Steve Rankin
Keynote Speaker  
The Reverend Dr. Stephen Rankin is Chaplain to the University at SMU and has been involved in higher education for nearly 20 years. Previously, he served as professor and campus minister at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, pastoring United Methodist congregations, an expatriate congregation in Rome, Italy, and several years in youth ministry.

Steve is the author of Aiming at Maturity: the Goal of the Christian Life. He loves helping people engage and apply Wesleyan theological teachings. His current publication projects include The Contours of Christian Witness, which aims at helping everyday Christians get over stereotypes about evangelism and seeing their own capacity for sharing the Gospel with God-hungry people. He regularly blogs at http://stephenrankin.com and http://steverankin.wordpress.com.

Joy Allen
Class: Foundations

Joy Allen has been working with youth for 28 years. She is currently Youth Director at Sierra Vista UMC in San Angelo, TX where she has served for 22 years. She facilitates and oversees all programs and volunteers for Family Ministry, i.e., Confirmation and Mentors, UMYF, Sunday School, and Mission/Choir/Fun Trips. She is also a member of the Concho Country Chrysalis Board and the Concho Country Chrysalis Community. Her greatest accomplishment has been to survive being a “Mom” and Youth Director for all these years.

Dara Bell
Class: Foundations  

Dara Bell is the Conference Director of Youth Ministries and Safe Sanctuaries Coordinator for the New Mexico Annual Conference. She has been in youth ministry for 37 years. Before going to the Conference Office she served small, medium and large churches in the NM Conference. She is passionate about helping youth directors have healthy, safe, well balanced ministries. Dara has a B.A. in religion with an emphasis in Youth Ministry and has been part of PSYM for more than 20 years. She and her husband Ray share four children and seven grandchildren.

Jarrod Conyers
Class: Sex and the Youth Pastor - Where We Struggle to Be the Light
1st PERIOD

Class: The Next Pentecost - Where the Church, Culture, and Spirit of God Collied 
2nd PERIOD

Thursday Short Shop: Excel>erate - Advanced Programming Tricks to Simplify Your Ministry

Jarrod Conyers lives with his wife Whitney in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he currently serves as the Director of Student Ministries at St. John’s United Methodist Church. With his BA in Sociology, and a Masters of Christian Ministry, Jarrod is a 17-year Youth Ministry veteran. He taught at PSYM previously in 2011 and 2012, and he is also a certified Youth Ministry Communications Trainer in the New Mexico Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Jarrod strives to be a "spiritual arsonist" to challenge and provoke the minds and imaginations of today's ministry leaders and students to live out the expansive Gospel with which we have been entrusted. 

Katie Eichler
Thursday Short Shop: Deepening Youth Theology Beyond "You Should Read Your Bible More" 

Katie Eichler is the co-director of youth ministries at John Wesley UMC in Houston, TX. She has been in full time youth ministry for nine years and is certified in youth ministry.

Brian Faust 
Class: How Do I Convince the Church to Change My Job Description?
2nd PERIOD

Tuesday Short Shop: The Art of Saying"No" to the "Other Duties Assigned" 

Brian is the Director of Youth Ministries at Garden City First United Methodist Church. He is probably also the jack of all trades on his staff. Over the last few years he has helped implement new programs throughout the church that have helped others grow in their walks. He really enjoys to play golf, watching ESPN, plan camp, and driving across the western frontier known as Kansas!

Brian Hardesty-Crouch
Class: Pre-Conference, Youthworkers Summit

Brian is a veteran youth worker who has served on staff in churches large and small. He served as spiritual director at Youth 2011, the UMC’s national youth event in Indiana and California. He leads spiritual formation for youth and youth workers at Duke University.  He has written for numerous youth ministry publications, and recently edited the book “Holy Things for Youth Ministry: 13 Practical Sessions.” Learn more about Brian at holymoments.org

Georgia Harrison
Class: Foundations

Georgia Harrison has been working with youth for over 19 years. She has a BS in Math from Mississippi College and an MS in Math from Clemson University and worked in the software development field for 20 years. She has a Masters of Divinity from Perkins School of Theology and has been Commissioned as a Deacon in the United Methodist Church. Georgia has worked in churches of varying sizes from 20 youth to 400 youth!  She has directed conference camp, is certified in Youth Ministry in the UMC, and loves working with youth at the conference and jurisdictional level. Her favorite part of youth ministry is getting youth involved in mission and toward this goal she helped found C2K, an urban youth ministry service opportunity in west Dallas. She also believes that it is critical for the church to educate youth ministers to prevent burnout and encourage long-term ministry. Georgia is married to Charles Harrison and they have two children, Ricky and Marisa.

Rev. Steve Heyduck
Class: The Pentateuch - More Than Just Five Books! 
1st PERIOD

Class: Deconstructing the Alleged Generation Gap 
3rd PERIOD

Wednesday Short Shop: Strengthening One's Marriage While in Ministry 

Steve Heyduck is an elder in the Central Texas Conference. He was recently appointed Senior Pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Euless following more than half a decade as Chaplain at the Methodist Children's Home in Waco, Texas. Probably because he first responded to God's call as a youth, Steve has realized over the last several years that his heart will always be with youth ministry. He strives to convey God's message of redemption and reconciliation in ways that anyone and everyone can feel connected to God. He loves social media; probably out of some left-over stuff from not being a cool kid in high school. He is married to Rachel, a Deacon in the Central Texas Conference, and has a 23 year old daughter, a 2 1/2 year old daughter, and a 6 month old son.

Rod Hocott
Class: Foundations

Class: Pre-Teen, The Bridge Between Children and Youth 
1st PERIOD

Having previously served on the Arkansas Conference Staff as Minister to Youth and Young Adults, Rod Hocott is presently Director of MidYouth Ministries at FUMC in Conway, Arkansas. Rod has 44.5 years of experience in youth ministry and is willing to share anything he has learned in that time with anyone who works with youth in any capacity.

Becky Jackson
Class: From the Inside Out - Finding the Balance in the Spiritual & Physical Well Being 
1st PERIOD

Class: Developing and Implementing Camp Ministry 
3rd PERIOD

Tuesday Short Shop: Safe Sanctuary & Child Protection Training

Becky Jackson has been in youth ministry for 17 years, with both church and conference ministry experience. Married for 23 years, with 3 children and 1 grandbaby, Becky loves God first, youth and family second, and running third. She currently serves at the Southwest Texas Conference with Rusty Freeman as the Youth Events Coordinator.

Erin Jackson 
Class: Giving Them the Keys - Creating a Student-Led Ministry Culture 
2nd PERIOD and Wednesday Short Shop

Thursday Short Shop: How to Squeeze in One More Event Per Week

Erin Sloan Jackson is a certified United Methodist Youth Minister living in Arlington, TX. She and her husband, Dennis, have been involved in youth ministry together for over 15 years, serving in both Presbyterian and United Methodist Churches. Currently, Erin serves as the National Director of Community and Care for the Center for Youth Ministry Excellence/The YouthWorker Movement. She loves teaching senior high Bible study and has recently launched a mentoring program in her community. 

Rev. Timothy Kennedy 
Class: Veterans - Leadership and the iGeneration
1st and 2nd PERIOD

Tim Kennedy grew up in Lovington, New Mexico and is ordained in the New Mexico Annual Conference. After graduating from Princeton Theological Seminary, he returned to his alma mater, McMurry University, to serve as Director of Religious Life and University Chaplain. In addition to his duties in McMurry’s office of Religious Life, Tim teaches courses for the departments of Religion and Servant Leadership and is a certified interpreter of the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory. He serves as elder at Caps United Methodist Church.

Rev. Walt Marcum
Class: Foundations

Class: - What We Believe as United Methodists 
2nd PERIOD

Class: - Science and Faith 
3rd PERIOD

Walt Marcum is an ordained elder in the North Texas Annual Conference and is a graduate of McMurry College in Abilene, Texas in 1973 (B.A., Religion & English) and Perkins School of Theology in Dallas in 1978 (Master of Theology). He served as a senior pastor for 12 years before going on staff as an associate minister in youth ministry in 1986. He is currently in his 21st year at Highland Park United Methodist Church where he is the Minister to Youth & Families. He is directly responsible for administering the 6th grade confirmation program, leads the Kerygma teaching worship service, and does general associate duties. He is married to Barbara Marcum, who is also an ordained elder in the North Texas Annual Conference and who also serves at Highland Park United Methodist Church as the head of the Pastoral Care Department. Barbara and Walt have one child, Melissa. 

Michelle Moore 
Class: Getting Organized 
2nd PERIOD and Wednesday Short Shop

Class: Being Young in Youth Ministry 
3rd PERIOD and Thursday Short Shop

Michelle Moore is currently serving as the Director of Youth Ministries at First United Methodist Church in Conway, Arkansas. She has been involved in Youth Ministry roles ranging from volunteer, intern, part-time, and full-time roles for over 10 years. She also serves as the Adult Coordinator for the Arkansas Conference Council on Youth Ministries for the United Methodist Church, overseeing youth and adults who are charged with planning seven state-wide youth events each year. Moore is a 2006 graduate of Hendrix College from which she received a degree in Religious Studies. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Specialized Ministry with an emphasis in Youth Ministry at Southwestern College. She also recently finished her Certification in Youth Ministry through Perkins School of Theology. 

Dr. Terry Parsons
Class: Four Ways to Effectively Counsel with Youth 
2nd PERIOD

Terry Parsons, Ph.D., D.Min., is a counselor, psychological consultant with the Perkins Internship program, a United Methodist minister and a guy who has loved teaching counseling and related classes at PSYM since its beginning. He loves spending time with his family and going to baseball games. 

Julie Peters 
Class: Developing Young Christian Leaders 
3rd PERIOD

Tuesday Short Shop: Ministry as a Career - Helping Students Discern a Call to Vocational Ministry

Wednesday Short Shop: Mission Trips for Teens - Preparing, Maximizing Impact, and Debriefing

Julie Peters is the Associate Director of Student Ministries at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection. Julie has over 30 years of experience in student ministry and is originally from Sugarland, Texas. She is passionate about providing avenues for students to become committed, authentic followers of Jesus Christ, and also about raising up the next generation of Christian leaders, ordained pastors and vocational ministers. Over the past 5 years, Julie has been working to develop and implement a ministry called MAC Track at Resurrection which is aimed toward helping students in the 6th grade through college discern and explore a possible calling into vocational ministry. She loves spending her free time doing international mission work, enjoying her family, and taking road trips in her Jeep Wrangler! 

Gavin Richardson 
Class: UMYF Revisited 
1st PERIOD

Class: Youth Ministry Technologies 
3rd PERIOD

Tuesday Short Shop: Making Part-Time Youth Ministry Work

Wednesday Short Shop: Youth Ministry in the Great Emergence

Thursday Short Shop: Motivation 2.0

Gavin Richardson is 'the Short One' to the Youthworker Circuit a resource & curriculum site & the mastermind behind almost all of Youthworker Movement's web resources. A part-time youth worker for Good Shepherd UMC in Hendersonville, TN he writes for UMCom, UpperRoom, UMPH, UMReporter and a host of other entities. You can connect online with him at gavoweb.com.

Dr. Mark Waters 
Class: Veterans - Leadership and the iGeneration
1st and 2nd PERIOD

A native of Lubbock, Texas, Mark graduated from Texas Tech University in 1980 and later completed MDiv and PhD degrees in theology, homiletics, and pastoral care at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He completed additional graduate study in church history and world religions at Baylor. He served as pastor of churches in Texas and Kentucky for 17 years and for another 7 years was the executive director of Just People, Inc., an Abilene nonprofit agency that provides empowerment services for youth and adults in poverty. Mark has additional training in servant leadership learning communities through Ann McGee-Cooper and Associates in Dallas and in leadership and organizational learning through the Society for Organizational Learning in Boston. Mark currently serves as Assistant Professor of Servant Leadership and Director of the Servant Leadership Center of the Southwest at McMurry University. In addition, he serves part time as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Baird Texas.

 
Ben Wheeler 
Class: How to Do the Work of God Without Destroying the Work of God in You 
2nd PERIOD

Tuesday Short Shop: Protecting the Work of God in You 

Ben Wheeler has been in Youth Ministry for 9 years and currently serves as Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at Chapel Hill UMC in Wichita, KS. He loves playing guitar, golfing, card games and Notre Dame Football. Ben has the spiritual gift of summer camp and considers himself a "connoisseur" of chicken fingers! 

Bishop Richard Wilke 
Class: A Bishop's Thoughts on Vital Bible Passages to Use
3rd PERIOD

Bishop Richard Wilke created excitement in local churches with his books And Are We Yet Alive? and Signs and Wonders. He is currently serving as Bishop-in-Residence at Southwestern College. With his wife, Julia, Bishop Wilke coordinated, designed, and wrote the DISCIPLE Bible Study, a training document for Christian leaders, with nearly two million graduates in more than 10,000 congregations in 30 denominations. The series is now available in German, Korean, Spanish, and Chinese. Elected to the episcopacy of the United Methodist Church in 1984, Bishop Wilke served for 12 years in the Arkansas area. The Wilkes live in Winfield, Kansas.

Dr. Steve Wilke 
Tuesday Short Shop: Discover - Youth Disciple Online

Steve Wilke, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist by training. After working as an outpatient therapist for over 12 years, he moved to Southwestern College as the Dean of Students. Now in his 23rd year at the college, he is the VP of Planning and New Programs and is the Executive Director of the Institute for Discipleship which oversees a wide range of programs designed to improve and enhance ministries and faith based educational efforts. This fall, saw the launch of Youth Disciple Online at BeADisciple.com.