Stanley Hauerwas: 'As you grow, grow confident in the faith'
In a 2002 letter on the occasion of his godson’s baptism, the theologian wishes the boy, not an untroubled life, but a happy life, one in which he grows ever more confident in the faith.
Youth & Children
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Melissa Florer-Bixler: How can we create a culture of safety for children in church?
Creating a safe space for vulnerable members of our congregations doesn’t end with a yearly training. Awareness and vigilance should be an embedded habit, writes a pastor.
Episode 6: Almeda M. Wright on the act of radical listening to young Christians
In this episode of “Can These Bones,” co-host Laura Everett talks with Almeda M. Wright, Yale Divinity School professor and the author of “The Spiritual Lives of Young African Americans,” about her training and background as an engineer and her work with young people in ministry.
Children in the WINGS for Kids afterschool program display their latest art project: butterflies.
Photos courtesy of WINGS for Kids
WINGS for Kids nonprofit champions social and emotional learning for at-risk children
WINGS invests deeply in its staff with rigorous screening, intensive training and ongoing coaching. This culture of leadership has been critical to its success.
Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Corrie. A concept map that one of the students made after the Game of Life workshop that ties together several themes from the program.
Elizabeth Corrie: Empowering youth for change by connecting theology and social analysis
We can teach young people how to engage in a kind of practical theology that takes seriously their budding adult faith and their capacity for action, writes the director of the Youth Theological Initiative at Emory’s Candler School of Theology.
Children in the Pray Ground occupy themselves during worship at Raleigh Mennonite Church. Photo courtesy of Melissa Florer-Bixler
Melissa Florer-Bixler: Playing and praying with children in worship
Giving kids a place in the front of the sanctuary allows them to worship in a way that comes naturally to them: through play.
The Parable of the Sower as illustrated in Hortus deliciarum compiled by Herrad of Landsberg at the Hohenburg Abbey in Alsace (12th century).
Jeffrey Kaster: How to empower youth to do theology
Youth ministry experts with decades of experience are learning the benefits of engaging youth in theological reflection that isn’t dumbed down, writes the coordinator of the Lilly Youth Theology Network.
Photos courtesy of Try Pie
Try Pie helps Iowa teens build bonds across racial and economic divides
Apple, pumpkin, blueberry or pecan, sometimes a pie is more than a pie. To a group of teenage girls in Cedar Falls and Waterloo, Iowa, pies mean jobs, education, faith development and reconciliation.
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Alaina Kleinbeck: Youth ministers are advocates for all young people in their communities
Young people are vulnerable, and churches must experiment with more holistic approaches to youth ministry, writes the director of Duke Youth Academy.
Last spring, the Rev. Matt Overton (center) supervised teens doing yardwork. Overton founded Mowtown Teen Lawn Care to provide mentoring opportunities as well as job experience for youth. Photo by Adam Guggenheim
Matt Overton: Work is a great vehicle for mentoring teens
It’s important for youth and adults to have relationships that are consistent and natural. One way to do that is through shared work, writes a youth pastor.