Sixty-nine Canadian Baptist youth workers were among about 650 youth workers and exhibitors from Christian denominations across Canada participating in the third annual Canadian Youth Workers’ Convention held in Vancouver December 3-6.

Representing more than 10% of all youth and camp leaders attending, Canadian Baptist participants had the opportunity to be trained and encouraged in key aspects of youth ministry. They attended workshops on topics as diverse as learning how to turn a garage band into a worship band, basic counseling skills and dealing with discouragement in ministry. It was a wonderful opportunity for them to share with and learn from other paid and volunteer youth pastors from our denomination and from many other denominations.

The Convention, held at Vancouver’s Wall Centre was put together by Youth Specialties, a youth ministry that has been training youth ministers worldwide for the past 40 years. Each year, Youth Specialties trains more than 100,000 youth workers. Youth Specialties has recently created a Canadian office, headed by Marv Penner.

For more information on the Canadian Baptist’s youth ministry, contact Claire McLean, Interim Youth Director at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Canadian Baptist pastors Darrell Johnson of First Baptist Church in Vancouver and Mark Buchanan of New Life Community Baptist Church in Duncan were two of the six keynote speakers. Canadian Baptist youth pastors also had a special opportunity to gather as a family on Saturday December 5th at First Baptist Church at an event sponsored by Canadian Baptist Ministries to discuss research on the State of Youth Ministry in Canada done by Marv Penner of Youth Specialties and Don Posterski, most recently the Director of Faith and Development at World Vision Canada.

“It's a great way to connect with other youth workers, find refreshment, and learn the latest on youth ministry in Canada,” said Claire McLean, Interim Director of Youth Ministry for the CBWC. “They really fed our Youth Pastor’s own souls. I was really encouraged to see the connections and conversations taking place between our Youth Pastors,” enthuses Claire.

One of the possible outcomes of the event may be the development of some uniquely Canadian youth resources so that Canadian youth pastors no longer need to rely on resources developed in the American context.