Youth Ministry (Major/Minor)

Do you want to be a part of a disciple-making movement with teens?

Do you feel most alive when you’re involved in relational ministry? If you have a passion for people and for God, and want to know Him and make Him known, consider Taylor’s Youth Ministry major. You’ll learn to reach young people for Christ through building relationships, binding their wounds, and proclaiming the gospel.

The Youth Ministry major combines Scripture, theology, and ministry engagement with a rigorous education. Throughout your time at Taylor, you will dig into adolescent ministry opportunities—working with teens, equipping them to claim their Christian faith as their own, and encouraging them to grow as disciples and disciple-makers.

Youth Ministry Degrees

  • BA in Youth Ministry
  • BS in Youth Ministry/Systems
  • Minor in Youth Ministry
  • Degree
  • Minor

View Curriculum

Build Skills In:

  • Engaging with specific, difficult issues facing youth today
  • Reaching teens with solid biblical truth
  • Discipling teens within their cultural contexts
  • Understanding adolescent psychology

Career Opportunities:

  • Youth minister
  • Urban ministry
  • Missional community leader
  • Chaplain
  • Family ministry
  • Sports evangelist
  • Pastor
  • Counselor
  • Camp director
View Biblical Studies, Christian Ministries, Intercultural Studies & Philosophy Department
View Faculty

Formational Degree, Transformational Impact

95%
graduates are in full-time ministry 6 weeks after graduation
20+
mission trips and local outreach opportunities
Meet ministry leaders in the field
4+1
Spend 4 semesters and a summer in department-approved ministry

Why Study Youth Ministry at Taylor?

We develop the whole person, not just focus on academics. We’ll help you discover your calling and then guide you to develop into the person who can effectively minister within that calling.

Youth Ministry Curriculum Guides & Degree Options

Youth Ministry majors automatically earn a Biblical Literature minor. More than half of our students choose Biblical Literature as a second major. Exceptional Greek and Hebrew options are available.

Students interested in course descriptions and academic policies can check out our Undergraduate Catalog.

A Taylor liberal arts education will prepare you to live and work in a fast-changing world. It also goes a step further: laying a strong spiritual foundation that cultivates wisdom. You’ll become a well-versed individual, equipped with critical thinking skills, a lifelong love of learning, and an appreciation for God’s creation.

View Foundational Core Curriculum.

The Bible Comes to Life

Through academic January term trips, you can experience the Holy Land and other biblical locations while also earning course credit.  

  • Holy Land Studies J-Term Trip

    The Holy Land Studies trip is based on the campus of Jerusalem University and goes throughout the Holy Land. You’ll travel to Galilee and visit the traditional locations of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. Explore Bethlehem, Nazareth, Caesarea Philippi, and Caesarea Maritima where Paul was imprisoned before his trip to Rome. This January term course fulfills a foundational Bible credit or as a Bible elective. 

    Learn More

  • Footsteps of Paul

    This three-week trip to Greece and Italy during J-Term covers a core Bible credit. The trip focuses on Paul’s letters to various churches either sent to or from cities in Greece and Italy during his second and third missionary journeys. Students visit key sites including Thessaloniki, Athens, Corinth, and Rome. 

    Learn More

  • Aaron Crull

    Class of 2016

    “My time at Taylor equipped me with the knowledge needed to have a healthy start in full-time ministry. I learned that ministry is more than just knowledge and skill.”

Connections with Faculty & Students

Youth ministry students are very relationally connected through retreats, dinners with faculty, upperclassmen mentoring, and small groups. You can expect contact between students and professors who have strong ministry experience and the highest level of advanced degrees.

Learn by Doing Ministry

From the start of freshman year, you’ll be in hands-on ministry. Your interactive classes and biblical theology courses will show you how the biblical stories give context to present-day ministry.

You’ll receive an in-depth understanding of youth ministry, focusing on spiritual formation, adolescent psychology, youth culture, and cross-cultural service and experiential learning. You will also develop strategies for teaching, one-on-one discipleship, and community engagement.

You’ll complete four semesters of a department-approved ministry and a summer in full-time ministry. You will also participate in a capstone trip that exposes you to dozens of ministries and over 100 key Christian leaders, all while shaping your personal ministry philosophy.

Minor in Youth Ministry

If you’re passionate about discipling teens to follow Christ, consider a Youth Ministry minor. This minor pairs well with sports management, film and media, Biblical literature, orphans and vulnerable children, or communication majors.

Related Majors

Youth Ministry is part of the Biblical Studies, Christian Ministries, Intercultural Studies & Philosophy Department

Contact
May Young
Department Chair and Associate Professor of Biblical Studies

765-998-4786
email

Contact
Elissa Bennett
Biblical Studies, Christian Ministries, Intercultural Studies & Philosophy Program Assistant

765-998-5148
email

Go to the Department

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