Dear youth ministry friends,

As we start another school year, a question for you all:  What does it mean to you to be “teachable”?

Being teachable in one’s spirit may sound all well and good. But what if the lesson is a difficult one? What if teachability includes learning something about ourselves about which we could have happily remained ignorant? Being teachable can come with a heavy dollop of humility, and a willingness to trust God (and our human teachers) with the process of giving us new information and new insights about ourselves. Being teachable means acknowledging that we do not yet have all the answers.

This month, the YMI will be leading its Certificate in Youth Ministry Leadership, a first for both our office and for Yale Divinity School in general. Our program will go through three specific foci: church organizations and family systems; spiritual care and mental health; and (though this is really interwoven throughout) empowerment and justice work. All of these will be engaged with youth ministry leadership in mind. And it begs a second question: What work do we need to do within ourselves before we can lead young people effectively in their own journeys?

As its creator, I’ve learned a lot already in the preparatory work of birthing this program into existence. To go from vague ideas to a faculty-approved curriculum to soliciting contributions from dozens of thought leaders across different fields of discipline… it’s not been without painful pushes. And, as any parent or parental figure knows, the birthing process is only the very beginning of the caretaking journey. Now there’s a baby to tend to and, no matter how much dreaming or planning or reading or researching is done ahead of time, no one is fully prepared for the reality of that. Much like a new parent, my learning—and that of the certificate program’s participants—is only getting started. And there will undoubtedly be much learning along the way.

Youth ministry friends: what about you? Are you finding teachability in your spirit? Where do you struggle with this? And how might you best prepare yourself for the youth in your setting? Your youth need you to teach them. But they’ll also need you to be changed by their presence in your life. They may hold answers we need to hear. May we all be sufficiently prepared in our spirits to let God’s presence in our young people’s lives impact us in ways we never could have orchestrated or imagined. Blessings to you in this new season!

With you on the journey,

Rev. Jill