Wondering if the Nurturing the Spirit of Youth Training Is Right for You?
This training is suitable and beneficial for members of both spiritual and secular organizations. Read below for more information.
Do you serve in a congregation or faith-based organization?
A recent Lilly Endowment-funded survey of youth workers conducted by Search Institute and the National Collaboration for Youth revealed that 77% of faith-based youth workers said “helping young people develop spiritually” was “essential” to their work. However more than half indicated a strong need for additional resources to better accomplish that goal. This workshop addresses that need by providing fresh tools for helping youth explore this critical area of life. The research and resources in this training can further equip youth workers to strengthen and deepen young people’s connection to their faith by assisting them to experience and reflect on essential and universal elements of spiritual development within the values and beliefs of their own faith traditions.
Do you serve in a secular organization?
Because spiritual development is often equated with religion, secular youth-serving organizations have understandably avoided addressing it in their youth programs and services. Even youth-serving organizations with historically religious roots often avoid the area of spiritual development out of respect for the religious diversity of the youth they serve and to avoid being labeled as a “religious” organization. While this may be an understandable omission, new research suggests that in doing so youth-serving organizations may be failing to address an essential and universal element of human development that shapes the lives of youth across the globe. The current generation of young people express increasing interest in spirituality and spiritual practices and yet youth, particular those not involved in a faith community, have few if any conceptual frameworks for exploring their spiritual identity. While spiritual development may be related to religious faith, the international research that informs this training has identified core elements of spiritual development that are equally applicable to youth who may not identify themselves as religious. This approach can equip youth workers who do not work in faith-based organizations to finally address spiritual development as an essential part of youth development while honoring the diversity of the youth they serve regardless of whether the youth hold religious or nonreligious world views. By incorporating spiritual development within positive youth development this training will empower programs to address these important experiences of young people and reflect a truly holistic approach to youth development.
