Seminars

Engage in your own leadership development through tools, resources, and perspective to help you navigate next steps in your growth. Vision for your career and become familiar with timeless principles that have helped leaders "finish well". Participants will identify current opportunities that God is utilizing to form them as leaders.

What do you do when a crisis hits campus, whether it’s a natural disaster or a shooting? How do you care for the student experiencing trauma from their parents’ divorce or from an injustice on campus? This seminar will help you know how to respond, identify post-traumatic stress symptoms, and create a safety plan.

Because people of multiethnicity are the fastest growing demographic, they ARE the 2030 Calling. This seminar will help staff put together a campus work toolkit which includes training in the "Multiethnic Postures" model, processing data trends, and compiling resources to foster thriving staff and revitalized students and faculty.

Hear from the General Secretary of EvaSUE, the IFES movement in Ethiopia, as he shares about his experiences in ministry and how he has cultivated and experienced spiritual resilience amidst hardships.

There is a swell of revival communities emerging on campuses across America that are catalyzing spiritual awakening. In this seminar, you will be inspired by powerful stories of how God is using student movements to bring revival to campuses. You will also receive practical steps in establishing and advancing your own vibrant revival community that will shift the culture on your campus and city.

The stakes are high. Some of the stats are bleak. But...the mission of God cannot be stopped. Let's take a look at the research and the hopeful future as we work to make Christ known on campuses across North America!

If every campus is our Samaria, Muslim and Hindu internationals are our Ethiopian eunuch: unexpectedly dropped in our path, with the Spirit’s invitation to join a global awakening and revitalize our own faith. Hear inspiring stories of transformation, pray fervently for revival to spread, and gain proven tools for campus.

Free Speech.  Safe Spaces.  Both such important values and yet seemingly at odds, especially on the college campus.  Come explore how we can pursue a third way that values both.

From this two-part seminar (back-to-back sessions on Friday), you'll improve self-awareness and other awareness, especially learning to recognize psychological and spiritual triggers that cause disagreements to intensify or to resist resolution. You'll also learn (and have a chance to practice) breaking through conversational barriers to listen, speak, and act with sensitivity to cultural and style differences, with empathy, with clarity, and with purposefulness.
If possible, please work through the self-assessment included in the conference app prior to the first meeting. Some parts of the self-assessment refer to the Crucial Conversations book, but it is not necessary to have read the book in order to gain insight.

It's impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.  This is true for individuals and communities.  This seminar will introduce attendees to the  'emotionally healthy' skills, values, and practices to accelerate ministry into our 2030 calling.

Adopt a Campus is the newest resource designed to equip and mobilize students to plant InterVarsity ministries at campuses in their vicinity.  Staff and volunteers play a vital role in this process!  Get all the vital details about how the Adopt a Campus program works, how to access the funding available, and how to best utilize all the tools and resources.

The 2030 calling requires us to reimagine and contextualize our ministries to more effectively reach the many corners of campus. This seminar will give vision for stirring our imagination and tools for better contextualization to these people groups (particularly those on the margin) that are often missed by our current ministry models.  We plan to center the voices and experiences of staff of color but welcome everyone to attend.

We can experience freedom and enjoyment in our life with God while living with the pressures we face on staff. A group of diverse and seasoned staff will share formative practices that can shape us at every stage of life. Bring your questions!

Longing for revival in your own MPD? Join us as we address barriers to doing MPD and work on developing ministry partners for the long haul. Leave with concrete next steps to deepen your partnerships for the sake of the 2030 calling.

Learn about the reality of sexual assault on campus today. Receive practical & straight forward guidelines on what to do (and not do!) when a student discloses that they are a survivor of sexual assault. We will also engage with the spiritual dynamics around sexual assault.

Explore how dismantling the powers of white supremacy through reconciliation and justice work will clear the path for revival. Dream together of what could be on our campuses when those in the margins are brought to the center and can truly flourish as God intended.

According to Jean M. Twenge, "iGen is on the verge of the most severe mental health crisis for young people in decades."  Although on the surface, everything looks fine, everything is NOT awesome!  Together, we will explore the most common mental health challenges iGens face and tools to help them.

We plan to address the concern about the 2030 Calling being colonizing by talking about the Native understanding of "coming in a good way" (see the paper presented at the council for underserved institutions).  We believe this posture in planting will help everyone in InterVarsity, not just those reaching out to Native peoples, and keep us from perpetuating some mistakes of the past.

Being queer and on staff is filled with both challenges and joy. Come hear from a panel of queer-identifying staff about their experiences about what has helped them to stay with InterVarsity for 5+ years. We will share principles that staff and staff directors can use to help queer colleagues to thrive.

If revival were to come, how would you prepare so you can be ready to lead it? When it arrives, would you know what to do? And given that the first three words of our 2030 Calling are "longing for revival," come learn how to lead effectively as revival leaders.

The International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) longs for revival. As we pursue our 2030 Calling, the Lord wants us to benefit from the resources of the entire Fellowship. This panel of IFES and Link staff will share experiences gained beyond the US about empowering students, engaging volunteers, and staff self-care practices.

Discuss the mobilization of the nation to Washington D.C. for the largest next generation led gathering in 2020. Practical steps to creating movements, not events.

A fresh look at Scripture's treatment of and vision for women will encourage and equip staff theologically as they engage with students, faculty, colleagues, and donors. Men and women will be challenged to fully affirm and unleash women’s gifts as they pursue the mission together.

From this two-part seminar (back-to-back sessions on Friday), you'll improve self-awareness and other awareness, especially learning to recognize psychological and spiritual triggers that cause disagreements to intensify or to resist resolution. You'll also learn (and have a chance to practice) breaking through conversational barriers to listen, speak, and act with sensitivity to cultural and style differences, with empathy, with clarity, and with purposefulness.
If possible, please work through the self-assessment included in the conference app prior to the first meeting. Some parts of the self-assessment refer to the Crucial Conversations book, but it is not necessary to have read the book in order to gain insight.

Reading Scripture in a public setting was practiced by God’s people throughout the Bible to remember who their God is, who they are, and what they have been called by faith to do. We want to help recover this historic practice and test a new resource that we hope can help us reach every corner of every campus. Come learn what we've found so far and how we can carry this new tool forward!

With the push to plant at every campus by 2030, planting at the community college has become the forefront of our vision for revival at college campuses. However, how do we take community college engagement from hot new fad to sustained "new normal"? In partnership with prayerful surrender, what are key strategic postures we can implement to make space for revival?

Fully resourcing our Field staff is a big financial challenge.  Many staff do not have a personal network that can fully fund them.  Come hear the 3-pronged approach that we believe will provide the funds necessary for Field staff to thrive.

The IRS recently determined that InterVarsity qualifies as a “church” that can offer ministerial housing allowance like World Vision, Young Life, and Compassion do. While we will not be able to offer this until sometime in the next fiscal year, we will discuss and answer questions about what’s changed – and hasn’t changed. (Specific roll out information – including who, how, & when – will not be discussed.)

God develops apostolic leaders over the course of a lifetime. Come and learn about development stages, process items and how you can finish well. There will be an added emphasis on those who operate with the gift of apostleship and what they must do to finish well.

The black diaspora is one that values community, diversity, love, family, deep spiritual engagement, justice and so much more. Do you know of a tool that can plant this? What about a seed? Let’s discover the seed that leads to flourishing black ministries.

We think every student should be part of a friend's conversion before they graduate.  You will learn how to coach the 5 Thresholds of conversion and implement these culture-shaping best practices.  God-willing, you will see many more conversions on campus and graduate World Changers!

Healthy chapters partner with the Holy Spirit's work on campus to reach new networks, corners and campuses.  This seminar will help you use leadership development, evangelism and small groups to help your chapter grow, equipping you with practical tools to use when you get back to campus
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The 2030 calling envisions a massive mobilization of ministry partners, but how do we equip them for effective engagement on campus with us?  In International Student Ministry, we’ve used many volunteers over the years; in this seminar we will share things we’ve learned and resources we’ve used.

Learn about tools for developing white students in their ethnic identity and tips for white staff ministering in multiethnic contexts.

Even as we plant new chapters and grow existing ones, we want to see students and faculty transformed, campuses renewed, and world changers developed. This practical seminar will help you identify, pray, and plan the next steps in cultivating chapters that disciple students and faculty to follow Jesus holistically through integrating faith, work, and justice.

Come learn from the General Secretary of the fastest-growing student movement in the IFES family.  Robel will share about the three core values of EvaSUE and how they have contributed to the movement's growth. Robel will also share how EvaSUE works to empower and equip students to lead and own the ministry on campus, another important component of the movement's development.

Let’s embrace community as a gift for evangelism! Come and learn how to mobilize communities around mission with the communal evangelism toolkit. Designed to reach and empower Asian Americans, the toolkit will also help us reach GenZ as our chapters become communities of belonging, engagement, and commitment.

Almost 30% of GenZ identifies as LGBTQ+ and over 80% of GenZ are LGBTQ+ affirming. Throughout history the church has done tremendous harm and continuously broken trust with the queer community. Whilst considering InterVarsity's complex and painful history with the queer community - what can we do now? This seminar will touch on: (1) the necessary posture for staff, (2) LGBTQ+ outreach, (3) LGBTQ+ student care.

Feeling stuck in your MPD because you've asked everyone you know?  Learn how to identify and enter into a new network, expand your influence and invite new friends to join your ministry partnership team.

What has worked for InterVarsity previously will not get us to where we need to go next as a movement. Millennials are gone and iGens are here. How can we faithfully and fruitfully minister to the students on the campus(es) that we have been called to?

Did Jesus really mean for us to get involved in socio-political activism? Shouldn't Christians keep their engagement in the religious sphere? Let's explore whether 21st century activism is biblical and how activists (Christian and non-Christian) align with Jesus' call to seek first the kingdom of God.

Do we feel as staff that we are intentionally partnering with Holy Spirit and operating in His power? In this seminar, we'll take an introductory look at what this promise means for us as staff, how we can partner more deeply with the Spirit on campus, and how we can grow in His power for witness.

Learn how you can lead a more inclusive group now! Ram and Sarah will discuss why we should be inclusive and how to jump-start inclusion for your team.

Building teams of high-quality staff is essential as we pursue the 2030 Calling. This will require the effective recruitment of gifted staff candidates. In this seminar, we will discuss the development of a comprehensive recruitment plan: identifying both hesitant and excited candidates, discerning their vocational skills for staff and calling for ministry, and implementing a recruiting pipeline that involves students, CSMs, and ADs.

Our best ministry happens when we bring our best selves to the table. In this seminar, we'll explore how to grow in physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual health as we walk with Christ in the adventure of ministry. Note: this seminar is led by a team of senior LaFe Staff.

Sandy will talk about his own faith and leadership journey, give advice about community college ministry, and talk about engaging faculty and college staff. There will also be an opportunity to ask him questions.