GRANTHAM, Pa. (Feb. 10, 2006) — Messiah College invites regional youth pastors and lay leaders to its first annual youth workers’ conference, “Renewing Our Passion, Strengthening Our Resolve,” on March 4 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The conference will be held in Boyer Hall and Hostetter Chapel on the college’s Grantham campus and will feature keynote addresses by youth culture experts Stephen Gallaher and Walt Mueller. Registration is $37 for individuals, $30 for groups of three or more and $10 for Messiah College students. Prices increase after Feb. 24. For more information or to register, visit www.messiah.edu/youthworkers. 

After the opening worship session, Stephen Gallaher will provide the morning keynote session on the conference theme, “Renewing Our Passion, Strengthening Our Resolve.” Gallaher is founder and executive director of Salt ‘n Light Youth Ministry and assistant professor of Christian ministry/youth ministry at Messiah College.

The afternoon keynote session, “Understanding Youth Culture,” will be presented by Walt Mueller, founder and president of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding. Mueller has authored three books and is an internationally recognized expert on contemporary youth culture.

Additional ministry professionals, including Messiah College faculty, alumni and administrators, will lead breakout seminars on contemporary youth ministry topics including ministering to at-risk teens, inspiring students to be servant leaders, building authentic relationships with teens, rekindling intimacy with God and surviving the first years of youth ministry.

Messiah College, a private Christian college of the liberal and applied arts and sciences, enrolls more than 2,900 undergraduate students in 50 majors. Established in 1909, the primary campus is located in Grantham, Pa., near the state capital of Harrisburg. A satellite campus affiliated with Temple University is located in Philadelphia.