What is A Thinking Generation Seminar?
Joshua White’s seminars are practical and informative, focused on family, education, and parenting, helping parents and teachers understand how children learn and how we can educate for eternity. Through research, brain science, and an understanding of child-development, these fascinating seminars give a wealth of insights on how to best work with the developing mind.
Joshua presents on the topics of true education, child development, family, and media use. Before deciding on what to present at a specific event, Joshua will be in touch with you to determine your particular needs and desires and then choose the topics and presentations accordingly.
These seminars are for teachers, grandparents, anyone working with children, and especially families with young children. Parents will appreciate this opportunity to gain a better understanding of God’s methods of true education and child-raising.
There are various formats for a seminar:
1. A weekend seminar
A weekend seminar is the most popular seminar for churches. Churches often host a weekend seminar under the family- or children’s-ministries department.
Your group should plan for a minimum of five presentations over the course of the weekend. The reason is that the topics that Joshua presents require significant time to explain sufficiently. Much of the material is quite new for many people; and therefore, it takes some time to understand the concepts.
The usual weekend seminar format includes Friday night, the Sabbath school time slot, the sermon, and two or three presentations Sabbath afternoon. During the Sabbath school time slot, separate Sabbath-school programs, including youth and children’s classes, should combine, and all teachers, parents, youth, and children attend the seminar together.
Some churches also extend the seminar to Sunday if there is sufficient interest from the group to have good attendance. This provides a good opportunity for more in-depth explanation of particular topics of interest as well as time for interactive Q&A.
2. Campmeeting or another event
Joshua is also frequently a speaker for camp meetings, conferences, and other events.
For these events, Joshua requests sufficient speaking slots to adequately cover the material. As with the weekend events, at least 5 slots are requested, although the exact number depends on the event and the topics being covered. Joshua often gives as many as 12 to15 presentations for camp meetings.
3. True Education training week
If you are interested in a more in-depth program, Joshua offers one-week intensive true education training for groups, mission schools, etc. Teachers and young people alike find these training sessions interesting, challenging, and life-changing.
Costs and logistics
In-person events:
Travel
We ask that all travel costs are covered. This includes mileage for driving, flights, parking at the airport, rental car and fuel, food, hotel stay (if applicable), etc.
If driving in the USA, the cost is $0.70/mile.
If flying, the cost is equal to the cost of the airline ticket and any other expenses involved.
We will book the flight reservations and any other travel needs and provide an invoice with the details of all the costs.
Lodging and meals (plant-based)
We ask that lodging and meals be provided.
Joshua is happy to stay in a church member’s home or in separate lodging such as a hotel. If Joshua is staying in a hotel, please bear in mind that hotels do not usually provide a healthy breakfast and there may be need for Joshua to purchase some food which may incur some extra expense.
Honorarium/Speaking Fee
The honorarium is an important means of support for the ministry and also helps cover incidental costs of Joshua’s travel.
The honorarium is $500 as a base fee per event up to 2 days. Additional event days are $100/day.
Examples:
- Five-day seminar = $800
- Friday and Sabbath seminar = $500
- Friday through Sunday seminar = $600
Offering
In addition to the honorarium, a freewill offering or donation for the support of the ministry is always welcome.
Advertising
You will be responsible for advertising the event. We are happy to provide an advertising flyer if desired.
Other
A Thinking Generation is also supported through the sale of books, DVDs, and other materials. If there will not be an opportunity for selling these materials, the honorarium may need to be adjusted.
Cancellations
While we would like to avoid cancellations, we understand that sometimes things may not work out as desired. If you need to cancel within 4 weeks of the event, we kindly ask that you cover cost of the honorarium and any travel costs that are not refundable.
We do try to be understanding of different financial situations, so if you are unable to meet this, please contact us.
Scheduling process
Ready to schedule a seminar or have questions? Here’s how you can do that.
- Fill out the form below.
- After filling out the form, we will get in touch with you. If you do not hear back from us within 2 business days, please double check your spam folder. If you still do not see an email from us, you may email us directly.
- We will be in touch to discuss and confirm dates and topics as well as other logistics such as travel and accommodations.
- Once everything is confirmed, it’s time to advertise! You are responsible for advertising for the event, but we are happy to provide an advertising flyer if you would like.
Seminar Contact Form
Filling out this form does not obligate you in any way. You will receive an email from us after you submit the form regarding available dates, logistics, and any other relevant information.
FAQ
Can this seminar be used for community outreach or evangelism?
Most of Joshua’s material is for a Seventh-Day Adventist audience, and he recommends keeping the focus for the SDA members. While we have many messages that are evangelistic in nature, the message of education was primarily given for the Seventh-day Adventist people as a means of preparing us to finish the work of evangelism to the world. A church that embraces and follows the message of true education is one that is better equipped to work for the community.
In the seminars, Joshua does present some material that appeals to a non-SDA audience, especially the scientific research that he shares. He often has non-SDAs in attendance at his seminars and they appreciate this material, but there are some elements that they are not able to relate to. Joshua does use the Spirit of Prophecy throughout his presentations.
What is the usual format for the seminar?
The usual weekend seminar format includes Friday night, the Sabbath school, the sermon, and two or three presentations Sabbath afternoon. We understand, however, that this might not work for all groups. If another format works better for your group, don’t hesitate to let us know.
What about a children’s program?
Families are encouraged to attend Joshua’s seminars together as a family. Sometimes church members organize some childcare for young families if it is needed.
Will you have books and other material available?
Yes, Joshua will bring books and other material with him. These will be available to purchase during non-Sabbath hours. These materials are a great help in implementing the information learned during the seminar. Some of the books also cover topics that Joshua may not have the time to cover specifically during the seminar.
Online events:
Single presentation: $200
One event with multiple presentations: $150 per presentation.
Zoom requirements: Screen sharing is needed.
NOTE: We understand that sometimes there may be financial difficulties which make the cost of a seminar a challenge to meet. If so, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We don’t want anyone turned away because of financial difficulty and we will do our best to work it out so that you can still host a seminar.