CVC 330

Introduction to Urban Youth Ministry

Instructor & Contact Information

See the course page for instructor contact information.

Mission Statement

To educate and equip students as leaders in their organizations and ministries to create atransformational ministry with young peoplethat builds the capacity of youth leaders toimpacttheir lives and the communities in which they live.

Course Description

This course will examine the urban context and the church's opportunity for successful and sustainable youth programs that earn the right to have a transformative impact on youth, families, and social and community systems. Students will be introduced to the theory and practice of holistic youth development. By nurturing an excitement about meeting youth, and building transformational relationships with young people, students will be equipped to develop indigenous, asset-based, student-led, programs and services for youth who call the city their home.

Course Objectives - At the end of this course, students should be able to:

  1. Evaluate contemporary global urbanization and the city as a sacred place where youth and religious, social, political, economic, and cultural life converge.
  2. Reflect upon their own personal and professional experiences in the urban youth context and integrate them into a narrative about their theology of urban ministry.
  3. Examine youth culture and needs through the lens of technology, digital media, anthropology, sociology, psychology, theology.
  4. Discuss the impact of major issues dominating the urban scene and the mission agenda of the church including social media, music and entertainment, justice, law enforcement, multiculturalism, poverty, immigration, and educational and employment inequity.
  5. Evaluate successful and sustainable youth ministries and how they achieve effectiveness using case studies and programs proximate to the student’s context.
  6. Create a transformational ministry with young people that is asset-based, theologically informed, student-led, contextually relevant, culturally engaging, and sustainable.

Weekly Topics

1.Foundations forCommunity Youth Development

2.Empowering Authentic (student-led) Leadership

3.Strategic Outcomes: Introducing 40 Developmental Assets

4.Sustainability: Cultivating Community Partnerships

5.Impact: Building Justice into Youth Development

6.Capacity: Developing Leaders

7.Cultural Remix: Hip Hop Generation

8.World Changing Youth Development

Required Texts

  • Arzola, Fernando. Toward a Prophetic Youth Ministry: Theory and Praxis in Urban Context. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008. Print, Kindle. (ISBN-10: 0830828028 ISBN-13: 978-0830828029)
  • Yoho, Kevin.Crayons for the City: Reneighboring Communities of Faith to Rebuild Neighborhoods of Hope.Cascade Books, Wipf and Stock Publishers. Publication Q3, 2016(ISBN-10: 149823089X ISBN-13: 978-1498230896

Recommended Reading:

  • Linhart, Terry, and David Livermore A. Global Youth Ministry: Reaching Adolescents around the World. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, Youth Specialties, 2011. Print, Kindle, iBooks. (ISBN-10: 0310670373 ISBN-13: 978-0310670377)
  • Borgman, Dean. Foundations for Youth Ministry: Theological Engagement with Teen Life and Culture. 2nd ed. N.p.: Baker Academic, 2013. Print, Kindle, iBooks. (ISBN-10: 0801049016 ISBN-13: 978-0801049019)
  • Devries, Mark. Sustainable Youth Ministry: Why Most Youth Ministry Doesn't Last and What Your Church Can Do About It. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2008.
  • Fields, Doug. Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry: A Personal and Practical Guide to Starting Right. El Cajon, CA: Youth Specialties Published by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2002. Print, Kindle. ISBN-10: 031024045X ISBN-13: 978-0310240457
  • Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown and Company 2008.
  • Heflin, Houston. Youth Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Youth Ministry. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009.
  • Mahan, Brian J., Warren, Michael and White, David. Awakening Youth Discipleship. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2007.
  • Powell, Kara, et al. Deep Justice in a Broken World: Helping Your Kids Serve Others and Right the Wrongs Around Them. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007.
  • Senter III, Mark H., ed. Wesley Black , Chap Clark, Malan Nel and Mark Senter. Four Views of Youth Ministry and the Church Senter III, Mark H., ed. Wesley Black , Chap Clark, Malan Nel and Mark Senter. Four Views of Youth Ministry and the Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001).
  • Smith, Efrem. Raising Up Young Heroes: Developing a Revolutionary Youth Ministry. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004.
  • Twenge, Jean M. Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled -- and More Miserable Than Ever Before. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. ISBN 0743276981

Optional Reading:

  • Borgman, Dean. When Kumbaya Is Not Enough: A Practical Theology for Youth Ministry. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1997. Print.
  • Borgman, Dean. Hear My Story: Understanding the Cries of Troubled Youth. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003. Print.
  • Clark, Chap. Hurt 2.0: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011. Print.
  • Hersch, Patricia. A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American Adolescence. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1998. Print.
  • Reid, Alvin. As You Go: Creating a Missional Culture of Gospel-Centered Students. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress Publishing Group, 2014. Print.
  • White, David F. Practicing Discernment with Youth: A Transformative Youth Ministry Approach. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim, 2005. Print.
  • Wimberly, Anne Streaty. Keep It Real: Working with Today's Black Youth. Nashville: Abingdon, 2005. Print

Course Work and Materials

Week / Resources / Assignments / Est. Hours / Weight (%) / Objective #’s
1: Foundation for Community Youth Development / Read / Toward a Prophetic Youth Ministry, (Ch. 1-3) / 1.5
“Embrace the Mess: Why Youth Must Lead Now,” Jeremy Del Rio / 0.25
“Ministry Model Evaluation,” Kevin Yoho / 0.25
“Why ‘Servanthood’ is Bad,” John McKnight / 0.25
Listen/View / “Community Youth Development - Young People as Agents of Community Transformation” / 1.5
“A Theological Framework for Transforming Your Neighborhood: Nurturing Youth as Agents of Change,” Michael Mata / 1.5
Assignments / 1.1 (Forum): Student introductions / 4 / 1 / 1, 2, 5
1.2 (Forum): Reflections on Content / 4 / 2 / 1, 2, 5
1.3 (Assignment): Ministry Model Evaluation / 3 / 5 / 1, 2, 5
2: Empowering Authentic (student-led) Leadership / Read / Toward a Prophetic Youth Ministry, (Ch. 4-5) / 2
“Youth Leadership Development: A Space, a Voice and Some Power,” John Barros / 0.25
"Balancing the Equation: Communities Supporting Youth, Youth Supporting Communities,” Karen Pitman / 0.25
“Guide to Social Change Led By and With Young People,” Adam Fletcher and Joseph Vavrus, pp. 1-7 / 0.25
“I Am My School and Other Student Prayers for New York,” Jeremy Del Rio / 0.25
Listen/View / “Leadership Development of Indigenous Leaders,” Jeremy Del Rio and Rudy Carrasco / 0.5
“We Got Next: Student Leadership By Students for Students” (Parts 1 and 2) / 1.5
Assignments / 2.1 (Forum): SOAP Reflection on Content / 4 / 2 / 2, 5
2.2 (Assignment): Youth Leadership Development Evaluation / 3 / 5 / 2, 5
3: Strategic Outcomes: Introducing 40 Developmental Assets / Read / Towards A Prophetic Youth Ministry, (Ch. 6) / 0.5
Listen/View / "Developmental Assets Will Make You Re-Think Your Ministry,” by Lina Thompson / 1
"A Discussion Regarding Implementing Assets in Your Ministry,” by Curt Gibson / 1.5
Assignments / 3.1 (Forum): SOAP Reflection on Content / 4 / 2 / 2
3.2 (Assignment): Developmental Asset Profile / 3 / 5 / 3, 5
4: Sustainability: Cultivating Community Partnerships / Read / Towards a Prophetic Youth Ministry (Ch. 7-8) / 1.5
“A Place Called Home,” Kevin Yoho (PDF) / 0.25
Introduction to "Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets," by John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight / 0.5
Listen/View / “Bagged Lunch and a Drop of Oil: Multiplying Resources for Urban Ministry,” Jeremy Del Rio / 1.25
Assignments / 4.1 (Forum): SOAP Reflection on Content / 4 / 2 / 2
4.2 (Forum): Your Ministry's Community Involvement / 4 / 2 / 2
4.3 (Assignment): Community Asset Map / 4 / 5 / 1, 2, 5
4.4 (Forum): Community Asset Map Reflection / 3 / 2 / 1, 2, 5
5: Impact: Building Justice into Youth Development / Read / Toward a Prophetic Youth Ministry, (Ch 9-10) / 1.5
Youth Violence Reduction Project (PDF) / 0.5
“Confessions of a Youth Pastor/Hypocrite on Loving the Least of These: Meeting Jesus On the Lower East Side,” Jeremy Del Rio / 0.25
“Why Public Schools Matter to God and Should Matter to You, Too,”Jeremy Del Rio / 0.25
Listen/View / “Jesus Justice: So Easy a Five-Year Old Can Do It,” Jeremy Del Rio / 1.5
“Assessing The $100 Million Upheaval Of Newark's Public Schools” / 0.5
“Youth Ministry Beyond the Walls: Overcoming Injustices and Rebuilding Communities,” Ruben Austria and Rachel Carrion / 1
5.1 (Forum): SOAP Reflection on Biblical Justice / 4 / 2 / 3
5.2 (Forum): Building Your Support Team / 4 / 2 / 4
5.3 (Assignment): Reflection Paper on Prophetic Youth Ministry / 2 / 5 / 4, 5
6: Capacity: Developing Leaders / Read / “Joshua Paradox: Establishing Meaningful Mentorship,” Jeremy Del Rio / 0.25
“Caleb's Promise: A Fathers Day Tribute and a Dilemma for 24 Million Children,” Jeremy Del Rio / 0.25
“Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents” / 3
Listen/View / “Mentoring At Risk Youth,” Ruben Austria / 1
“Discipleship: An Effective Method of Mentoring Urban Youth,” Tommy Carrington / 1
“Raising Up Young Heroes,” Efrem Smith / 1.5
Assignments / 6.1 (Forum): SOAP Reflection on Content / 4 / 2 / 2,4,5
6.2 (Assignment): School-Based Mentoring Program Proposal / 3 / 5 / 2,4,5
7: Cultural Remix: Hip Hop Generation / Read / Toward a Prophetic Youth Ministry, (Ch 11) / 0.5
Global Youth Ministry, (Ch. 8-10, 11, 14) / 3
WWJD (What Would Jay-Z Do?) / 0.25
WWJD (What Would Jay-Z Do): Engaging Youth Culture,” Jeremy Del Rio / 1
“Rethinking the Urban Church in the Hip Hop and Urban Context,” Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson / 2
7.1 (Forum): S.O.A.P. Reflection on Hip Hop & Marketing / 4 / 2 / 3,5
7.2 (Assignment): Visioning Project / 4 / 5 / 3,5
8: World Changing Youth Development / Global Youth Ministry (Intro. Thru Ch. 2) / 1.5
“Free for All: A Leap Forward in Training Leaders” / 0.25
"A Millennial Manifesto: Why Gen Y Will Change the World" / 0.25
“Translating Truth from Babel to Cyberspace,” Jeremy Del Rio / 0.75
“Growing Up Online” (PBS Frontline) / 1
“Social Media Revolution 2012” / 0.25
“The Machine is Us/ing Us” (Final Version) / 0.25
8.1 (Forum): SOAP Reflection on Plugged-in Learning / 4 / 2 / 1,3,4
8.2 (Forum): Global Youth Ministry Discussion / 4 / 2 / 1,3,4
8.3 (Assignment): Final Project / 21.75 / 40 / 6
Overall / Total estimated hours based upon 17 hours per week for 8 weeks / 135 / 100

Guidelines for Written Assignments:
Except for Forum posts, all written assignments should be double-spaced using 12-point font and 1-inch margins, and include a relevant heading (name, date, assignment title), and subheadings where appropriate. Multi-page assignments should also include page numbers. Please correct spelling and grammatical errors before submitting all assignments. Spelling, grammar, and writing style will be taken into consideration in evaluating written work.

Forum Expectations

Responses to separate discussion questions will be assigned based on case studies taken from the required readings. We expect that students will spend an estimated one-two hours to post one initial message, one hour to read posts from 5+ students (presumes that a student doesn't read every post), and an estimated 1 hour to post one reply message. Forum grading will be based on the following items:

  • Forum posts should be 400-600 words although these are not strict limits.
  • Students must demonstrate comprehension of the material and achievement of the related learning objectives related to that forum. Be sure to read the the learning objectives.
  • Students should demonstrate critical thinking and use outside material researched beyond the assigned readings.
  • The goal of course forums is to have scholarly dialog among peers combining both the strengths of in-person class discussion and providing concise, professional quality writing (similar to a well thought-out academic or scholarly blog) and responding in a way that adds value to others writings
  • Students are not required to use APA format for references in forum posts, but instead students are encouraged to hyperlink relevant information when possible.
  • Grading rubric: forums use the same high level grading rubric as for the final project including
  • Content Knowledge (25%)
  • Critical Thinking (25%). Note that critical thinking is very different from criticism.
  • Communication (15%)
  • Application (35%)

Final Project Instructions

Final Project Formatting

The final project uses the final project template linked in the online course. Except for Forum posts, all written assignments should be double-spaced using 12-point font and 1-inch margins, and include a relevant heading (name, date, assignment title), and subheadings where appropriate, which can be viewed in a Navigation Pane. Please correct spelling and grammatical errors before submitting all assignments. Spelling, grammar, and writing style will be taken into consideration in evaluating written work. Assignments should be submitted to the Course Dropbox within Moodle. Every assignment should carry a filename that MUST include your name (Student Name) and the assignment number, e.g. Jan_Smith_Minor1.doc.

Written work must be reflective, balanced, analysis and be well-supported by references. Deep familiarity with the biblical text will be appreciated as will the ability to showcase extensive theological reading and reflection and to critically examine an issue from many points of view.

Students should use APA format for references. It is recommended that students use a bibliography tool such as Endnote, Sente, EasyBib (free), Zotero (free), Mendeley (free), etc.

Chapter 1. Literature Review (6-8 pages)

Write a review of the literature and media presented in this course. You should plan on approximately 6 double-spaced pages to review the materials. Dedicate one paragraph to each of the readings/videos. Your review should cover the following:

  • What are the big ideas or takeaways from the material?
  • How do you see those ideas being applied to 1) yourself and/or 2) your organization and/or 3) the world in general, especially from your Christian, or other religious, world view?

Chapter 2. Project (20-25 pages)

Create a transformational ministry with young people that is asset-based, theologically informed, student-led, contextually relevant, culturally engaging, and sustainable. Your final project is intended to be a synthesis of this course. You will describe youryouth ministry context and the core principles and values you learned about in this course that will inform and direct your ministry including the following core youth ministry elements:

  1. Asset-based
  2. Theologically informed
  3. Student-led
  4. Contextually relevant
  5. Culturally engaging
  6. Sustainable

It should be a more polished narrative and cohesive integration of your previous assignments.

The end goal is to create a transformative program that, if implemented, would have a positive impact on the lives of youth in your community.

Note on alternative media formats. If you prefer to do some portion of your project in an alternative media format (Web, Powerpoint), then the page requirements should be such that they take the same amount of time as producing the content in a paper format. (See Visioning Project, as an example.)

Chapter 3. Self-Evaluation, Reflection and Suggestions (2-3 pages)

This section is to provide room for self-evaluation, reflection and suggestions including the following elements:

  1. Reflects what you learned during this course and whether it met what you anticipated based on the course’s desired learning outcomes (goals or objectives), as well as your personal goals for the course.
  2. We view all our whole program as an “open source” project where we are looking for students to contribute to make it better for the next group of students. What resources, materials or people would you suggest that might be able to contribute to this course? Any other suggestions for improvement?

Late Assignment Policy

Week Eight is the last class session with assignments posted.All course work must be completed by the student and submitted to the instructor by the end of the week after the course ends (the ninth week since the start of the course). No credit will be given for work submitted after this date, unless the student is granted an extension on the course, as described below. This policy applies to weekly assignments, as well as examinations and final projects.

The following rules apply to the grading of late assignments:

  • Each assignment is due by the end of the day on Sunday in the week it was assigned.
  • Assignments submitted more than 1 week late (after the following Sunday) will lose 1 letter grade (i.e. "A" becomes a "B")
  • Assignments submitted more than 2 weeks late will lose 2 letter grades (i.e. "A" becomes a "C")
  • Each week after that until the end of the term, the assignment will lose a further letter grade ("A" becomes "D", and so on)
  • Extensions: professors may grant an extension on an assignment if the student has a prolonged sickness or major family crisis. The length of the extension is up to the professor’s discretion.

For more academic policies, visit