UYWI ‘s First Accredited Course for Youth Workers

Join us at City Vision for 8-weeks of Youth Development Studies This course introduces students to the theory and practice of holistic youth development in an increasingly interconnected, open-sourced, urban world. Students will be equipped to develop asset-based, student-led, contextually relevant, culturally engaging, transformational relationships with young people. Special emphasis will be placed on issues…

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Grace Still Abounds When They Grow Up

This past Christmas, UYWI.org featured the story of Jose “Cochise” Quiles, the founder and president of the New York City street gang Satan’s Sinners Nomads. Two thousand years later, the Word again became flesh for Cochise when Pastor Rick moved his family into the neighborhood; refused to be intimidated by taunts or horrified by a…

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Remind me again why I do youth ministry

– By guest blogger Chris Lassiter I just had a “Remind me again why I do urban youth ministry” type of week. Our annual camping trip hit some major snags. Money came up missing. Curfews were missed. We even had a few physical altercations. Collectively, I had more challenges in one week than I’ve had…

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Beyond the Noise: Worship and Justice?

Those Old Testament prophets sure know how to jab us where we’re comfortable. Every time I read this passage, for example, I can’t help but wonder whether Jesus would sing a different tune if he physically showed up to a stylized evangelical worship experience—a tune that sounds more like what his Spirit inspired Amos to…

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OpEd: The Constitution is for everyone. Education should be too.

Our city has a crisis that goes far beyond where congregations gather on weekends. Let’s redirect the city’s energies into partnerships that advance our children. By Fernando Cabrera and Jeremy Del Rio Our city has a crisis that goes far beyond where congregations gather on weekends. Forty percent of New York City high school students…

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Why Loving Young People is like City Living

Greetings from Brooklyn, New York, the most populous borough in New York City. Birthplace of Jay-Z and the integration of Major League Baseball. And site of the largest battle of the Revolutionary War. If Brooklyn were its own city, it would be the fourth largest in America. My name is Jeremy Del Rio and I’m an addict — if you can call young people an addiction. …

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Confessions of a Hypocrite Youth Pastor, Part 2

(Continued from Part 1.) Salvation visited me in the person of a homeless runaway who forced me to confront my tendency, even as a youth pastor, to live for myself instead of those around me. My tendency to gravitate to people, places, and partners that could add value to my ministry. To pursue relationships for…

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Confessions of a Hypocrite Youth Pastor, Part 1

The knots in my stomach tightened. As the distance between us grew, I could feel the color leave my face. You hypocrite, I thought. So busy with ministry that you pretend not to notice? Truthfully I had noticed. In fact I saw her so vividly that I crossed the street so she wouldn’t see me…

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