Yale Divinity School

Youth Ministry Institute

Events

Preaching Together: Living Stories Sermons and Intergenerational Worship
April 8, 2026
12 pm
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Zoom | April 8 | 12 – 1:30 pm Eastern

What happens when the sermon becomes a conversation? Living Stories Sermons is a collaborative preaching method that invites the whole congregation—children and elders, newcomers and longtime members—into the act of interpreting Scripture together. Drawing from Montessori and Godly Play pedagogies, this approach uses simple wooden figures, felt underlays, and open-ended wondering questions to transform preaching from monologue into shared theological imagination. In this webinar, participants will experience a Living Stories sermon firsthand, explore the theological and pedagogical principles that shape the method, and leave with practical resources for bringing collaborative, intergenerational preaching into their own congregational contexts. Whether you serve a large parish or a small church, lead youth ministry or preach weekly, this session will offer a fresh vision for what the sermon can become when we trust the whole Body of Christ to do theology together.

Registration closes April 6, 2026.

Not Too Little to Lead: The Value of Children as Leaders in our Worship
March 4, 2026
12 pm
Brandy McDonald
Brandy McDonald
First Congregational United Church of Christ in Manhattan, Kansas
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Zoom | March 4 | 12 – 1:30 pm Eastern

We all love having children present in the church, but what does it look like when our children are full and active participants in the leadership of our worship services? In this webinar, I will share the successes and challenges my church has faced in our intentional approach to ensuring children feel empowered to be active participants in the leadership of our worship services. We will talk about how we prioritize making sure children feel safe, loved, and valued by their entire church family and what it can look like to ensure we are empowering kids to be involved in ways that utilize their gifts and respect their limits. I will also share how our church offers options for children in worship and our strategy for helping children learn to be in worship as they grow by providing developmentally appropriate spaces, and the successes we’ve seen from that approach.

Registration closes March 2, 2026.

How Young Minds Navigate Social Interaction: From Infancy to Childhood
February 4, 2026
12 pm
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Zoom | February 4 | 12 – 1:30 pm Eastern

Social interactions are central to human life—from initiating new relationships to maintaining them, and eventually, in some cases, ending them. While social engagement comes naturally to adults, understanding how infants and young children perceive, interpret, and navigate these complex social dynamics remains a critical area of study. In this talk, I explore how infants and young children make sense of the multifaceted nature of social interaction. Drawing on a series of empirical studies, I examine how they understand and navigate social relationships—how they initiate, maintain, and adjust them by attending to various social cues. In particular, I focus on how cues such as shared similarity, group membership, and moral behavior shape children’s understanding of and engagement with others. Together, these findings highlight the sophistication of early social reasoning and reveal how young minds form, sustain, and reconsider their social connections, providing insights for those who support children’s social and emotional development.

Registration closes February 2, 2026.

God’s Dream: Children, Justice and Faith
November 5, 2025
12 pm
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What does it mean to raise children in the spirit of justice, rooted in faith? Join us for God’s Dream: Children, Justice, and Faith—a thoughtful conversation exploring how families, educators, and faith communities can nurture young hearts to live with compassion, courage, and a commitment to a more just world. Together, we’ll reflect on the role children play in God’s vision for justice—and how we can walk alongside them in love and hope.

Addressing Childhood Trauma with Liberation Psychology and Theology
September 3, 2025
12 pm
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Trauma, ranging from interpersonal to intergenerational, can create severe dysregulation and psychic suffering. Trauma may disrupt the nervous system, identity, affect regulation, and relationship schemas. Traumatic events can also disconnect survivors from the various aspects of themselves as well as their community. Liberation psychology and theology can awaken conceptualizations and frameworks that center reclamation as a form of holistic healing and empowerment for child trauma survivors. While much of the individually-centered trauma literature focuses on skills-based psycho-education and cognitive-behavioral coping strategies, there has traditionally been less, although growing, attention paid to the diverse culturally-grounded, socio-political pathways for survivors to reclaim themselves. This presentation explores pathways that can benefit the trauma recovery process of children, especially for marginalized survivors. The trauma and healing-informed liberation pathways which emerge from the literature are culture as medicine, community support, spirituality and religiosity, expressive arts, and resistance. A more inclusive view of trauma and trauma recovery can both heal and empower individuals and society as a whole.

Passing on the Faith to Children: Supporting Caregivers with the Process
October 1, 2025
12 pm
Amy Adamczyk
Amy Adamczyk, Ph.D.
John Jay College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY)
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This webinar will explore how congregations can better understand and support caregivers raising children aged 0–12 in a religious tradition. Drawing on national research, I will highlight how parents’ own religious upbringings, parenting styles, and relationships with congregational life shape their efforts to pass on faith to their children. We’ll examine how factors like emotional warmth, consistent engagement, and clear expectations—hallmarks of an authoritative parenting style—can enhance religious transmission. I’ll also discuss the practical and cultural reasons parents choose their congregations, what they hope those communities will provide (e.g., education, enjoyment, tradition), and how congregations can serve as trusted partners. The session aims to equip faith communities with insights to more intentionally and effectively support the spiritual formation of young children through the caregivers who guide them.

Past Events

Yale Youth Ministry Institute