Happy New Year! We hope you were able to take time over the holidays to relax and celebrate the new year. As you turn the page on the calendar for this new year, have you thought about joining us at one of our upcoming events?
We have events on leadership & hybrid ministry (just a week away), building diverse youth communities, resources for progressive Christian formation, and save the date for an in-person event on mental health challenges with children and teens this spring. If you are looking for a Bible Study, join us in a couple of weeks for an 8-session Bible Study on the Book of Acts. Information on all of our offerings can be found below.
YMI Resources
As youth head back to school, help them create a weekly Sabbath-keeping plan. Learn best practices and team up to encourage their joyful living with God in this lesson. You can also help them tune in to joy by helping them recognize joy in the light of other emotions in this lesson.
For Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we have curriculum for youth on racism and social justice. Start with Grounding Ourselves in the Soil of Compassion lesson here.
From the YMI Director: New Yale Divinity School Youth Ministry Leadership Certificate
As we look towards 2024, and what God wishes to do within your youth group in the next year, I want to pose a question to you.
Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough tools to engage with the struggles of youth ministry?
YBS Resources
The Gospel Lectionary in January focuses on the Gospel of Mark. You can watch the videos or listen to the podcasts of this Bible Study for free.
Want to take a Yale Divinity School Introductory Course with a YDS Professor for FREE and on your own time? You can start with Hebrew Bible Interpretation 1 with Dr. Joel S. Baden here. You can find all of our YDS Introductory Courses, YDS Public Lectures, Podcasts, and so much more here.
Mark Your Calendar!
The new year will bring new and exciting offerings! Scroll down to see some of what is coming in the new year.
Last Chance to Register! – Leadership & Hybrid Ministry in the New Media Landscape with the Rev. Dr. Angela Gorrell
Zoom | January 8, 22, 29 and February 5 | 11 am – 1 pm Eastern | 4 Sessions
Living in a new media landscape is as daunting as it is exhausting. You may be feeling fresh out of resilience, creativity, and agility. This course will help you to lean into your expertise while attending to what matters most for ministry in a new media landscape.
This course is based on my book, always on: practicing faith in a new media landscape, which draws on the research of media scholars (e.g. Jenkins, Campbell, Rheingold, Baym), religious scholars (e.g. Volf, Tanner, Smith, Bass), and educators (e.g. Palmer, Freire, Brookfield) to equip people like you to lead communities toward flourishing in a new media landscape. Participants completing this course will gain:
- Deeper understanding of the new media landscape, especially its theological and cultural implications
- Space to explore, imagine, and reflect on hybrid ministry (online + in-person ministry.
- Practical ways to do hybrid ministry well.
- Concrete actions to help others flourish in a new media landscape
Register at: Leadership & Hybrid Ministry in the New Media Landscape*
*The cost of this class is on a sliding scale at $75, $125, and $175. There is a limited number of full scholarships available. Contact Brandon Nappi here regarding scholarships.
The Sequel: Jesus Continued in the Book of Acts with the Rev. Dr. Allen Hilton
Zoom | Jan. 11 – Feb. 29 | 7:30 pm Eastern | 8 Sessions
Luke’s intro to the Book of Acts summarizes his whole 24-chapter Gospel — Jesus’ birth, childhood, teaching, preaching, wonder-working, passion, death, and resurrection — as “all that Jesus began to do and teach.” (Acts 1.1) To our author, the brilliant life and ministry of Jesus was just the beginning — a start that the church would continue as Christ’s body in the world. The well-told stories of Acts recount the ways a small group of Jewish men and women in Jerusalem grew and expanded to move the Way of Jesus into cities around the Mediterranean Sea and, ultimately, beyond. This class will offer a close reading of this fascinating and faith-forward account.
Register at: The Sequel: Jesus Continued in the Book of Acts
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Developing Your Praxis for Building Diverse Youth Communities with Dr. Brian Ragsdale, Ph.D. In this interactive presentation and dialogue, we explore youth identity development from understanding the synergies between holding multiple identities, for example, Black, neurodivergent, LGBTQIA. Geared toward youth leaders, layperson, and youth ministers we develop approaches of how oppression, power, and privilege may operate across systems. The overall goal is to develop approaches of how to create safer spaces for youth in their relationships and community building efforts. Register at: Developing Your Praxis for Building Diverse Youth Communities |
More Tickets Available – Teaching Holy Troublemaking: Resources for Progressive Christian Formation with Daneen Akers and Wendy Claire Barrie Join author Daneen Akers and Christian educator Wendy Claire Barrie as they talk about progressive faith formation especially through the lens of the middle-grades anthology Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints and its companion curriculum. Hear ideas for how the stories of people like Bayard Rustin, Wangari Maathai, Thich Nhat Hahn, Mr. Rogers, Valarie Kaur, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, Rev. Gafney, Rumi, and more can connect with adolescents. Register at: Teaching Holy Troublemaking |
Save the Date – Breaking the Silence About Mental Health Challenges with Children and Teens with the Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund
YDS | April 6 | Full Day Workshop
Join Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund, pastor, author, and advocate, for conversations about the growing mental health crisis facing children and teens. Through storytelling and resource sharing, participants will be inspired and equipped to join the movement for mental health with hope for our collective healing. More information to come soon.
Summer Study 2024
Save the date! Yale Divinity School Summer Study will take place June 3-7, 2024 online. Details coming soon. If you have not signed up for updates on Summer Study, you can do so by entering in your email address at summerstudy.yale.edu. Click in the box on the right hand side of the page.
Workshop: Future-Ready Congregations with Rachel Hatch
For the past 55 years, Institute for the Future has been helping organizations and leaders become future ready. As a nonprofit research and educational organization, IFTF’s vision is a world that systematically harnesses long-term thinking to create more equitable, sustainable societies. By the end of this session, participants will have learned three ways to build the foresight capacity of their congregations and communities: 1) scan for signals of change 2) ride two curves 3) headline the future. The goal is to help clergy and lay leaders prepare for the future with agility and grace. If you are a change agent in your organization, seeking kindred spirits who are forward-looking thinkers, this session is for you.
Register at: Workshop: Future-Ready Congregations
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