{"id":8315,"date":"2025-11-19T00:25:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T00:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/?p=8315"},"modified":"2025-11-19T21:22:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T21:22:26","slug":"meet-kurty-darling-visiting-instructor-for-children-youth-and-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/meet-kurty-darling-visiting-instructor-for-children-youth-and-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Kurty Darling, visiting instructor for Children, Youth, and Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kurty Darling \u201925 Ph.D<\/strong>. is serving for one year as visiting instructor for children, youth, and family ministry and as grant manager for the Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative grant. She holds an M.A. in Narrative Theology from United Theological Seminary and a B.A. from Bethel University, where she has taught for the past five years. In September, Darling defended her dissertation on the evangelical imagination around visions of a flourishing life.<\/p>\n

Darling was drawn to the field of practical theology because of the rich way it brings together theory and practice. \u201cTo me, theology is a vibrant and living reality that finds purchase in the lives of individuals, in the history of the church, in the ever-coming action of God, and within the interpretation of the scriptures,\u201d she said. \u201cNarrative theology remains important to me because it takes seriously the story of the text and the storied life of the interpreter\u2014I think it gives life to readers of scripture today.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer grant, Darling will lead the organizing and hosting of groups of children\u2019s ministers\u2014a local cohort in the Twin Cities, another in Kansas City, one of people connected to the seminary\u2019s nondegree-seeking students, and one of solo pastors at their churches. \u201cOur dream is to provide supportive spaces to expand the theological imagination around children\u2019s ministry and connect children\u2019s ministers to one another in a life-giving environment,\u201d said Darling.<\/p>\n

She said this work will help \u201corient the church around the important work of the children\u2019s minister.\u201d Too often, the church looks at children\u2019s ministry as something of a holding space for the work of \u201creal\u201d church service. \u201cBut in the encounter between child and children\u2019s minister, things can happen that are\u2014on their own\u2014theologically significant.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Read more from Winter\u00a0 2025<\/h2>\n