Mental Health Month
May is Mental Health Month. Youth ministry offers the unique gift of providing youth with a network of adults who care deeply for their health and well-being. And don’t forget that it is equally as important to take care of yourself! We have numerous resources to support mental health and pastoral care, which can be found here.
From the YMI Director: The Mental Health Conversation… Yes, Again
In the past few years, as I have looked at the landscape of youth ministry, I continue to see the same thing: the decline in mental health in our young people. Indeed, one can hardly open up a youth ministry book—or newsletter article!—without being struck by the alarming statistics and concerning trends of the mental health of adolescents.
See YMI Director Jill Old’s message on The Mental Health Conversation… Yes, Again.
Internal Welcome and External Witness: LGBTQ Youth Ministry
Recently, Deacon Ross Murray joined us to talk about LGBTQ inclusion in our youth ministries, and how to be specifically welcoming of those who are in the process of discovering their sexual and gender identities. Deacon Murray also shared statistics, strategies, and values that can undergird a more inclusive community of belonging for our LGBTQ+ siblings. You can watch the video here.
2023 Upcoming Events and Offerings
Canceled – YDS Learn, Lead, and Inspire Summit
Due to unforeseen circumstances the Learn, Lead, and Inspire Summit has been canceled. We look forward to providing in-person learning opportunities in the future. In the meantime, please join us virtually for Summer Study. See details below.
YDS Summer Study – Limited Time Remaining to Register! 
This renowned program of study returns online June 5-9, 2023. Classes meet daily, are small to allow for maximum engagement, and feature YDS faculty teaching topics in the Bible, theology, or religion.
This year’s schedule includes the following courses and professors:
- John Hare, Faith and Reason
- Markus Rathey, The Psalter – A Journey through 1,500 Years of Music
- Julie Faith Parker, The Bible through Art and Artifact III : The Bible and Wonder
- Laura Nasrallah, The Letter to the Romans: Justice and Race in Antiquity and Today (Limited Spaces)
- Allen Hilton, The Red- (and Blue-) Letter Bible: Reading the Book Together in a Divided Land
- Kenneth P. Minkema and Adriaan C. Neele, The Great Awakening-Era Sermons of Jonathan Edwards, 1734-1744
- Gregory Mobley, Exodus: The Liberation Chronicles
- Frederick J. (Jerry) Streets, Paul Tillich and Howard Thurman: The Ethics of Love in a Hostile World (Limited Spaces)
Summer Study includes a keynote lecture on Tuesday, June 6 with YDS Professor Dr. Donyelle McCray on Pauli Murray’s spirituality and preaching.
Participants receive a YDS Certificate of Completion at the end of the course week. For more information and to register, go to summerstudy.yale.edu.
Join YDS Professor Dr. John Collins this fall for a Bible Study on Biblical Wisdom. It will be held on Mondays, September 25 – October 30 for six sessions. Additional details to follow soon!
Life Worth Living Book
Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun, and Ryan McAnnally-Linz have gathered responses to these and other questions and reflected on the different answers that have informed various faiths and cultures. They have led students through these findings in one of Yale University’s most popular courses. Now, they have written this book to help you respond to these questions in the context of your own life. For more information go to lifeworthlivingbook.com. You can also sign up to get a 56-page discussion guide.
Innovation and Ministry Summer 2023 Residential Program
Berkeley Divinity School at Yale has embarked on a major new Leadership Initiative for Episcopal clergy. The Leader’s Way is a hybrid learning immersion to transform clergy and lay leaders. Beginning with six days on the Yale campus in June 2023 and continuing with seven months of online learning, the Leader’s Way will create an incubator for innovation in ministry. Generous scholarship funding is available. While the program centers the Episcopal experience, clergy of all denominations are most welcome.
If you’d like to help support our mission, you can make a donation here. There is joy to be found in practicing generosity. Your gift will enable us to continue to provide the necessary tools and resources that support life changing ministries.
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