Schedule
Googling Youth Conference

July 13–15, 2006
Prince Conference Center

All sessions take place in Great Hall East; all breaks take place in the Fireside Room.

Thursday, July 13
6:30pCheck-in and hors d'oeuvres
7:40pDavid Smith, Introduction and welcome
8:00pQuentin Schultze, "Growing Up and Growing Old in a Facebook World"
9:00pIce cream social
 
Friday, July 14
8:30aClaudia Beversluis, "Formation on All Fronts"
9:15aClaudia Beversluis, Identification of key questions from participants
10:00aBreak
10:30aDoug Kamstra, "Googling for Presence"
11:15aRachael Cooley, Darwin Glassford, Jon Huizenga, Doug Kamstra, Panel discussion
12:00Lunch
1:30pDan Beerens, "Connecting Head, Heart, and Hands: Toward a Distinctively Christian School Education"
2:15pDenise Isom, "What's Race Got to Do with It—or Gender, for That Matter? An Interactive Dialogue on Children's Identity"
3:00pBreak
3:30pLew Vandermeer, "Understanding the Minds and Manners of Teens"
4:15pDenise Isom, Quentin Schultze, Lew Vandermeer, Panel discussion
5:00pHors d'oeuvres
 
Saturday, July 15
8:30aDavid Smith, "Spiritual Formation in the Classroom"
9:15aDarwin Glassford, "Connecting the Church with a Disconnected Youth Culture"
10:00aBreak
10:30aDan Beerens, Marjorie Gunnoe, Theresa Latini, Panel discussion
11:15aClaudia Beversluis, Summary and conclusion
12:00Conference ends

Dan Beerens is Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Holland Christian Schools. He also works for Christian Schools International as a consultant and "vision to measurement" specialist. Dan has served as teacher and principal in both public and private schools in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan and has spoken widely on teacher evaluation and professional growth, curriculum design, school improvement, faith-integrated learning, and student faith development.
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Claudia Beversluis is Provost at Calvin College, where she was has taught in the psychology department and served as Dean for Instruction; she also also teaches pastoral care of youth at Calvin Theological Seminary as an adjunct faculty member. She is currently involved in a major research project on worship and faith formation in adolescents. She is the coeditor of Commitment and Connection: Service Learning in Christian Higher Education. Claudia and her husband, Marcus, have three children: David and Maria are Calvin graduates, and Claire will begin Calvin in the fall.

Rachael Cooley has worked with at-risk teens in the Midwest and East Coast for 10 years and understands how important it is for teens to ground who they are in Christ with the help of their church and its people. As Executive Director of Youth Unlimited, Rachael hears amazing stories of the strengths and struggles of youth ministry as she travels throughout North America. When at home Rachael enjoys time at the lake, improving her handicap while golfing with her husband, and going to the movies.
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Darwin Glassford serves as Associate Professor of Church Education at Calvin Theological Seminary and book review editor for the Journal of Youth Ministry. He is intrigued by the confluence created when young people, cultural forces, tradition, and faith issues intersect; and the guidance a Reformed biblical theology provides for addressing the issues raised. He enjoys reading Rolling Stone and Paste and Spin; rebuilding and selling old motorcycles on eBay with his teenage daughter; and pizza-movie nights, hiking, and camping with his family.
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Marjorie Lindner Gunnoe is Associate Professor of Psychology at Calvin College, where she teaches courses in child and adolescent development, cross-cultural human development, and adolescent faith formation. She has been involved in several large scale surveys of youth, and currently directs the adolescent component of the Panel Study of American Religiosity and Ethnicity. Her current research focuses on shared vs. hierarchical patterns of authority in spousal, parent-child, and congregational relationships.
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Jon Huizenga has planted two churches as a pastor, including River Rock Church in Rockford, MI, where he serves as senior pastor. Jon's interaction with students started with a bicycle touring organization during his college days at Calvin, continued through five years as a youth pastor, and now is an enjoyable part of planting a church with many students and a vision to be culturally relevant and engaging. His four children, aged 13–25, keep him from assuming he knows too much. Enjoyment of a good laugh keeps him smiling and helps in connecting to youth.
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Denise Isom is currently Assistant Professor of Education at Calvin College. Her current research includes two ongoing studies, one centering on race and congregational life, and the other focusing on the role of religiosity and faith on racialized gender identity in African-American children—a follow-up a previous study that looked at identity and schooling. Each reflects Dr. Isom's interests and expertise in the areas of race, culture, identity, and gender.
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Doug Kamstra is Senior Pastor of Calvary Christian Reformed Church in Wyoming, MI, and Instructor of Youth Ministry at Calvin Theological Seminary.

Theresa Latini is Assistant Professor of Pastoral and Congregational Care at Western Theological Seminary. Prior to teaching, she served as an associate pastor at a Presbyterian congregation outside of Philadelphia, PA. She is particularly interested in the intersection of popular culture, adolescence, and practical theology.
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Quentin Schultze is Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences and executive director of both Gainey Institute for Faith and Communication as well as the Calvin Workshops in Communication at Calvin College. He received the Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching at Calvin College in 2000, and in 2004 he received the Scholar of the Year Award and the Outstanding Book Award from the Religious Communication Association.
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David Smith David I. Smith is Director of the Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning and Associate Professor of German at Calvin College. He is coeditor of the Journal of Education and Christian Belief and the Journal of Christianity and Foreign Languages. He has published widely on Christian education, including coauthoring The Gift of the Stranger: Faith, Hospitality and Foreign Language Learning and The Bible and the Task of Teaching.
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Lew Vandermeer is Senior Pastor of New Community Church in Grand Rapids; he also teaches religion and sociology at Grand Rapids Christian High School and is Adjunct Professor at Calvin College (CAS department) and Kuyper College (pre-ministry courses). He has coach debate and forensics at Grand Rapids Christian and has authored a variety of textbook materials for high-school religion and sociology courses. Lew has been married 42 years and has three married children and three grandchildren.
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