“Many are the plans”: An analysis of goals described by youth ministry leaders

This article examines the content and appraisals of youth ministry leader goals. Responses to an open-ended survey question by 378 leaders primarily working in the United States who held significant responsibility for the discipleship of high school-aged young people in their ministries were coded, resulting in 29 categories of goals. Participants named goals associated with service, relationships in general, relationships with God, biblical/gospel knowledge, and discipleship most frequently. Leaders rated each goal according to factors that contribute to goal achievement and well-being. Appraisals of goal difficulty (“this goal involves challenge”), clarity (“this goal is well-defined”), satisfaction with progress (“this goal is moving forward satisfactorily”), and support (“other leaders and congregants encourage the pursuit of this goal”) varied significantly across goals. Of note, participants rated discipleship and partnerships with parents/families as progressing the least satisfactorily and as some of the most difficult goals. By contrast, participants rated service goals as some of the least difficult and most clear. The content and appraisals of these goals bear implications for both the psychological study of goals and strivings and for ministry practice.

The Roles of Campus Ministry Leaders: Guiding Students through the Transition to Adulthood

Despite historic existence of campus ministries at universities, little is known about the roles of campus ministry leaders. This research explored campus ministry leaders’ engagement with students through interviews (n = 19). Analysis indicated interviewees’ work includes building relationships with students, navigating the secular context of a public university, and tensions with others in campus ministry. Interviewees reported emotional strain resulting from extensive caring labor. Focused support for campus ministers would benefit both leaders and students.

Factors Associated with Burnout, Marital Conflict, and Life Satisfaction among Chinese American Church Leaders

Clergy and church leaders experience unique pressure and stressors associated with ministry. In this study, we examined protective and risk factors related to burnout, life satisfaction, and marital conflict in a sample of 124 Chinese American church leaders. We examined the role of self-compassion, self-criticism, and bicultural identity. Ministry leaders (i.e., full-time or part-time pastors, deacons, elders, ministers) aged 25 to 68 years from Chinese American churches in the United States completed surveys online. In the overall structural equation model, self-compassion and bicultural identity were associated with lower levels of burnout; both were not related to life satisfaction or marital conflict. In contrast, self-criticism was related to higher rates of marital conflict and lower levels of life satisfaction; it was not associated with ministry burnout. Self-compassion was inversely related to self-criticism. Our findings suggest that self-compassion and self-criticism have distinct implications for psychological functioning among Chinese American church leaders. Specifically, whereas self-compassion was a protective factor against ministry burnout, self-criticism was a risk factor for marital relationships and life satisfaction. Bicultural identity integration protected against ministry burnout and may be particularly helpful when working with diverse Chinese American churches. Practical implications for Chinese American clergy and ministry leaders were discussed.

New Directions in Youth and Young Adult Ministry Leadership: Where Have We Been and More Importantly Where Are We Headed?

Catholic youth and young adult ministries have evolved vastly since they began in the 1930s. Throughout this ministry’s history, a story of change is told. This article will explore three questions. First, what does the history of this ministry tell us about the future? This will include an examination of the past twenty years of research and trends on youth and young adult ministry and the ministry leaders serving them. Second, what are the current realities informing our new directions? Third, what are the new directions being called for regarding the Catholic Church’s ministry to youth and young adults, and those that serve this ministry? Undoubtedly, Christus Vivit has shaped this conversation, and a large part of this direction includes a call for evangelization and accompaniment. Regardless, the key to moving in a new direction is understanding both the framework or characteristics for the pastoral ministry and the evolved role responsibilities of youth and young adult ministry leaders.

Ministry with Young Adults: Toward a New Ecclesiological Imagination

Pope Francis is urging ministry leaders to become a more synodal church, one where the people of God journey together as a faith community to create a more just and compassionate world. This calls for ministry leaders to embrace a paradigm shift, to not just rename their programs or develop new ones, but to develop a new worldview from which to understand and engage the New Evangelization as envisioned by Pope Francis. However, the 2018 Synod on Young People revealed that the current parish and diocesan programming with young adults are inadequate in: (1) curbing the increasing tide of religious disaffiliation in young adults and (2) addressing the real and felt needs of contemporary Catholic young adults. This article argues for a new ecclesiological imagination that enables ministry leaders to go out into the world to fully engage young adults in the life of the Church.

The Relevance and Pertinence of Sexuality Education in Seminary: The Explicit and Null Curricular Practices in Ministry Training

In this consciousness-raising climate, religious leaders are confronted with opportunities to counsel on matters of sexuality. A curriculum audit was done for twenty evangelical U.S. seminaries to identify efforts in place to prepare future ministry leaders in addressing pertinent sexuality concerns. Ten institutions had no course listing or description that suggested any training. Further discussion with several seminaries shed more light on current practices. Suggestions are also offered for implementing changes in programs and curricula.

Intergenerational Ministry—a Forty-year Perspective: 1980–2020

This article traces the historical development of the field of intergenerational Christian education and formation over the past forty years with the aim of demonstrating its steady growth in scholarship and ministry and its promise for the future of congregational life and discipleship. The article highlights significant movements, terms, figures, publications, and ministry expressions that surfaced over two twenty-year periods, each part set in the narrative and from the perspective of two different scholars. This article concludes with a brief address of the implications for preparing educational and ministry leaders. Although far from exhaustive, this article offers the reader an abbreviated primer of the past four decades of intergenerational ministry and scholarship.

Empathy with Emerging Generations as a Foundation for Ministry

Ministry leaders’ concerns for young people’s spiritual and religious lives often lead them to adopt programmatic solutions in order to remain relevant to emerging generations. We speculate that a more foundational shift is needed. We argue that ministry leaders can support the spiritual quests of young people by reconsidering their teaching and learning assumptions, renewing their empathy skills, and reframing their assumptions about who young people are and what they truly need.