The Institute For Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary is one of the United States’ leading resource and research organization in youth ministry. According to their website,

“For more than 25 years, the Institute for Youth Ministry has bridged theology and practice in youth ministry through research, programs, events, and resources. We form ministry leaders who work with youth, support emerging scholarship, and collaborate with Christian congregations. In all that we do, we bear witness to God’s just and creative movement in the world.”

While Pastor Wes Ellis was attending Princeton, earning his Master’s of Divinity, he was a student staff member of the Institute for Youth Ministry and it was there that he cut his teeth as a theologian and researcher.

This year, in May, Wes will return to Princeton to speak at their largest event, the Forum. He will be leading a seminar entitled “From Effectiveness to Faithfulness: How to Do Youth Ministry for Christ's Sake”

Are we truly motivated by a desire to participate in the ministry of Christ in the world? Or are we motivated by anxiety, reducing youth ministry to a technology for solving the "crisis" of decline? If you are doing youth ministry in a new way because you're concerned that the church may die if you don't, this course is for you! In this course, we will consider what drives us as we engage in creativity and innovation. We will learn how to think theologically about youth ministry and we will rediscover the joy of faithfulness.