Volume 3, Issue 1
January 1, 2007
Ministry Conversations Asset-Based Community Ministry-An Interview with Curt Gibson
We continue our series of downloadable audio files with this month’s free resource!
We continue our series of downloadable audio files with this month’s free resource!
Kara Powell asks Curt Gibson, Pastor of Neighborhood Student Mentoring at the Lake Avenue Community Foundation in Pasadena, about applying insights from Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets to outreach-based ministry among urban youth.
Unearthing the Whole Truth about Holistic Ministry
by Kara Powell, Pam King and Kelly Schwartz
by Kara Powell, Pam King and Kelly Schwartz
Most of us have no trouble focusing our ministries on the spiritual needs of students — it’s what we do best. But how carefully do we look at the “whole kid” in our approach to youth ministry? These findings from CYFM’s Urban Youth Workers in America research dig up some powerful truths about the reality of holistic ministry.
Turning Towards Holistic Ministry
by Mark Maines
by Mark Maines
Many of us would agree that the forms of typical youth ministry are in need of change. But towards what new forms are we turning in order to have greater transforming impact in students’ lives? Mark Maines offers an integrated asset-based model as one opportunity for re-forming our ministries in a holistic way.
Good Grief
by Kim Williams
by Kim Williams
No one is immune to loss most of us know that all too well. But do we really know how to effectively deal with the losses that we and the students in our ministries experience? We hope this resource will help you gain research-based tools for helping kids walk through loss with “good” grief.
I had a disturbing conversation with a youth worker over lunch yesterday. She and her group of 30 high school kids raised $7,000 for an overseas community development ministry. Instead of giving the youth ministry high fives for their hard work, the senior pastor belittled their efforts, criticizing them for not being focused on “the gospel.”
Sure, the gospel is about our spiritual needs, but the Shalom of God’s kingdom brings restoration to us not just spiritually but physically, emotionally, and relationally as well.
In this January issue of our FYI E-Journal, we are turning the spotlight on holistic ministry. Through these articles, we wrestle with a few questions, like What does holistic ministry mean? And, How do we do it, and do it well?
Often urban youth workers are especially aware of the need to help kids holistically because their kids come from high-risk communities that tend to lack family support. Our research on holistic ministry is a focus of our Urban Youth Ministry Certificate program. Our next cohort of 25 urban youth workers starts in May 2007 in conjunction with the Urban Youth Workers Institute Conference, but applications are due February 9. If you are an urban youth worker in a church or parachurch setting, we hope you prayerfully consider joining this 2-year fully-accredited training program. Scholarships are available for all students accepted to the program.
Here’s to helping our kids and families see the whole truth of the whole gospel.
Kara Powell
Kara E. Powell, PhD, is the Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute and an Assistant Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary. She has been in youth ministry for 18 years and is the author of many articles and books including Deep Ministry in a Shallow World (co-authored with Chap Clark, Zondervan, 2006) Help! I’m a Woman in Youth Ministry (Zondervan, 2004) Mirror! Mirror! (Zondervan, 2003), and the Good Sex Curriculum Guide (co-authored with Jim Hancock, Zondervan, 2001).
©2007 Fuller Youth Institute
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