended research and story to engage church communities and families worldwide. At NYWC, FYI is debuting two short films featuring families struggling to shift toward holistic, integrated faith. Part of a new video curriculum series, these films will help you better equip families and your congregation to live out faith together. Join us for an open Q&A discussion with Kara Powell and the film director after the screening. Plus, everyone who attends this premier will receive a free copy of the entire video curriculum!
Start your day by praying the hours as observed by God’s people for thousands of years. Join the sanctuary team in this simple, 15-minute time of scripture, silence, music, and spoken prayer.
We all have a rule or rhythm of life, even if it happens to be a lack of rhythm. Find out why anchoring the days of your life in fixed times of prayer is important, and learn the various components of liturgical prayer and the ways in which it can be incorporated into your life and community.
And you’ll have fun, fun, fun until Les Christie ends this seminar in prayer. If you’re in need of a break and your mind is on overload, this workshop promises no heavy philosophy or theology. See, hear and play a ton of fast paced, unbelievably innovative games. You’ll learn gaming tricks you can use immediately. Explore crowd breakers, indoor and outdoor games, quiet and wild games, and games for large and small youth groups. You will go away encouraged and ready to lead your students next week.
Bigger isn't always better, and a small youth group doesn't mean small-thinking ministry. Our time together will cover how to be sustainable in reaching critical mass, developing volunteers, and how you can bring the most leadership to the small church ministry table.
In this seminar, we address what faith, doubt, and struggle means for emerging adults and what we, as ministry leaders, must do to support their faith journey beyond high school. If you are seeking to reimagine the way you prepare your students for college or are stuck over what "college-age ministry" looks like for an emerging generation, you're not alone and this seminar is for you.
Andy Blanks looks at the latest trends and research and examines the main cultural trends impacting teenagers' spiritual development. Better yet, this interactive conversation will help you know how to address these trends to deepen your students' walk with Christ.
Ever notice your most "committed" kids are the ones who don’t sit around and wait for someone to show them what to do, but they actively take up cross and follow? What would it be like if you were able to cultivate the type of atmosphere that caused discipleship to catch on and spread? We’ll discuss practical methods surrounding discipleship for students and examine the journey of taking teens from reckless followers to disciplined followers (well, with maybe a hint of recklessness still remaining).
This seminar will focus on a way of sharing the great good news that doesn’t treat the hearer as a project and stimulates their curiosity and imagination about what it might mean for them to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Learn how to implement in your own life and your youth ministry.
In this workshop, we'll discuss youth who many consider violent, useless, or a virus in our communities (with a main focus on youth in gangs, jail, or “on the fringe”). We'll emphasize effective strategies, like mentoring, for impacting these young people. Learn how to help promote hope and a feeling of purpose in life, which can lead to familial and societal change.
In the world of youth ministry, there are a handful of factors that make a program thrive over the long haul. This seminar will introduce you to these factors and offer a strategic design for instilling these foundational patterns into the fabric of any youth ministry, regardless of its model.
Together, we'll explore the art of Bible Storying, a new (ancient) way of engaging the Scriptures. You'll participate in a Bible Storying experience, rooted in the Hebrew tradition of storytelling, imaginative listening, creative response, and lively dialogue. You'll also gain insights into spiritual formation and learning-centered environments.
Certain dead British academics have quite a lot to teach living youth ministers. We'll discuss ideas of Lewis, Tolkien, and Sayers (including subcreation, eucatastrophe, saying best what needs to be said, the sacrement of creative work, and more) and explore how they relate to both our own life of faith and our ministry with students.
As a ministry leader your life is being watched—you’re a public figure! Beneath the skin of that public persona is a private world that must be healthy for the public ministry to thrive. There’s a constant tension between these two worlds because the teenagers, parents, church staff, and congregants have expectations and those heavy expectations often dismantle the inner world. In this workshop, we’ll talk about how to protect, develop, and strengthen the inner world. Ministry isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon and to run effectively we’ve got to learn to pace ourselves and focus on what’s most important.
Success can be a loaded word today, especially in the church. In this seminar we’ll look at the changing cultural tides and how this has affected everything from our students, to our programs, and to our view of what success truly should be.
There are 1400 Mosques and Islamic Centers in the United States and about 20% of them have their own youth ministries. Muslim youth ministry, like its Christian counterpart, is organized nationally, regionally, and locally. This session explores the foundation and models of youth work done by Muslims for Muslims and what can we learn from them.
Join us as we gather together to interact with and read scripture in a creative way. Participate as a group "playing" the scriptures like a collection of jazz musicians improvising as they go. This communal approach to reading and hearing scripture will breath life into your soul. As your voice finds its place among the many others, you will again be reminded of the beauty of our sacred text and discover afresh how you belong in this story.
We live in a world that moves non-stop, and in a church that keeps up with it. When are you allowed to stop? What about Sabbath? Time set aside for being instead of doing? How would that even work? Come and learn about Sabbath, and imagine how intentionally stopping and resting can be incorporated into your life, family, and even ministry.
Vincent van Gogh lived in the depths of his soul. Vincent's biographically inspired art offers a unique allegory of an interior life. He wanted art to guide the religious life into a life-giving spirituality. To contemplate his art is to contemplate his life. His life, an integration of art and spirituality, is a paradox of the human and divine. He lived and died contemplating his true self. Spend some quality and spacious time beholding his extraordinary art, interacting with van Gogh’s writings, and perhaps awakening a deeper way of praying that opens you to new possibilities.
