About - The Institute for Youth Ministry

About the Institute for Youth Ministry

Princeton Theological Seminary established the Institute for Youth Ministry in 1995, providing fertile ground where a new conversation about theologically informed youth ministry could take root and flourish. Committed to integrating theology and practice, The Institute for Youth Ministry (IYM) collaborates with church leaders, congregations, scholars, and adolescents to promote the strategic importance and practice of ministry with young people from early adolescence through college age. The IYM seeks to revitalize ministry with adolescents by helping the church integrate youth ministry into the total mission of the congregation and by encouraging a theologically rich approach to this ministry.

The IYM initiates and integrates research related to the church’s mission with young people through offering programs, events, and resources for leadership development. Princeton Theological Seminary’s professors and doctoral students intersect with the work of the IYM through research in practical theology as well as lectures at Forums and in the online classroom.

Staff

Abigail Visco Rusert | Director

Abigail has had the opportunity to work with youth on three continents and in six churches. Ordained in the PC (USA), she served most recently as the Associate Pastor at Carmel Presbyterian Church in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Abigail is a graduate of Valparaiso University (music/theology) and Princeton Theological Seminary. She and her husband, Thomas, live in Doylestown, Pennsylvania with their daughters, Dorothy and Solveig.

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Megan DeWald | Assistant Director

Megan has been a devoted practitioner of youth and young adult ministry in a variety of contexts and traditions, from camps and congregations to nonprofits and social movements. Prior to working at the Institute for Youth Ministry, Megan served as the Site Coordinator of the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer Program in Nashville, Tennessee. Believing in the power of personal story to transcend the boundaries we build between us, Megan is also a writer, poet, activist, and musician. She is a graduate of Houston’s University of St. Thomas (communication) and of Princeton Theological Seminary.

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Student Staff

Cogan Blackmon | Ashley Hamel | Brandon Schoeneweis | Greg Rapier | Bridget Wendell

Mailing Address
Institute for Youth Ministry
Princeton Theological Seminary
P.O. Box 821 Princeton, NJ 08542-0803
Phone Number
609.497.7914

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THE INSTITUTE FOR YOUTH MINISTRY