Our Blog

Disappointed

Disappointment is not something we often talk about in youthwork. A recent request to write a grove book on the subject forced me to think about it for the first time in a realistic and honest way. I realised that in my own life I had experienced profound disappointment with myself, with others on my team, with the church, with young people and sadly with myself and God. Thinking about my experiences made me realise how close to losing everything I had come.

Nigel Roberts - Lecturer

21st February 2023

Research…really?

We are meant to be curious, inquisitive. It is how God made us – wanting to understand, to know - God, His works, His world, His purposes, His creation, His presence, His love, His eternal dance, His Church, His people, His kingdom more fully. We are all researchers.

Dr. Graham Bright - Senior Lecturer

25th January 2023

What does a student get from doing a degree with CYM?

When I was a lad growing up in Glasgow, I was mentored in to youth ministry leadership through summer camps and volunteers in my local church. Faithful amateurs took me hill walking and canoeing, sat with my painful attempts to play in the church band and gave me mini-experiences of speaking up front, visiting the sick and planning bigger events.

Robin Smith - Course Director

21st December 2022

Why study theology?

The word theology derives from two Greek words, theos, which means God, and logos, which means word or words. Put simply, therefore, theology means words about God and that makes every person a theologian because everyone has words to describe God. Even the person who says there is no God has a theology, they are using words to describe him.

Dave Horsfall - Associate Tutor

30th November 2022

Giving Tuesday: a reflection from the Global south

This Giving Tuesday, we reflect on what giving means in other cultures. Our Director of Partnerships and Development has been in India for the last three months, living in a community in Orissa, India. Their family are supporting the charity Love the One, so Will has been working remotely. We asked him some questions about around giving in such a diverse place as India.

Will Munton - Director of Development and Partnership

29th November 2022

Senior Lecturer Rachel Turner’s new book

Our senior lecturer in children and family ministry, Rachel Turner, publishes her latest work 'Parenting Teens for a Life of Faith'.

This book will help all parents, carers, grandparents and others involved in teens’ everyday lives to understand the teenage faith journey more and find their place within it.

Chris Mason - Marketing Executive

25th October 2022

Understanding Chaplaincy as a Gift

Around twenty years ago, working as a director for a local Youth for Christ centre, I was given the chance to become a chaplain. At that time chaplains tended to be ordained and were most often found in the faith school and public school sector. I had no one to ask about the role and no training I could get to grips with. There were no books, no networks and no courses like those now running with CYM.

Nigel Roberts - Lecturer

28th September 2022

Scholarships Update - September 2022

We are in contact with a number of churches offering opportunities to study with us whilst earning a salary – yes, you heard that right! Find out more in this blog post.

Will Munton - Director of Development and Partnership

6th September 2022

What’s it like to have a CYM student on placement?

CYM students can study on a range of different pathways. At undergraduate level, they spend the first year exploring and discerning God’s call before embarking on a programme of study in Chaplaincy, Children’s and Family Ministry, Community Youth Work (with JNC) or Community Ministry. Our postgraduate students are able to study pathways in Christian Leadership in Context, Youth and Community Work, Children’s and Family Work and Chaplaincy. Within each of these pathways, our students are engaged in a rich array of practices.