Karen-Marie Yust
Josiah P. and Anne Wilson Rowe Professor of Christian Education
Email: kmyust@upsem.edu
Phone: 804-278-4203
Location: Richmond
Department: Christian Education
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Email: kmyust@upsem.edu
Phone: 804-278-4203
Location: Richmond
Department: Christian Education
Harvard University, Th.D.
Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, M.Div.
Trinity University, B.A.
My work focuses on nurturing spirituality and encouraging theological reflection intergenerationally and across the lifespan. My current research explores the effects of digital culture on spirituality, particularly among children, youth and young adults. I draw from findings in media studies, developmental psychology, and educational theory to describe how online participation shapes personal identity and communal relationships and then reflect theologically on how the Church might respond constructively to the realities of contemporary life. I wonder about new findings in young children’s moral development that suggest infants and toddlers have moral sensibilities that adults can cultivate through encouraging curiosity and expanding social ideals of kinship to encompass better our human diversity.
I am also exploring the changing dynamics of congregational life and asking how these changes offer opportunities to develop new approaches to faith formation and new foci for educational ministries. I am interested in taking Christian education outside traditional programs to other venues, such as online sites and non-religious gathering spaces.
An experienced pastor and Christian educator, I am ordained with dual standing in the United Church of Christ and Disciples traditions.
Karen-Marie Yust, Real Kids, Real Faith: Practices for Nurturing Children's Spiritual Lives (Jossey-Bass)
Karen-Marie Yust, Taught By God: Teaching and Spiritual Formation (Chalice Press)
Karen-Marie Yust, Nurturing Child and Adolescent Spirituality: Perspectives from the World's Religious Traditions (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers)
Dr. Karen-Marie Yust, Attentive to God: Spirituality in the Church Committee (Chalice Press)
Karen-Marie Yust, Digital power: exploring the effects of social media on children's spirituality (International Journal of Children's Spirituality)
Karen-Marie Yust, The Case Study Fishbowl (Teaching Theology and Religion)