Youth Ministry Academic Program

What's the best way for me to prepare for a career in youth ministry?

Many students who investigate or attend Calvin College are interested in working with youth as a career. As a liberal arts institution, our primary responsibility is to give you a broad foundation on which to build your professional development. Therefore, we offer helpful courses, academic programs, internships and co-curricular experiences. This combination of liberal arts education and practical experience will help you become the well educated, spiritually mature youth minister that today's churches seek.

The Lilly Vocation Project allows us to do an even better job of serving students considering youth ministry careers. We offer targeted advising, mentoring, new courses with a youth ministry focus, and a youth ministry minor.

Which Calvin College courses are relevant to youth ministry?

All our courses are designed to help you develop vision, perspective, and context for understanding the people and environments you'll encounter in church work. Effective youth pastors also learn about family social dynamics; changing cultural, political, and economic values; and how popular culture tugs on young people.

Some courses focus specifically on youth ministry:

• Youth Faith Formation and Spiritual Development , Psychology 202 (3 semester hours). This course examines how faith is formed and developed by studying influential theories of Faith formation (e.g., Fowler's stages of faith, Objects-Relations) and the general developmental theories on which these faith formation theories are based. The course begins in childhood with an examination of how family factors impact children’s view of God. The larger portion of the course focuses on the development of religious identity and practices during adolescence. Contextual influences examined include family, peers, schools, religious congregations, historical traditions, organized rites of passage, and post-modern culture. Gender and ethnic identity, as components of religious identity, are also examined.

• Models of Ministry to Youth, IDIS 374 (2 semester hours) This course is open to junior or senior Calvin students and is taught each fall semester.

• Internship In Youth Ministry, IDIS 380 (4 semester hours) This internship is designed to give students practical experience and thoughtful exposure to current practice of youth ministry in area churches. This is a placement during the regular academic year of approximately eight hours/week in special youth learning or service projects. Students are exposed to the challenges, pressures, and demands of youth ministry work-while introducing them to governing structures that will oversee their work. The internship will include opportunities for reflection, feedback, debriefing, and problem solving; occasional peer group meetings; networking; and mentoring relationships with pastors. Prerequisites: junior or senior class levels, Education 102; IDIS 374 or Psychology 322.

These courses can complement several different majors as electives. However they may also be taken as part of Calvin's youth ministry minor.

What courses does the youth ministry minor include?

• Models of Ministry to Youth, IDIS 374 (2 semester hours)

• Teaching Religion to Children & Adolescents, Education 309 (2 semester hours)

• Internship in Youth Ministry, IDIS 380 (4 semester hours)

• One psychology course from: (3 semester hours)

• Two religion courses: (6 semester hours)

• One elective chosen in consultation with the youth ministry advisor (3 semester hours).

What other activities could I choose if I'm interested in youth ministry?

Many Calvin experiences provide ideal preparation for ministering to youth. The following offer ministry, leadership development, or mentoring experience:

• Barnabas Team*

• Worship Apprentice Program*

• Jubilee Fellows Program*

• Service-Learning Experiences
  
  
• Youth Ministry Partnership
  
  
• Pathways to Possibilities
  Calvin's partnership with churches and schools that works to increase higher education attainment among youth living in urban and rural communities.

  Other youth internships through Calvin's social work, psychology, or recreation programs.

*Lilly-funded programs

Who can advise me about the youth ministry program?

The primary advisor for any student is the advisor for his or her academic major program. But students interested in youth ministry may add an additional advisor who works with the youth ministry program.

Youth Ministry Advisor:

Rev. Lynn Barger Elliott
Spoelhof Center 328
616-526-7628
lbe3 at Calvin.edu

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