Artificial intelligence, or AI, is all over the news lately. From healthcare to finance to education, industries around the globe are investing billions of dollars to develop apps and programs run by AI that will solve problems, answer questions, and streamline systems. Even a Catholic non-profit recently joined the trend by creating an AI priest […]
The season of Advent needs a refresh. That’s because, somehow, one of the greatest stories ever told has grown stale in many churches around the country. Many faith communities mark the season with the same traditions they’ve observed for decades, like the hanging of the greens, lighting the Advent wreath, live nativity, children’s pageant, and […]
Dear CYMT Family, I am honored and humbled to join the Center for Youth Ministry Training (CYMT) and lead the organization in community-based ministries. As the new Community Ministry Director, I believe that we are all responsible for creating beloved communities that allow all people to experience the love of God and be seen in […]
by Meghan Hatcher At the United Methodist church where I grew up, the season of Advent can’t happen without the annual live nativity. Every year the same wooden frame, with last year’s hay still clinging to it, is set up in a field next to the parking lot. Whichever family welcomed a new baby in […]
Dr. David White Rev. Dr. White has just retired as the C. Ellis and Nancy Gribble Nelson Professor of Christian Education, Professor in Methodist Studies at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, TX. He now serves on the board of CYMT. Many of us have wrapped the concept of sabbath in old newspapers, put it […]
Stephen Ingram Stephen is a 25+ year youth ministry veteran. His books include Hollow Faith: How Andy Griffith, Facebook, and the American Dream Neutered the Gospel, ExtraOrdinary Time: 365 Ordinary Moments with an Anything But Ordinary God; and Organic Student Ministry. Stephen serves as the Sr. Director of Resource Development for CYMT. In recent years […]
Here at the Innovation Lab, our Innovation Culture Index (ICI) assesses a faith community’s culture by revealing its strengths and areas that need to improve so innovation can take root effectively. The ICI measures what we call the Nine Indicators of Innovative Potential, which are essential cultural characteristics for enacting change and embracing creativity in […]
The Center for Youth Ministry Training has received a $1,249,965 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the Benediction Project. The program is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative, a national initiative designed to help Christian congregations more fully and intentionally engage children in intergenerational corporate worship and prayer […]
As faith communities prepare for the Advent season, nostalgia for the past becomes commonplace. Many faith communities hang the greens, practice the traditional hymns, host traditional events, and read the season’s scripture stories. But the potentially negative impacts of nostalgia on ministry innovation are often overlooked. The late Dr. Svetlana Boym was a scholar of […]
At the Innovation Lab, we often say that listening is a powerful, sacred act of ministry in and of itself. But amidst a culture where “listening” has become trendy, the Lab means something different. We mean nothing less than to follow the example of Jesus when he encountered a man lying beside the pool at […]
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