Climate change is creating a spiritual emergency that is hitting generation Z harder than any other. Today’s climate crisis calls people of faith to a communal spiritual practice of care, as we must learn how to offer care that is informed by the spiritual-ecological crisis of their generation. Rev. Aho guides us with her pastoral and chaplain experience to keep young people at the center of our communities and listen to the troubles they have to share.
Events
November 8, 2023
12 pm
October 4, 2023
12 pm
Dr. Amy Adamczyk, Ph.D. is coauthor of Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation (Oxford, 2021). Drawing on key findings from the book, she will discuss how parents view the role of congregations and how they feel that their own experiences growing up shaped their perspectives on childrearing and religious socialization. Data are taken from several nationally representative surveys and over 200 interviews conducted with parents from different religious backgrounds across the United States. Practical information will be provided on parents’ perspectives (placed within the context of ‘Intensive’ parenting, which has become the norm for many Americans), and will be grounded in how congregations can help families address these challenges.
For more on Dr. Amy Adamczyk, Ph.D.
Video from the event is here: Handing Down the Faith
Slides from the event are here: Handing Down the Faith Powerpoint Presentation
September 15, 2023
12 pm
Have you considered what ministry in the Black Church looks like for youth and young adults today, especially Black girls and children who are queer? How might we wrestle with the ways that churches have supported and failed black children? How might we develop forms of pastoral care that offers redress to the current state of youth ministry?
Through a panel discussion sponsored by Andover Newton Seminary at Yale, the Black Church Studies Program, and the Yale Youth Ministry Institute, Dr. Kishundra King, Ph.D. ’15 M.Div. and Rev. Whitney Baisden-Bond will offer paths, prompts, and prophetic witnesses that students might implement in their ministerial toolkit. The proposed conversation will be supported and moderated by Dr. Almeda Wright. This in-person event will be held at the Old Refectory at YDS at 12:30 pm. Lunch will be provided.
Video from this event is here: Church Shoes
February 6, 2023
YMI has partnered with IndieFlix to present a virtual film screening of RACE To Be Human, a 45-minute documentary that looks at race from teenagers’ perspectives. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with some of those involved in the creation of the film, including YDS alum Jason Craige Harris ’12’ M.A.R.
Race to Be Human is a powerful doorway into a courageous conversation about something that impacts all of us––race. You will meet people of all ages––especially young people––from different regions who openly wrestle with how and why we are so separated from each other, the impact of those divisions, and what we can do to heal ourselves and others.
We have secured the rights for participants to further share the video and use the accompanying educational materials within their ministry contexts. These resources are limited to a select number of participants, and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Churched youth in the LGBTQ+ community are, in many ways, like all youth: they are passionate, curious, and (we hope and pray) intrigued by the story God’s love. But the road that LGBTQ+ youth have to walk is also different in a few key ways. The Church has, historically, not been welcoming towards this community. The wider community has often followed suit, leaving LGBTQ+ youth with a higher risk for depression, suicide, and other mental health challenges.
And: the unique road that LGBTQ+ youth walk also means that they have so much joy, and so much perspective to offer to others!
Please join us as we learn how we can change the historical narrative. Deacon Ross Murray will (from his decades of experience) share how churches and other organizations might endeavor to accompany LGBTQ+ youth with celebratory, welcoming, and teachable spirits. Deacon Murray will share statistics, strategies, and values that can undergird a more inclusive community of belonging for our LGBTQ+ siblings.
Video from the event is here: Internal Welcome and External Witness: LGBTQ Youth Ministry
March 25, 2023
All Day Event
You are invited to our in-person workshop for story-telling with Mark Yaconelli. The pandemic, climate change disasters, racism, political vitriol, misogyny, the erosion of rights and mass death is taking an overwhelming toll on American families, churches, and communities. Recent studies reveal an unprecedented rate of adolescent depression, anxiety, and loneliness leading to high rates of suicide and substance abuse. How do we minister among young people (and families) who no longer experience God’s peace in the world? How can we develop counter-cultural ministries that offer young people the rest and resiliency of Jesus? In a retreat-like atmosphere, author, youth worker, and community activist Mark Yaconelli will invite participants to recover the pure medicines of Christian formation: silence, story, and service.
Tentative Schedule
8:30am – Registration
9am – Opening Session: “Wonder, Fear, and Longing: The Spiritual Lives of Teens” Young people are trained to no longer see the presence of God in the world and within themselves. How do we awaken young people to their identity in God and the freedom of the Christian path?
10:45am – Second Session: “A Ministry of Presence” Richard Rohr says that a Christian is a person who has met a Christian. In other words, faith is “caught not taught.” How do we practice the presence of Jesus in a way that calls forth the Divine Image in the young people we serve? Through interactive exercises and discussion we will discover relational methods that cultivate life in the Spirit.
12pm – Lunch is provided
1pm – Third Session: “Jailbreak” creative, countercultural, contemplative practices that provide young people with the tools, settings, and spiritual leisure necessary for following Jesus.
2:45pm – Closing