AT THE INSTITUTE YOUNG PEOPLE PRACTICE VOCATIONAL DISCERNMENT, BUILD MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS, ENGAGE COMMUNITY, AND BUILD HOPE FOR A MORE LOVING WORLD.
The Augsburg Youth Theology Institute (AYTI) is an annual, week-long summer program for high school students. AYTI offers young people an environment with the freedom to discover who God has called them to be through building meaningful relationships, engaging in community, and practicing vocational discernment.
With competing priorities, uncertainty of an ever-changing world, and pressures of high school, young people are being pulled in so many directions. We invite young people to spend a week living on campus with other high school students celebrating the gifts that make you - YOU! And wondering together about how God is calling you into the world to use those gifts for the common good.
Support the mission of Augsburg University, including initiatives like the Augsburg Youth Theology Institute.
Student Journals
Following every Youth Theology Institute, students share about their experience through essays they construct related to the particular theme. The essays are compiled into journals to be resources for the wider community.
"Church is not a simple place of religion and redemption to me, but a place and sense of community, to come together in our differences and diversity to become one in God's eyes."
-Peter Mckenzie
"Though it may not be an obvious commonality, queer people, Jesus, and communion are all connected by the notion of hybridity and the idea that hybridity applies to each of them."
-Kye Hobart
Children, Youth, and Family Ministers
We want to work together with you in order to support you as you build up leaders in your communities.
"It gave me hope in the next generation of Christians. You hear all the time about how God hates, but at the camp I was just surrounded by people ready to debunk that and love everyone. Overall, the experience was something I wish everyone could experience."
Lois Campbell
2017 Participant
"I loved meeting new people, trying new foods, and learning about new theologies and ways of thinking/viewing the world. Those new experiences meant a lot to me, and getting to do it with a great group of people was even better!"
Ollie Kalthoff
2017 Participant