{"id":8307,"date":"2025-11-19T00:45:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T00:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/?p=8307"},"modified":"2025-11-19T21:21:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T21:21:48","slug":"a-theological-turn-in-childrens-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/a-theological-turn-in-childrens-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"A theological turn in children&#8217;s ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For more than 20 years, Luther Seminary has made a strong case that ministry with young people is a theological task. A new $1.196 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. will move this work deeper into the congregational practice of children\u2019s ministry.<\/p>\n<p>Led by Professor <strong>Andrew Root<\/strong>, Carrie Olson Baalson Chair of Youth and Family Ministry, with support from Visiting Instructor <strong>Kurty Darling \u201925 Ph.D.<\/strong>, the grant project seeks to advance and accelerate a theological turn in children\u2019s ministry. The project intentionally focuses on children\u2019s ministry not just as a programmatic activity but as a place where God is encountered and lives are transformed. Through ministry cohorts, development of a core text, dissemination of practical resources, and conversations with children\u2019s ministers nationwide, the project will articulate a distinct case for the theological significance and shape of children\u2019s ministry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout attention to the person and the practice of the children\u2019s minister, children\u2019s ministry has been too often seen as tertiary, even as lightweight, ecclesial work. It is not,\u201d said Root. \u201cOur hope with this project is to change imagination around divine action as it relates to the practice of children\u2019s ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Luther Seminary is one of 170 organizations funded through three rounds of the Lilly Endowment\u2019s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative, which was launched in 2022. The aim of this national initiative is to support faith- based organizations as they help children grow in faith and deepen their relationships with God.<\/p>\n<div style=\"border: solid 5px #4EC3E0; padding: 5px; margin-top: 25px;\">\n<h2>Read more from Winter\u00a0 2025<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/beyond-our-walls\/\"><span style=\"display: block; min-width: 24px; min-height: 24px;\">Beyond our walls<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/discerning-a-call-to-ministry\/\"><span style=\"display: block; min-width: 24px; min-height: 24px;\">Discerning a call to ministry<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/a-time-for-everything\/\">A time for everything\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/a-seminary-without-walls\/\"><span style=\"display: block; min-width: 24px; min-height: 24px;\">A seminary without walls<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/2025-annual-report\/\">2025 annual report<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/faculty-and-staff-notes-5\/\">Faculty and staff notes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/alumni-news-4\/\">Alumni news\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/fossils-and-faith\/\">Fossils and faith<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/2025-advent-devotional-available-online\/\">2025 Advent devotional available online<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/a-theological-turn-in-childrens-ministry\/\">A theological turn in children\u2019s ministry\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/faithlead-academy-hits-50-course-milestone\/\">Faith+Lead Academy hits 50 course milestone\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/meet-kurty-darling-visiting-instructor-for-children-youth-and-family\/\">Meet Kurty Darling\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/william-p-brown-named-2026-rutlen-lecturer\/\">William P. Brown named 2026 Rutlen lecturer\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/do-you-host-a-podcast\/\">Do you host a podcast?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For more than 20 years, Luther Seminary has made a strong case that ministry with young people is a theological task. A new $1.196 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. will move this work deeper into the congregational practice of children\u2019s ministry. Led by Professor Andrew Root, Carrie Olson Baalson Chair of Youth and Family [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8307","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"issue-winter-2025","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A theological turn in children&#039;s ministry - Luther Seminary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/a-theological-turn-in-childrens-ministry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A theological turn in children&#039;s ministry - Luther Seminary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For more than 20 years, Luther Seminary has made a strong case that ministry with young people is a theological task. 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