I spent the last 4 days at Princeton Seminary participating in a think tank that was aimed at putting the Academy (youth ministry professors) and the Practitioners (people doing youth ministry) together to talk about what types of things a youth worker needs to be trained in to be effective.
I went to this event with a lot of excitement as I was both glad to be invited as well as hopeful that I would be able to build some great connections and network with some of the institutions involved. The schools that were involved were: Seattle Pacific Univ, Duke, Garrett
There were a couple main things we landed on that are worth highlighting. First, we talked about the importance of a field education, hands on, youth ministry apprenticeship that would pair a new youth worker with a veteran who would walk them through the ropes of how to be an effective youth worker. Most of us noted that this is not the typical “internship” where new youth ministers are “thrown to the Lions” with little or no coaching and support.
The second area we landed on that seems to have some good momentum behind it was the medium for getting youth ministry training and information into the hands of the youth worker. We brainstormed a web page that would allow a youth worker to input their experience, education and involvement with the youth ministry (paid vs. volunteer) to allow an algorithm to put together a specific plan of books, conferences, people and other resources that would help them be better trained in youth ministry.
Overall I was most excited to get to interact with professors and members of the academy with which I have not had as much contact since I graduated. I found them to be as interested in the hands on stuff that I am doing as I was with the things that happen in their classrooms. I’m looking forward to seeing how these connections will bear fruit and provide more opportunities to interact.
