We’re all innovators now. Only a year ago, “sustainability” and “innovation” described extracurricular activities for churches – mostly niche projects that had minimal impact on the daily work of ministry. As of 2020, innovation is what we all do--ready or not.

We’re exhausted and disoriented by this newness, not just because innovation is unfamiliar to us, but because the shackles of normalcy are off, allowing us to hear God in new ways. As our institutions, practices, and assumptions about ministry (and ourselves) shed unnecessary weight in order to stay afloat, we're suddenly a much more nimble church than we were a year ago. We are awash in more possibilities than we can process.

In this seminar, we’ll consider how the events of the past two years are changing how we think about the church—and how it is surfacing new and long-forgotten possibilities for the work God calls us to. Come explore compelling stories of innovation, new tangible experiences from around the church, and the theology that undergirds healthy and passionate praxis in this new frontier!

Preliminary Schedule

9:00 am Welcome

9:10 Becoming a Christian Social Innovator: Confessions of a Youth Pastor

9:45 The Call to Innovate

10:30 Q&A

10:45 Break

11:00 Youth Ministry as Change-making: Tips for Starting

12:30 pm Lunch

1:15 Your Turn!

1:45 Getting Started in Your Context: Small Group Discussions

2:45 Q&A

3:15 Closing thoughts

$25 per person registration fee includes lunch. We are committed to an in-person event, but should we have to go fully virtual, registrants will receive a full refund.

This seminar is free for current YDS students. Students should contact Megan Lukens at megan.lukens@yale.edu to enroll.

Proof of vaccination and masks will be required for this event.

Register at Why Ministries Innovate and How to Start: Knee Deep in Flotsam