new youth worker apparel

youth workers are checking out some new duds for this year:
theology seems to be the vestment of choice for a growing number of youth workers and according to some of the presenting/feature seminar leaders at this years NYWC in Anaheim there is an impressive new hunger for that discipline.
For years the gurus have stared down the barrels of their seminar guns and fired warning shots against allowing youth ministry to degenerate into 'fun and games'. Tony Jones figures that more and more youth workers are interested in theology than ever before and they are ready to open their minds to let in competing points of view.
Jones who led a late night theology forum at NYWC said: "In the six or seven years I've been at this, I can say that I've seen the conversation about youth ministry change qualitatively. Youth workers are more serious, more theological, more educated"
Jones also commented that the seminar was more civil than it had been in the past.
I will suggest to you that theology is far too important a discipline to ever loose the reins on. Youth ministry has a cronic propensity to mindlessly importing formulaic methodology.
I also say that the fact that any theology discussion at a youth workers convention that is more civilized may show just as easily that theology has reach the pinnacle of its life cycle in youth ministry. It takes a high level of ambivalence, in my experience, for youth ministers to be able to interact with any amount of civility toward each other. (I mean did anyone bother to notice the repeated flatulence on the escalators - that is hardly civil). I am saying this tongue in cheek somewhat. But if you get the impression that I think that for most youth workers theology is mostly a trend - you've got me nailed.
I appreciate what Tony Jones, Dan Kimball, Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, and Donald Miller have done to reawaken the theological pursuit in youth ministry but it is hardly time to let our guard down. Okay, so maybe mr. Jones was just trying to inject some optimism - in an otherwise bleary news day but...