Dr. Michal Beth Dinkler and the Rev. Skip Masback deliver a lecture entitled, “Paul’s Not-so-Secret Secret: Belonging and Christian Freedom in the Midst of Affliction.” Maya Angelou said once in an interview, “You are only free when you realize you belong no place – you belong every place – no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great.” Paul traced the Christian path to this freedom with a secret he blabbed from one end of the ancient world to the other. As he framed his secret in his letter to the Philippians: “I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (4:12-13). This lecture explores how our youth might claim this freedom Paul calls them to and offer youth workers practical suggestions for helping individuals and youth open their lives to “him who strengthens” us.
Dr. Dinkler is assistant professor of New Testament at Yale Divinity School. She is the author of over 30 published works, Luke (2013) and Reflexivity and Emotion in Narratological Perspective: Reading Joy in the Lukan Narrative (2017).
Rev. Masback was a youth minister for over 20 years before founding and directing the Yale Youth Ministry Institute.
