Youth Ministry Futures

🎉 SOLD OUT — YMF Residential 2026

40 youth ministry leaders from across Australia, gathering at Ridley College Melbourne from 15–18 June to explore innovation in youth ministry.

Every spot is taken.

Thank you to everyone who shared this event — in your churches, your networks, your group chats, your staff meetings. So many registrations came through because someone said "you should come to this." That's how it's supposed to work.

We are genuinely excited about what God is going to do in that room.

40 practitioners. Four days. International and Australian faculty. Two dedicated tracks. Space to think, plan, and be encouraged by people who understand the weight and the privilege of this work.

We believe God is going to use this week to strengthen, equip, and renew youth ministry leaders who are giving their lives to seeing young people come to know Jesus. That's worth gathering for.

Now — if you missed out, we want to hear from you.

We're thinking carefully about what comes next and how YMF can continue to support and equip people for their ministry beyond this event. If you want to be part of that conversation (or be first to know about future opportunities) join the waitlist on our website.

👉 https://residential.ymfutures.com.au

Thank you for believing in the future of youth ministry in Australia. This is just the beginning.

"Theology of Innovation."

Not innovation with a theological afterthought. Not theology that ignores the practical.

Chris Curtis opens the Innovation track by grounding the entire conversation in why innovation matters theologically — not just strategically.

Before you redesign your program, rethink your assumptions. Before you try something new, understand why newness matters to the mission.

More details →

YMF Residential 2026 — Innovation in Youth Ministry Four days of training, community, and challenge for Australian youth ministry leaders. 15–18 June 2026, Ridley College, Melbourne.

If you're a theology student and you care about youth ministry, read this.

YMF Residential 2026 costs $200* for students undertaking the residential as part of an AUT degree. That's four days at Ridley College — accommodation, meals, every session.

You'll earn academic credit while learning alongside experienced practitioners from across Australia. Two tracks are available:

→ Track 1: Innovation (DE204)
→ Track 2: Youth in the Churches (DE011)

$200 for four days: accomodation, meals, networking encouragement. We're not sure what else competes with that!

More details at https://ymfutures.com.au/residential

💬 Share this with a theology student who needs to see it.

* AUT unit fees are additional. FEE-HELP available to eligible students.

YMF Residential 2026 — Innovation in Youth Ministry Four days of training, community, and challenge for Australian youth ministry leaders. 15–18 June 2026, Ridley College, Melbourne.

If you want to attend YMF Residential 2026 but you need your church to cover the cost — here's how to have that conversation.

1️⃣ Frame it as professional development, not another conference.
2️⃣ Be specific about the return.
3️⃣ Share the details. DM us for the supervisor pitch document.
4️⃣ Propose the budget. $600 all-inclusive. One number. No surprises.

Because sometimes you need to make the case clearly.

DM us for the supervisor pitch document.

Register https://ymfutures.com.au/residential

YMF Residential 2026 — Innovation in Youth Ministry Four days of training, community, and challenge for Australian youth ministry leaders. 15–18 June 2026, Ridley College, Melbourne.

🔥 7 places left — YMF Residential 2026

We started with 40 spots. There are 7 remaining.

If you've been thinking about it, this is the nudge.

📅 Four days at Ridley College, Melbourne (15–18 June).
Two dedicated tracks — Innovation and Youth in the Churches — running side by side.
Chris Curtis from Youthscape in the UK delivering 13 sessions across the week. Graham Stanton, Dave Chiswell, James Baker, and Joy Linton rounding out the faculty.

💰 $600 covers everything: accommodation, meals, all sessions.
Students taking it for academic credit through Ridley pay $200 + AUT Unit Fee

This isn't a conference you sit through. You'll leave with a plan for your ministry, an international perspective you can't get anywhere else in Australia, and a network of 40 people who actually understand the work.

7 places. Once they're gone, they're gone. 👇
🔗 residential.ymfutures.com.au

If you've been doing this for years — if you've seen the trends come and go, built something real, and know how hard it is to sustain — this is specifically for you. We need you in the room. Not as audience. As peers.

Chris Curtis has 40+ years of that same earned experience. Not surface-level inspiration. Deep, sustained engagement with innovation that takes your context seriously to ask God "What's next?"

40 places. Register

YMF Residential 2026 — Innovation in Youth Ministry Four days of training, community, and challenge for Australian youth ministry leaders. 15–18 June 2026, Ridley College, Melbourne.

YMF Residential 2026 runs two tracks simultaneously. You choose the one that fits.

🚃 Track 1 — Youth in the Churches
Led by Dave Chiswell with Graham Stanton. Foundations: practical theology, strategic models, evangelism, team leadership, working with parents and pastors.
🚋 Track 2 — Innovation
Led by Graham Standon with Chris Curtis. 13 sessions on the theology of innovation, practitioner insights, and applied practice. Follow-up day in September.

👏 Combined sessions: Leaders Fishbowl, Open Space, Night of Hope.

How to choose:
Choose Track 1 if you're earlier in your career or want to strengthen foundations.
Choose Track 2 if you've been in ministry a while and want to think differently about where it goes next.

Either way: four days at Ridley College, 40 practitioners, academic credit, $600 all-inclusive.

Not sure which fits? Message us.

Register

YMF Residential 2026 — Innovation in Youth Ministry Four days of training, community, and challenge for Australian youth ministry leaders. 15–18 June 2026, Ridley College, Melbourne.

What does Chris Curtis do across 13 sessions?

He doesn't repeat one talk thirteen times. Here's the arc:

🎓 Theology of Innovation — why innovation matters theologically, not just strategically.
🧰 Practitioner Insights — real stories from 40 years of building Youthscape and working with churches across the UK.
📋 Applied Practice — structured time where you take what you've heard and work it into your own context. Your church. Your community. Your constraints.

This isn't a conference. It's a curriculum for skills and tools

Register https://ymfutures.com.au/residential

YMF Residential 2026 — Innovation in Youth Ministry Four days of training, community, and challenge for Australian youth ministry leaders. 15–18 June 2026, Ridley College, Melbourne.

❓ Someone asked us why we cap the residential at 40 people.

Because the best professional development we've ever experienced didn't happen in a plenary session. It happened:

🍽️ Over dinner when someone said, "I tried that too and here's what actually happened."
👥 In a small group where you could ask the question you'd never ask from a conference mic.
🙏 10pm in a common room when the formal program was over but the real conversation was just starting.

You can't engineer those moments. But you can create the conditions: shared meals, shared accommodation, unhurried time, and a room small enough that everyone knows everyone's name by day two.

That's what 40 places means.

Register now:

YMF Residential 2026 — Innovation in Youth Ministry Four days of training, community, and challenge for Australian youth ministry leaders. 15–18 June 2026, Ridley College, Melbourne.

Spots are filling fast — only 17 of 40 places remain for YMF Residential 2026.

Join youth ministry leaders from across Australia for four days at Ridley College, Melbourne (15–18 June) as we dig into what it actually looks like to innovate in youth ministry — in ways that are practical, lasting, and centred on ministering with young people for Jesus glory.

This isn't a fly-in conference. It's an immersive residential where you'll reflect on your own context, workshop ideas with like-minded leaders, and leave with a plan to turn them into action. Your $600 ticket covers everything — sessions, accommodation, and meals.

You can even attend for academic credit through Ridley College, with FEE-HELP available for eligible students.

Details and registration → https://loom.ly/KXIUeNU