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April 11-13, 2024 • Albany

Amplify Conference

An opportunity to discover, develop, and deploy your ministry gifts.
Every year GenNow Ministries hosts our District Fine Arts Festival (Amplify) as a part of the Student Summit for students to discover, develop and deploy their ministry gifts. They receive feedback, and attend ministry breakout training sessions.
Register
Presenting by Mar 25
Leaders by Mar 25
Non-Presenting by Apr 8

Why Fine Arts?

The reason we do ministry is to see students come to know Christ in a deeper way. We also want them to grow in confidence and boldness in sharing the Gospel. Do you currently have a process for identifying students’ gifts and passions and showing them how those things can be used in ministry? This is what discipleship is all about and exactly what Fine Arts is designed to do!

Fine Arts is a tool that your ministry can use to disciple your students with a specific purpose in mind. Discipleship happens in the process, as well as in the presentation. Practices give you a time to meet with students on a regular basis outside of your weekly services. This helps you discover what they are good at and shows them how those things can be used to serve God and others!

Through Fine Arts students also grow deeper in their relationship with God and with other students. Youth leaders have reported many of the most committed, connected, and hungry students have been those involved in Fine Arts. In one particular instance, a student’s whole family started coming to church because of his involvement with Fine Arts.

3 Steps in the Fine Arts Discipleship Process

Discover

Our aim is to help students discover passions and gifts they can use to spread the good news of Christ. Fine Arts is an opportunity for students to explore areas and interests they might not have considered before. It also exposes them to ways of doing ministry outside of the weekly worship service. A good goal would be that all of your students would participate, whether as individuals or especially in groups.

Develop

Fine Arts gives students a goal to work toward in the development of their gifts. We want to see students grow in the gifts and talents the Lord has given them. This program gives students a structure and timeline to prepare for. Then, at the event we provide constructive feedback and encouragement for each entry geared to helping them improve.

Deploy

Eventually, you will have developed ministry tools for students to go out and use in your church, community, and beyond! Each of the entries can be used for practical ministry. You can take human videos on mission trips, have a student preach their short sermon, have students design flyers or logos for your ministry, or do a puppet skit for kids' church. For may more ideas on how students can deploy their gifts. There are so many incredible opportunities in our local churches and community to Deploy your gifts. Want to schedule a brainstorming time or need help planning or coordinating an upcoming deploy opportunity? Contact Matt Novak at his email listed on the last page.

About Fine Arts

Fine Arts Student Participants
• Students must be enrolled in 6-12 grade OR be 12 to 17 years of age as of September 1, 2023.
• 19 year old students may not participate in Fine Arts unless they are enrolled in grades 6-12 as of September 1, 2023.
• Students must be in good standing with a local AG church or an officially recognized Cooperative Fellowship Church and/or youth ministry.

Divisions and Categories
The following page lists all of the divisions and categories students can enter. A student is allowed one entry in each category. For access to the rulebook that has the specific guidelines for each category, visit- https://youthconference.ag.org/
(Scroll down on the left side of the page for the rulebook pdf)

Group/Troupe/Ensemble/Team Categories allow different numbers of members depending on the category. Please check the rulebook for additional details.

There are Jr. and Sr. divisions in select categories to allow for the difference in skill levels between the age groups.
• Jr. = Grades 6, 7, 8
• Sr. = Grades 9, 10, 11, 12

Exhibition
The Ministry Stage Set Design Category and Baking are only available in Oregon. These categories do not advance to the National Fine Arts Festival. All other categories are listed on the next page:

Art Division
Graphic Design
Photography, Digital, Jr./Sr
Photography, Film
Photography, Mobile Jr/Sr
T-Shirt Design
Visual Art, Three-Dimensional Visual Art, Two-Dimensional, Painting and Drawing
Visual Art, Two-Dimensional, Alternative Media

Communication Division
American Sign Language Group American Sign Language Solo Children’s Lesson Group
Children’s Lesson Solo
Promo Video
Puppetry Group
Puppetry Solo
Short Film
Short Sermon, Jr/Sr
Short Sermon, Spanish
Spoken Word
Dance Division
Step Troupe
Urban Solo
Urban Troupe
Worship Dance Solo, Jr.
Worship Dance Solo, Sr.
Worship Dance Troupe, Small Worship Dance Troupe, Large

Drama Division
Drama Ensemble, Large/Small
Drama Solo
Dramatized Quoting, Ensemble Dramatized Quoting Solo
Human Video Group, Large/Small Spanish Human Video Group
Human Video Solo, Jr/Sr.
Musical Theater, Ensemble Musical Theater Solo, Jr/Sr,
Stand-Up Comedy

Instrumental Division
Bass Solo
Brass Solo
Guitar Solo
Inst. Ensemble, Contemporary Inst. Ensemble, Traditional Instrumental Solo, Folk
Percussion Ensemble, Traditional Percussion Solo, Traditional, Jr. Percussion Solo, Traditional, Sr. Percussion, Unconventional
Piano Solo Jr/Sr
Piano Solo, Classical
String Solo
Woodwind Solo

Vocal Division
Choir
Christian Band
Rap Group
Rap Solo
Songwriting
Vocal Ensemble, Small/Large
Vocal Ensemble, Small
Vocal Ensemble, Spanish Vocal Solo, Classical, Jr./Sr
Vocal Solo, Female, Jr/Sr
Vocal Solo, Male, Jr./Sr
Vocal Solo, Spanish Female Vocal Solo, Spanish Male Worship Leading, Solo Jr. Worship Leading, Solo Sr. Worship Team, Large/Small

Writing Division
Book Chapter
Children’s Literature
First Person Essay
Flash Fiction
Mini Saga
Poetry, Jr./Sr.

Get Started

Don’t worry, you DO NOT have to be an expert in each category to be a Fine Arts Coach. Your job is to help students identify where they may have a gift or talent and then encourage them in those areas.

Fine Arts is about the students. They need to take some ownership for creating their entries. You as the coach help keep them accountable to improve and refine their gifts and talents.

To get started, provide the list of categories to your students and have them sign up with what they would be interested in entering. Then brush up on the guidelines for those categories in the rulebook and figure out when you will need to start practices. The chart on the next page can help.

Suggested Practice Structure
5-10 min Team devotion/prayer time
30 min-1hr Individual entry practice
60-100 min Group entry practice
7
When to Start Practicing
The notes below suggest an idea of when to start practices and about how much time a week needs to be spent on the different categories. Depending on the skill level of the students it may take more or less time to get them ready. Group categories take longer to put together than individual entries. We recommend giving yourself extra time for groups. You can always start earlier!

Art-10 weeks out / Update as needed
Communication 8-10 weeks out / 1-2 hours per week
Dance 8-10 weeks out / 1-2 hours per week
Drama 10 weeks out / 2-3 hours per week
Instrumental 8-10 weeks out / 1-2 hours per week
Exhibition (Baking/Stage design) 4-6 weeks out
Vocal 8 weeks out / 1-2 hours per week
Writing 8 weeks out / update as needed
Time Not


Coaching Tips
• Start practices with a short devotional and prayer time to remind students about the goal of Fine Arts: showing people who Jesus is!
• Be consistent and start on time. You set the example. If you show up late to practice or reschedule all the time, your students will too.
• If you have a lot of individual entries, have the students do some peer coaching. Break them into pairs or small groups to watch each other and give each other feedback.
• Bring in a person who has some experience in one of the divisions who can give more specific feedback during one practice. This can be a person from your church or your community. You could also video chat them in or record the entries and send it to someone.
• Don’t just give constructive feedback, give encouragement and praise where it is due!
• Be honest with the students. If they really are not a great singer, someone needs to let them know. Just be sure to do it away from other students, and be as kind as you can! It is also beneficial to encourage another trait or gift you see in them at this moment.
• Have fun! It's important for the students to bond as a team. Do something fun every now and again like a movie night where our group gets together where you don’t practice.
• Snacks are a great motivator. Have parents take turns bringing a treat to give the kids a little extra boost!

• Host a Fine Arts Showcase 1-2 weeks before the Fine Arts Festival to give students a chance to perform in front of an audience. This could be during your usual weekly youth group time, on a Sunday morning, or even a special event of its own!
• Connect with your schools. They may help with coaching or even provide opportunities for your students to perform or enhance their gifts.
• Communicate well with parents/guardians, update them on the progress. You may even be able to recruit them to help as well!
• For Ministry Stage Design do a mock meeting with a ministry leader to pitch the presentation 2 weeks out.
*For Baking, have a local expert do a tasting two weeks or so before Fine Arts and have them provide feedback