Hope and Healing for Whole Communities
When Lutheran organizations collaborate with public and private partners, they can work together to change systems and heal entire communities. Education and faith formation are indispensable to spiritual, personal, civic, and economic success. Yet, we live in a hurting world where generational poverty and inequities and a lack of spiritual formation negatively affect health, wellness, and, therefore, education outcomes. Whole communities need healing, hope, and opportunity, all of which come from a deeply held faith in Jesus Christ.
When Lutheran organizations collaborate with public and private partners—from education to health care and community services—they can work together to change systems and heal entire communities. The results will be young people growing up supported and prepared for lives of faith, as lived out in their various vocations, breaking cycles of poverty to thrive.
Partnering to restore, educate, and inspire communities for Christ
The Lutheran understanding of vocation as a sacred calling is at the heart of this healing. From the youngest learners through university graduates, orienting one’s faith in vocation and action is foundational. This principal is so central to the Lutheran ethos that Concordia University, Portland made “Integrating Faith and Life” a university-wide initiative as part of its Vision 2020.
Extending this concept beyond its own campus boundary, Concordia University, Portland is advancing two major efforts to strengthen communities in its own backyard – one is a summer Youth Institute for Social Impact and Leadership Development, and the other is called 3 to PhD®.
The Youth Institute, discussed in detail in this article, has potential to be scaled and replicated nationwide. This effort works best in collaboration with community partners and funders to strengthen and lift up communities, especially in diverse, underserved, urban neighborhoods.
Youth institute sparks social impact, servant leadership
The Christian Lutheran faith is strong enough to embrace doubt and questions, using inquiry as a valuable tool in education. Lutherans have a unique opportunity to support young people’s faith because the Christian Lutheran faith is strong enough to embrace doubt and questions, using inquiry as a valuable tool in education. This approach—at all stages of life—challenges and enriches a person’s faith, leading to spiritual formation and growth.
In 2012, Concordia University’s Center for Applied Lutheran Leadership conducted research to determine how and why youth engage with the Church and to try to understand how best to nurture their faith development and involvement. The findings identified gaps in connectivity to the church, a lack of adult mentors and models, and a shortage of robust conversations with youth about opportunities to live out their faith in vocational church work ministries. They also indicated they would appreciate more opportunities to become involved in serving the community and their church and participating in more in-depth study and application of Scripture.
To respond to this challenge, Concordia applied and received a grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc. to establish a Youth Institute for Social Impact and Leadership Development. The Institute, scheduled to launch in summer 2017, will strive to integrate faith into every aspect of learning, service, and life, preparing young leaders to transform society in Portland, Ore. and beyond.
The grant is part of Lilly Endowment, Inc.'s broader Theology Institutes for High School Youth initiative, which funds programs that seek to encourage young people to explore theological traditions, ask questions about the moral dimensions of contemporary issues, and examine how their faith calls them to lives of service. Lilly Endowment, Inc.’s philanthropic mission is to deepen the faith of young people by helping them think theologically about their lives as well as the challenges faced by our global community, and the Endowment’s support is integral to Concordia’s work as a Lutheran institution preparing leaders for the transformation of society.
Through this vocational development, more young people will be inspired to consider a future in ministry and the Church. Concordia’s efforts build upon the existing spiritual life and ministry cultivated at Concordia, expanding the university’s reach to support spiritual formation in youth. Through this vocational development, more young people will be inspired to consider a future in ministry and the Church.
Concordia’s Youth Institute will serve students entering ninth grade through high school graduates. As part of Concordia’s Integration of Faith and Life initiative, the Institute will combine three pathways for engagement and spiritual inquiry.
Three pathways for engagement and spiritual inquiry:
For students entering ninth grade, a Theological Game Design Challenge will teach both table-top and video game design with community partner Pixel Arts Game Education. Students will engage in discussions with Concordia faculty and develop game ideas based on biblical or theological themes, moral questions, or other concepts of faith and spirituality. The game challenge is a way for students to build communication and collaboration skills while thinking critically about their faith.
For students entering tenth and eleventh grade, Social Justice Project Breaker will focus on human challenges and issues, such as housing instability, hunger, or the prison pipeline. Students will work together and alongside community leaders to create solutions to increase awareness or ease the impact of social justice issues. Compassion, empathy, and connecting to the community will take a primary role, along with examining moral and spiritual dimensions of servant leadership.
For students entering twelfth grade and those who have graduated high school, Concordia will offer Christian Leadership Development through college-level, credit-bearing theology classes where students will explore the intersections of faith and life. Classes will lead students through an engaging and broad academic exploration of Christian history, world religions and foreign policy, science and theology, and authorship research of theological texts.
Concordia University’s Mission in Action
Students around the world come to Concordia University-Portland in increasing numbers to earn their degrees on campus and online through small classes and a focus on relationships. It is a Lutheran university with a 110-year history and an entrepreneurial spirit, grounded in its Christian mission to prepare leaders for the transformation of society through rigor and servant leadership. As such, Concordia is a natural place for young people to develop their vocation while growing spiritually and academically. Through the Youth Institute, Concordia is applying these principles to prepare the next generation for their own spiritual inquiry, as they express their faith in Christ through action.
Paul Mueller, PhD Missiology, is the Executive Director of Concordia University’s Center for Applied Lutheran Leadership (CALL) and Director of the Mission Training Center (MTC).
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