|
July Update from CYFM and Kara Powell
You may not realize it, but we think you have a treasure. In fact, when we explain CYFM, we usually describe two treasure chests: the treasure chest of academic research on one hand, and the treasure chest of wisdom from real life leaders on the other. At CYFM, we try to bridge the two treasure chests, helping both sides learn from each other.
To help us learn from your treasure chest of wisdom and experience, in this issue of the “CYFM E-Journal,” we’re introducing a new “Tell Us What You Need” feature. Last month we received a grant that’s going to allow us to develop a high-quality, research-based, very practical Short Term Missions Curriculum for you to use with your youth ministry before, during, and after your service experiences. So we’d love you to “Tell Us What You Need” when it comes to resources that would make your short-term missions experience even more transformative by emailing feedback to us at tell.cyfm@fuller.edu. Even 30 seconds of your input would help us make sure our resources are in your strike zone.
You can also “Tell Us What You Need” by forwarding the entire “CYFM E-Journal” or individual articles to your ministry friends and adult leader teams. We track those stats so that we know which resources are the most on target. You can find the list of our most-viewed articles on our home page.
Last month the article you and other readers forwarded the most was Stress in the City: A New Study of Youth Workers.
(Also, we have now included the FULL report from the Risk and Resilience study as a pdf document on our site, available from the Urban Empowerment Project page). Forward your favorite article this month and next time you'll see if other readers agreed with you!
You are our CYFM heroes!
Kara Powell
Kara E. Powell, PhD,
is the Executive Director of the Center for Youth and Family Ministry and an
Assistant Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Fuller Theological
Seminary. She has been in youth ministry for 20 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).
|
FREE RESOURCES for Deep Ministry in a Shallow World
EVERYTHING about the Urban Youth Ministry program
Resources for Urban Youth Workers
Responding to AIDS in Africa on multiple levels
Discovering what's missing to prepare for the college leap
|
 Ministry
Conversations:
An Interview with Mark Oestreicher
In this month's free audio download, Kara Powell interviews Mark Oestreicher, President of Youth Specialties. Marko shares some startling insights from the world of adolescent brain research on an intensely practical level, particularly for anyone who works with junior highers!
NOTE: We have reformatted our Ministry Conversations resources and now house them directly on the CYFM site! You may still access audio directly through iTunes U, but all audio files previously housed at ministryconversations.net have been moved and indexed at cyfm.net. We hope this will be a more convenient way to access our audio resources!
|
New Twists on Not-So-New
Issues for Girls
by Kara Powell and Brad Griffin
While it may seem to some that adolescence hasn’t changed much for girls in recent years, research and media trends indicate at least three areas we’ve identified as needing our renewed attention as youth workers. In this article we share ideas for responding to three “mores” that bring new twists to some perhaps-familiar issues: more sexy, more pressure, and more violence.
 Email this article to a friend. |
Toward Deeper Justice for All:
The Urban Social Justice Report
by Kara Powell
What is social justice, and how do I know if I’m doing it—or doing it well—in youth ministry? To help you evaluate your own ministry, we’re reporting here on a collaborative effort by CYFM, World Vision, Community Solutions, Inc., and the Urban Youth Workers Institute to get at the difference between average justice work and deeper justice ministry.
INCLUDES A FREE DOWNLOADABLE ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR YOUR MINISTRY.
Email this article to a friend. |
 A Theology of Culture for Your Ministry:
Is “The World” Friend, Foe, or Something Else?
by J.R. Rozko
Whether it’s deciding what music to listen to in the church van or which movies to see with students, youth workers are always wrangling with questions of culture. How we think theologically about culture has a huge impact on the way we answer the questions, but we rarely have time to contemplate the roots of our responses. In the first of a new CYFM series on theology, JR Rozko helps us reframe our theology of culture and learn how to ask totally new questions. Email this article to a friend. |
 Rest in the City
by Kim Williams
While it may seem an oxymoron, resting in the city is not only possible, but imperative for urban youth workers. Read on as Kim Williams explores the “prayer of rest” as a method for encountering God in the city, suburbs, or wherever you find yourself in ministry.
Email this article to a friend. |
