National Youth Workers Convention-Nashville-2010 Day One

It's been a couple of years since I've attended the National Youth Workers Convention put on by Youth Specialties. I decided that since it was in Nashville this year, I didn't have much excuse for not going. I've just exited the opening session where David Crowder encouraged us to be loud, and that Sandman guy did amazing stuff with a backlit layer of sand. My first half day or so at conferences like these always seem to bring about the same observations:

1. I may not be hip enough to be a "youth worker." There are lots of folks wearing trendy Christian band t-shirts, girl jeans, Castro-style ball caps, and a myriad of other hip clothes.
2. Worship seems to be an interesting mixture of participating and observing. It doesn't seem like many people around me are singing, not that I would be able to tell, because the band is unbelievably loud. Now, I know that sounds like and old fart kind of thing to say, but I've seen bands that lead worship and do so in a way that invites participation so that their sound is joined by the worshiping voices.
3. OK, this one might get me in trouble, but I'm going to throw it out there. It appears as if there are a large number of youth workers who are very overweight. While I understand that youth ministry can be a stressful profession, and there are plenty of opportunities for eating and drinking, I wonder what kind of example we set for our youth when we seemingly make unhealthy choices. Anyway, let the bashing commence.
4. HAS NOBODY HERE EVER HEARD OF INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE???? I mean, seriously. You can't substitute God for the He pronoun every once in awhile. While David Crowder Band does a decent job using communal language, they fail miserably at using gender-inclusive language.

OK, that's all for now. We'll see how the rest of the convention goes.