Youthfront Youth Worker Learning Cohort 2012-2013:
The Pastoral Vocation of the Youth Worker
Youth ministry has become an increasingly specialized and professionalized ministry of the church. Conferences, conventions and resources are developed for this niche. Lately, some have begun to question the goodness of this professionalization. Has it led to greater distance between youth ministry and the church? Has it helped to proliferate age-segregated congregations? Does it even accidentally contribute to the exodus of young adults from the church upon graduation? And, does that mean we need to reconsider youth ministry’s legitimacy all together? While these are important questions, this professionalization may also be an opportunity for greater reflection on the pastoral vocation of the youth minister. How is the youth worker a pastor for the larger congregation, who works in and among its younger members? What does it mean for youth workers to embrace a pastoral identity? How would such a vocational shift address some of the inherent difficulties and realities of youth ministry in the contemporary church?
Description
The Youthfront Youth Worker Learning Cohort is designed to feed the soul and continued formation of youth workers. Through ten, 60-90 minute video conference sessions with Mike King and Erik Leafblad, this year’s cohort will help us think deeply about the formation of our lives as pastors, whether we bear that official designation or not. Bringing the wisdom of those who have gone before us into conversation with our own contexts of ministry, in a dialogical setting, we hope to assess, rethink and affirm one another in the high calling of ministry with young people.
This year participants will also have a chance to dialogue with some leading thinkers in both pastoral ministry and youth ministry, including:
- Kenda Creasy Dean
- Andrew Root
- Ian Cron
- Sarah Arthur
- Tim Keel (not pictured)
Details
- Cost: $499
- What You Get: A robust community of youth workers for dialogue
- Ten 60-90 Video Conference Sessions
- Conversation with leading voices such as Andrew Root, Sarah Arthur, Ian Cron, Kenda Dean and Tim Keel
Resources
- Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness by Eugene Peterson
- In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership by Henri Nouwen
- The Crucifixion of Ministry: Surrendering Our Ambitions to the Service of Christ by Andrew Purves
- The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry by Andrew Root and Kenda Creasy Dean
Sessions:
- The Pastoral Vocation of the Youth Worker
- The Pastoral Journey of the Youth Worker
- The Pastoral Integrity of the Youth Worker
- Spiritual Formation for the Pastoral Vocation
- Practices for the Pastoral Vocation
- Jesus Christ and the Pastoral Vocation
- The Ministry of Jesus in the Context of Our Own
- The Pastoral Vocation and Systems Theory
- Intuitive Leadership and the Pastoral Vocation
- Youth Worker as Pastor