NEW HAVEN, CT – In the first week of June, Yale Divinity School offered a specialized summer course on youth ministry in cities, expanding its resources for New Haven clergy. The program was presented in support of commitments by Yale Divinity School, Dean Gregory E. Sterling, and the Yale Center for Faith and Culture to strengthen relationships between YDS and New Haven churches, and increase access to critical discussions and develop resources for revitalization of Christian churches.
Professors Almeda Wright and Yolanda Smith, experts in Christian education, taught the center-piece program, an afternoon seminar entitled “My Faith, My Way”: Youth, Spirituality and Christian Practices.” The course was intended to develop conversations about the ways that Christian practices, which are individual and communal, ancient and contemporary, can be powerful tools for helping young people develop spiritual lives.
Almeda Wright, professor of Christian education, explained, “Christian practices offer a way forward in a world that has become increasingly characterized as individualized and isolated. Our course invited youth workers and young people to rethink their spirituality as more than something we do or get, but as something that connects us with Christians across centuries and continents. Christian practices are not simply discrete parts of the tradition; they are a way of life—shaped by an interconnected love of God, self, and neighbor.”
Connecting religious traditions with the needs of today’s youth requires innovative approaches to Christian faith practices. This youth ministry program was designed to build a bridge between academy and local churches, by creating partnerships that begin to propose new models for ministry, church, and faith practices to sustain future generations of Christians.
“For too many years, mainline Protestant denominations have under-emphasized youth ministry, and Yale Divinity School has been separated from the local community,” said Dean Gregory E. Sterling. “This week of classes and special events was an attempt to revitalize local churches for youth by inviting our neighbors to campus and begin taking down the wall that some perceive.”
Through the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, YDS engaged an informal steering committee of Connecticut clergy to advise the youth ministry program and encourage creative partnerships to better serve local churches and pastors.
“A working group of sixteen pastors from New Haven, Hartford, Bridgeport, New London, New Britain and Stamford has been exceptionally generous in sharing their experience and insights to help shape our program,” noted Skip Masback, managing director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. “We look forward to working closely together to develop ongoing programs to support local pastors and congregations.”
The youth ministry symposium took place June 2-6 at Yale Divinity School. The morning sessions were entitled “God Power! Youth Power! Transforming the City: A Yale Symposium on Building and Sustaining Urban Youth Ministries” and featured leading scholars and practitioners from around the United States.
Two dinner programs, presented in partnership with local clergy, concluded the week. On Thursday, June 5, Gregory C. Ellison led “Fearless Dialogues,” a program about caring for young African American men. On Friday, June 6, IGNITE, a statewide network of mostly Hispanic churches, hosted pastors Jorge and Rebecca Gonzales of Centro Cristiano Bethesda, Chicago, IL.
Video from the “God Power! Youth Power!” lecture series are available at: https://new.livestream.com/yaledivinityschool/YMI