Rev. Jill Olds on Youth Ministry, Mental Health, & the Value of Rest

The first thing to say is that this message isn't just for those who work in youth ministry. It is for parents, teachers, pastors, young people, church folks, non-church folks - everyone, really. The gift of youth ministry is that it is stock-full of lessons for all of us.

There is a push now - both in youth ministry and in the world in general - to be more creative, more innovative, and more everything. But Rev. Jill Olds is here with us to offer us a message rooted in the idea that we are all beloved. So much of what youth need, and what all of us need, is genuine connection and space to be vulnerable. We need to know it's okay to not be okay, it's okay to ask for what we need, and it's okay to rest. It's all about asking the question, what do I really need?  and then leaning into the answer.

As you listen to this episode, we pray you hold onto your belovedness, and that you know that you are not alone in all of this. It's okay to ask for what you need. It's okay to rest. You matter. You are loved.
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Rev. Jill Olds is the Director of the Youth Ministry Institute of Yale Divinity School. A graduate of Miami University with a degree in English Literature, Rev. Jill Olds went on to get her Masters of Divinity and a Masters of Arts in Youth Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. While a student at PTS, Rev. Jill served as the Youth Director for Sarang Community Church in Dutch Neck, NJ. During that time, Rev. Jill also was the Seminary Intern at the First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury, NJ, where she assisted in leading the middle and high school youth groups, and the church’s Confirmation classes. Rev. Jill was ordained through the United Church of Christ, and began her ministry as a hospital chaplain, serving in hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She was then called as the Associate Minister in UCC churches in Marblehead, MA and Tolland, CT, and was responsible for creating and teaching Confirmation class and for creating transformative mission and service opportunities for youth. Jill’s husband, Kevin, is an Episcopal priest in Fairfield and they have two sons, Zack and Tommy.