Extravaganza 2024 Workshops

people in conversation with each otherWe have 6 Workshop Sessions & 2 Early Bird Workshop times in which to score some great ideas to take back home with you.

Our Learning Team works diligently planning and preparing a great slate of workshops. At Extravaganza 2024, there are six 75-minute workshop sessions offered during the main event either onsite or online, not hybrid. For our early arriving participants in New Orleans, the 60-minute Early Bird workshops are available to provide extra opportunities for learning.

How are workshops selected?

Through a proposal process, each of the workshops are selected based on the theme and the current needs of The Network. The Extravaganza Workshops happen because of the great leaders like you serving and leading in your contexts who are willing to teach others.

Looking for a more in-depth learning on a subject? Check out the Intensive Care Course (ICC) add-on. There are three pre-event learning opportunities to choose from for an additional fee.

Are workshops available later or on demand?
Can't decide which workshop to attend at which time? No worries, all online workshops will be available to ELCA Youth Ministry Network Plus members following the Extravaganza event for later viewing.

Extravaganza 2024 Workshop Titles

The full schedule of the workshops available during each of the workshop times will be released soon. Check back for more workshop titles, information and schedules will be released early this fall.

  • Dream of Creative Collaboration - Amanda Gebhart, Tina Goeman, Emily Thoms
  • ABCs of LGBTQ+ - Rev. Amanda Nesvold
  • Dream Worship - Prayer & Liturgy - Bishop Becca Middeke-Conlin, Bishop of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod
  • Dream Beyond: Graduation to Campus - Rev. Cassandra Lamb, University Lutheran Center Campus Pastor
  • Dreaming with the Formation Co-Op! - Catherine Anderson Director of Formation Co-Op
  • Planning Your Own Summer Ministry Trip - Chris Swanson, Kate Verlautz, and Mandy Stockwell
  • Build an Inspiring World - Deacon Dan Jacob
  • How to Become an Anti-Racist Youth Group: Tools and Practices for Living into God’s Dream of Beloved Community - Joe Davis and David Scherer with JUSTmove 
  • 5 Approaches to Developmentally-Appropriate Children’s Messages - Dawn Rundman, Ph.D. with 1517 Media
  • Dungeons & Dragons in Youth Ministry - Deacon Dustin Hamren
  • Beyond Ball Fields and Bathrooms: Dreams for Transgender and Gender-Expansive Youth in the Church - Jamie Bruesehoff and Rev. Christopher Bruesehoff
  • Food & Faith: What Could We Cultivate? - Rev. Jen Collins
  • A Handful of Practices to Cultivate Friendworks (like networks but a billion times better) - Jen Gruendler and Arlene Flancher with Luther Seminary
  • Jumping into the Deep End of the Children Sermon Swimming Pool! - Rev. John Stevens from Dollar Store Children's Sermons
  • Beyond the Policy - Rev. Kari Vadis
  • Recruiting Diverse Layers of Volunteer Leadership - Kate McKinnie
  • Icebreakers - NO SUPPLIES NEEDED! - Kelsey Tomlinson
  • Making the Shift: A Practical Approach to Innovating Ministries - Lisa Sampson 
  • Dreaming Together with the Womanist Lord’s Prayer - Dri Rivera
  • Integrating AI for Effective Youth Ministry - Rev. Michael Jannett
  • Moving from Surviving to Thriving - Sister Sara Galyon
  • Dreaming of Bringing the Mountaintop Home - Taryn Hauglie, Assistant Director of Christikon
  • SYMBOL:  Dreaming Together New Possibilities in Synodical Youth Ministry - Dan Fugate and the SYMBOL Steering Team
  • Neurodiversity: Working with Brains that work differently than ours - THIS IS AN ONLINE ONLY WORKSHOP led by Lisa Nelson
  • Space - Tending to Self and the Institution - Kris Bjorke
  • How to Prepare for the Craziest Week of the Year: Packing Your Trip Backpack - Danielle Dadashi
  • Using Hip-Hop for the Youth and Connection with Faith - Jordan Collins-Brown
  • Dreaming of an Inclusive Library - Rev. Janelle Hooper, Program Manager for Ministry with Children for the ELCA
  • Can These Dry Bones Live?: Dreaming of a More Inclusive Church - Lisa Heffernan with ELCA Disability Ministries Advisory Team
  • 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering - Tammy Jones West, Director of the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering
  • Queer Confirmation - Kathryn Thompson
  • The Naming Project: LGBTQ-Inclusive Youth Ministry - Deacon Ross Murray with The Naming Project
  • A Safer Tomorrow – Not Just a Dream - Carolyn Marston with Safe Gatherings

Arriving Early? Check out these Early Bird Workshops

  • B'etzlem Elohim-In the Image of God - Eliana Katchkey
  • Small Church, Big Impact: Leading Change in the Small(er) Church - Rebecca Jacobson with Youth Ministry Consultants
  • Center Your Dreams - Rev. Marc Mohr
  • Ministry Planning Using the Six Hats Process - Pete Erickson, InterServe Ministries
  • From Chaos to Peace: Unleashing Your Inner Peacemaker and Changing the World - Ian Heseltine & Deacon Amanda Randall
  • Book Writing and Being an Author.... - Dawn Rundman, Ph.D. with 1517 Media