Origin Story of Quest for Life Curriculum
The Joy and Adolescent Faith and Flourishing project (JAFF) grew from the Yale Youth Ministry Institute’s participation in the “God and Human Flourishing” project housed in The Yale Center for Faith and Culture. (The work was funded by a major grant from the Templeton Foundation.) The project aims for more than generating books and curriculum; it exists to start a movement that reclaims concern for the flourishing of individuals, communities, and our whole globe. Such a movement is urgent in a culture where concern for the self and seeking satisfaction through experience replaces love of God and neighbor.
Joy is identified as central to human flourishing. In the words of theologian Miroslav Volf: “The Bible invites individuals and communities to practice and participate in God’s true joy. After telling the disciples that they should keep his commandments and remain in his love, Jesus explains, “I have said these things to you so that my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete.” Joy is the crown of the good life, integrating all positive emotions as well as including and expressing in its own way the responsibility to lead our lives well and to construe both the world and the good rightly.” Yet joy has been underemphasized in modern Christian theology, thus the project took up the theology of joy and the good life as a central focus.
Adolescents, in the thrall of competing claims about what makes the good life, require particular attention. Their vision of flourishing easily shapes to fit our culture’s obsession with maximizing experiences as the way toward a good life. At the same time, they may be the most open of us all to a vision of flourishing that holds joy at the center. In response to this reality, JAFF convened scholars of youth ministry to develop a theology of joy rooted in the experiences of American teenagers and to create ways of teaching the practice of joy to youth. Thanks to their years of thinking, researching, and writing later, we have a book, Joy: A Guide for Youth Ministry, edited by David F. White and Sarah F. Farmer, and a robust curriculum crafted by the contributors to the volume.
Each chapter, and each lesson in the curriculum, focus on either an inhibitor of joy or on what fosters joy. The lessons teach practical tools adolescents may use to learn the way of joy—the disposition that leans us toward God’s goodness and delight and that pulls us toward the goodness and delight we find in God’s creation.
You are where you are.
No curriculum is one-size-fits-all. Start by mapping your reality so you can adapt the resources accordingly. Ask yourselves these questions: Who are our youth? When, where and how are we currently teaching them? Is this working? What are the places now where we would integrate the lessons? What resources do we have—space, time, leaders among the youth, pastor and congregational leadership support? Which adults in the congregation can speak to specific issues? Who in local community organizations might provide resources? What is the capacity of adult leaders? The answers to the questions will help you plan for how to best adapt the curriculum.
As you begin where you are, you might consider whether this is an opportunity to involve the larger congregation so that what you are teaching is affirmed and reinforced. Consider intentionally introducing the Joy Project to the whole congregation (take a look in the attached Resources for examples for inspiration), communicating regularly about lessons and learning, partnering with the pastor to incorporate themes into preaching and worship, or looking ahead to the church calendar in planning the sequence of lessons to connect with the life of the whole community.
Consider what parents and other adults may benefit from learning. Parents might read selections from Joy: A Guide to Youth Ministry; adults who have read it report that the insights are not just for teenagers but provide fresh perspective for adults. Adult Sunday School classes might study Joy and Human Flourishing: Essays on Theology, Culture and the Good Life edited by Miroslav Volf or watch one of many videos on the theology of joy that can be found on the Yale Center for Faith and Culture YouTube channel and the Yale Youth Ministry Institute website.