Image Bearers: Youth Identity Formation in a Digital Age October 27 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Virtual/Zoom This two-week online webinar series for Christian youth ministry leaders explores how the theological concept of imago Dei — humanity as made in the image of God — can shape young people’s identity formation, sense of belonging, and faith formation in a digital and conflicted world. Young people are forming their identities in a culture shaped by constant digital engagement, social comparison, artificial intelligence, political division, and social crisis. These forces do more than influence what young people witness; they can distort how young people view themselves, understand where they belong, and discern what gives their lives meaning.
A Call to Being: Helping Young People Discover Vocation Beyond Productivity November 5 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm Virtual/Zoom Young people are growing up in a culture that often measures their worth by productivity, achievement, and performance. From academic preparation and career expectations to social pressures, there is a constant demand to plan for the future. Young people are frequently asked what they will accomplish before they are invited to consider who they are becoming and how they are already beloved by God. This two-week online series invites youth ministry leaders to reconsider Christian vocation beyond traditional measures of success through the dimensions of personhood, place, perspective, and partnership. Together, participants will examine how grind culture and ableist assumptions about productivity can shape ministry and young people’s understandings of their worth, their relationship with God, and their relationships with one another. Drawing from the biblical examples of Moses and Esther, along with a theology of God’s presence, participants will explore vocation as a call to being-there-with-others.
