“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever.”

November is a time when we talk a lot about gratitude.  In this season of gratitude, we at YMI give thanks for all of those working to bring the love of God to our youth!  We are also grateful to all of those who have shared their knowledge and expertise with us over the years.  If you are looking for resources on gratitude for your youth ministry this month, Robert Emmons and Marc Afshar talk about cultivating a culture of gratitude, the benefits of gratitude, practices of gratitude and more.  See their videos on our website here.

Our November 6 lecture with Bill Mathis is coming up this week! Rev. Mathis, Director of Black Church Studies and Lecturer in Divinity at Yale Divinity School, will talk with us about Creating A Nurturing Community Space For Youth Engagement. In December, long-time YMI friend and contributor Andy Root joins us for Youth Ministry in an Era of Over-Parenting: Moving from the Thing to the Story. The lunches and lectures are free and open to all.  For more information on upcoming lectures, click here.

YMI is proud to be affiliated with a multi-church youth ministry in New Haven called Oasis. This is a group of six churches working together to provide a robust youth ministry program for the youth of the community. We are excited to announce that beginning in December, we will be featuring writings from the pastors leading Oasis in our monthly emails and newsletter.  If you are interested in learning more about what it takes to envision, create and support a multi-church youth group, please let us know!

We opened with scripture, so we’ll close with scripture. As we all begin “gearing up” for this holiday season, please remember dear friends:

“Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” [Phil 4:6-7]