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The Digital Forum on Youth Ministry

April 29, 2020 @ 11:30 am - 4:00 pm

Revisioning Youth Ministry: Failure, Grief, and Hope

Join the Princeton Theological Seminary Institute for Youth Ministry on Wednesday, April 29, from 11:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST (with scheduled breaks) for a digital event on revisioning youth ministry. Plenary leaders include Kenda Creasy Dean and Eric Barreto. Small group leaders include Aqueelah Ligonde, Marcus Hong, Kermit Moss, Erin Raffety, Shari Oosting, Erik Leafblad, and more.

Registration for this event is $40.
Registration is now closed as we have reached our maximum number of registrants of 250.

Unpacking Our Theme

We are in a vulnerable moment.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses particular challenges for youth ministry leaders. We are hearing stories from the people we serve, which include new realities: digital youth group and small groups, meal delivery for youth who rely on hot lunches from schools, the reimagination of worship for a digital context, and the loss of employment as churches face financial instability. Youth ministry leaders, like all ministry leaders, are serving people in their communities who have fallen sick or lost loved ones. Many of us have even suffered loss in our own families and communities.

Join us for a conversation where we will dig into biblical and theological foundations for navigating not only this cultural moment, but the calling to minister with young people in a moment of shared vulnerability. We will provide theological reflection, small groups, worshipful practices, and resource giveaways.

Leadership

Kenda Creasy Dean, PhD ’97, is an ordained United Methodist pastor and the Mary D. Synnott Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary. She directs Princeton’s Young Adult Innovation Hub and is an advisor to the Log College Project, an initiative that promotes intergenerational forms of youth ministry. She co-founded Ministry Incubators, a consulting group that helps Christian communities try new things. A graduate of Wesley Theological Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary, Dean’s books include Almost Christian, The Godbearing Life (with Ron Foster), and Delighted: What Teenagers Are Teaching the Church About Joy (with Wesley Ellis, Justin Forbes, and Abigail Visco Rusert).

Eric Barreto is the Frederick and Margaret L. Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary. As a Baptist minister, Barreto has pursued scholarship for the sake of the Church, and regularly writes for and teaches in faith communities around the country. He has also been a leader in the Hispanic Theological Initiative Consortium and is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion. Barreto has also authored several books meant to bridge the church and the academy, such as Thinking Theologically (Foundations for Learning).