{"id":6762,"date":"2016-03-18T17:44:55","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T17:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/?p=6762"},"modified":"2020-03-27T14:46:03","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T14:46:03","slug":"exploration-of-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/2016\/03\/18\/exploration-of-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"An exploration of faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cJesus is in the generosity business,\u201d said Amber Kalina \u201915<\/strong> when she quoted from Walter Brueggeman\u2019s theology of abundance at an Augsburg College chapel service. \u201cThat means being constantly alert to any mismatch between the generosity of God and the needs of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certainly, Augsburg was given a great and generous gift this winter when the College was awarded a prestigious three-year Lilly Endowment Inc. grant <\/a>of $467,000 for the Youth Theology Institute. This residential summer camp program explores deep and meaningful questions of faith and vocation through classes, service work, and reflection. The competitive grant ensures that this program will continue the work of helping young people discern their vocations.<\/p>\n

Kalina\u2019s homily was part of a visit to her home state of Minnesota to pursue the next step in her vocational journey: Attending seminary to become ordained as a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.<\/p>\n

The journey of this youth and family ministry graduate, however, started in the the summer of 2010 when she was a junior in high school in Perham, Minnesota. It was then that she attended Augsburg\u2019s Youth Theology Institute at the encouragement of her youth pastor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would grill my youth director about everything. He had heard about the Augsburg College Youth Theology Institute, and he encouraged me to attend because I just couldn\u2019t stop asking questions,\u201d Kalina said. \u201cAt the Institute, I was challenged and pushed to think about and explain what I actually think about faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diverse experiences\u00a0in a diverse ZIP code<\/h4>\n

The 13-year-old Youth Theology Institute engages young people in grades 10-12 in deep theological questions and vocational discernment through community-based and classroom learning, worship, reflection, and solitude. The program, which has touched more than 200 young people since its inception, is an example of how Augsburg College lives out its vision to educate people for lives of purpose across disciplines and beyond the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis grant supports Augsburg\u2019s continued commitment to intentional diversity and to modeling what it means to be a Lutheran college of the 21st century, located in the heart of one of the nation\u2019s most diverse ZIP codes. It equips young people with theological and vocational skills and helps them learn what it means to practice their faith, with its commitments to education, radical hospitality, and serving your neighbor,\u201d said Augsburg College President Paul Pribbenow.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Learn, pray, and play together \u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

Since its inception in 2004, the Youth Theology Institute\u2014a program of Augsburg\u2019s Bernhard M. Christensen Center for Vocation\u2014has explored themes germane not only to the College, but also to current events.<\/p>\n

Augsburg\u2019s emphasis on interdisciplinary learning shaped the 2015 program, which explored interfaith action, a deeply compelling topic for participants and the College, particularly given Augsburg\u2019s setting in the midst of a neighborhood with a growing Muslim population.<\/p>\n

The Lilly grant will allow the Augsburg College Youth Theology Institute to expand upon its history of success while increasing programmatic goals, including:<\/p>\n