Home > Emmanuel Research Review > Issue No. 15 > Issue No.
15 SupplementSupplement to Issue No. 15, March 22,
2006
Issue No. 15 main article | Research
Review index | Emmanuel Gospel Center
Wisdom for Urban Youth Ministry
Youth Ministry Summit, Boston, February 3, 2006Dubbed “An Evening with Wisdom,” the Summit featured seven individuals or couples who took ten minutes each to discuss the question, “What have you learned from your years in youth ministry that you’d like to pass on to younger youth workers.”
Biographical Sketches
The following provides brief biographical sketches of our panelists. Please see Issue No. 15 main article for the full text of the discussion.
Zina Jacque, emcee
listed in the order of their presentations:
Gail Borgman
Dean Borgman
Chris Troy
Harold Sparrow
Katani Sumner
Chris Sumner
Mercedes Miranda
Roberto Miranda
Karin Wall
Bruce Wall
Ray Hammond
Gloria White-Hammond
Gail Powers Borgman received her bachelor’s degree from Gordon College and her MSW from Fordham University. She is a certified psychiatric social worker with specialties in crisis counseling and abuse counseling, along with adult children of alcoholics and cross-cultural issues. Gail was in a variety of private practices for 25 years and is now a senior therapist at Gordon College Counseling Center, Wenham, Mass. For many years, she has taught workshops for Young Life, at Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya, and in South Africa. Gail is married to Professor Dean Borgman and has four children and six grandchildren.
Professor Borgman holds the Culpepper Chair of Youth Ministries at the Center for Urban Ministerial Education (CUME), Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s urban campus in Boston. He is also founder and director of the Center for Youth Studies, a national and global network of those interested in the research of adolescents and the youth culture. His areas of expertise include urban and cross-cultural youth ministry, the changing youth culture, and counseling adolescents.
Born in Bridgeport, Professor Borgman earned a Bachelor of Arts at Wheaton College and a Master of Arts degree in education at Fairfield University. He did extensive doctoral studies in history, education, and philosophy at Columbia University. From Northeastern University, Professor Borgman received the Certificate of Advanced Graduate Standing in clinical counseling and community psychology. He has taught history and social sciences in New Canaan High School and New York City Community College and was instructor of history and chairman of the social sciences division at Cuttington College in Liberia, Africa. For one year he served as the educational director of street academies for the New York Urban League.Professor Borgman is best known for his leadership in the area of youth work. He was co-leader of a large youth group in Connecticut and established Young Life in New England before serving several years as a streetworker on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. There, he established Young Life’s Urban Training Institute and became a regional director of Young Life’s Metro-East Region. For eight summers during this period, he was a director and speaker for two of Young Life’s camps. With his wife, Gail, a clinical social worker, he serves as an international consultant and workshop leader. Every other year, he is professor of record for a team-taught month-long course at Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya.
Dean Borgman has written, “A History of American Youth Ministry” for Benson’s and Senter’s The Complete Book of Youth Ministries. For fifteen years, he has written for the Encyclopedia of Youth Studies (also published as Youthworker’s Encyclopedia). He also produced Implications, the Center for Youth Studies’ journal of practical research. His texts, When Kumbaya is not Enough: A Practical Theology for Youth Ministry (Hendrickson, 1997)and Hear My Story: Understanding the Cries of Troubled Youth (Hendrickson, 2003) are being used in many colleges and seminaries. Besides articles on youth culture and youth work in several magazines, he has contributed to Disorganized Religion (Kujawa, ed., 1998) and co-edited with Christine Cook, Agenda for Youth Ministry (SPCK, 1998). His chapter “The Code of the Streets” appears in Scott Larson’s (ed.) City Lights: Ministry Essentials for Reaching Urban Youth (Group, 2003).
Dean wants to make sure you check out and make use of his website for The Center for Youth Studies, now with the Urban Workers’ Institute.
http://www.centerforyouth.org/ Center for Youth Studies
http://www.younglife.org/ Young LifeChris Troy is committed to instilling hope, vision, and a positive future in the lives of young people. In doing so, he integrates his personal mission statement: “To influence individuals, communities and societal systems on behalf of and toward the Kingdom of God,” with the mission statement of his current ministry at The Boston Urban Youth Foundation, “To help young people develop spiritually, emotionally, academically and economically."
Chris Troy was born in New York City and raised in St. Paul, Minn. At age 19, he committed his life to Christ during drug treatment. During college he participated in Young Life College, St. Paul, Minn., from 1979-85 when he graduated from Bethel University with a degree in Biblical Studies. Since then he has also studied at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary.
Chris moved to Boston in 1985 and served as Area Director of Young Life Urban Boston from 1985-1992. In 1992, in collaboration with community leaders, he founded The Boston Urban Youth Foundation where he currently serves as President.
The Boston Urban Youth Foundation is the only truancy prevention program in Boston. The ministry of The Boston Urban Youth Foundation has touched the lives of over 500 youth, including 52 currently in college and 24 college graduates since 2001.
http://www.buyf.org/ Boston Urban Youth Foundation
Harold Sparrow is a visionary leader whose actions have exemplified his commitment to empowering the community. A resident of Hyde Park, Mass., he received his Masters Degree in Education from Cambridge College. He has dedicated the last decade to improving social conditions through a variety of nonprofit programs.
In the early 1990’s, Harold developed community prevention and programming at the Medical Foundation Prevention Center in Boston, focusing on Public Health promotions in Alcohol, Tobacco, and other Drug and Violence Prevention. Prior to that he implemented and managed the after school program, “Positive Futures,” a curriculum-based program for minority males within the Boston Public School system that promoted education, self-esteem, and values clarification through the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts.
In 1996, Harold Sparrow became the Executive Director of the Roxbury YMCA Family Branch. In 2001, Sparrow was awarded the “Golden Triangle Award” for programmatic excellence from the Association of Professional Directors of the YMCA. Sparrow received the Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s African-American Achievement Award in 2002. That same year Sparrow became the Executive Director of The Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, Inc. (BMA), a forty year-old coalition of 80 churches whose mission is to provide spiritual nurturing for clergy, advocacy and program services for the larger Black community. His successful strategies continue to display a solid record of accomplishment in building the infrastructure needed to support the organizational growth and change.
http://www.bmaboston.org/ The Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, Inc.
Katani tried to do what was expected of a young, bright, and gifted Brown University graduate; she became an executive in a large, well-known corporation. In fact, she became the first African-American Unit Manager in New England in the history of this corporation. Despite her successes, deep down inside Katani felt that her most precious gift was the gift of song. Everyone who hears Katani experiences her undeniable talents, her vitality, confidence and intelligence, and now with a Master’s Degree from Harvard in hand, she still pursues the musical aspirations that lie deep within.
Katani’s talents and experiences are far reaching in the areas of singing (Gospel, Jazz, R&B), theatrical productions (as featured performer as well as producer, director, or vocal arranger), and most recently as the “Inspirational MC” at the Original House of Blues’ Gospel Brunch in Harvard Sq., Cambridge. Katani was a featured artist at the House of Blues as well as the M.C. from October of 1993 until its closure in 2003. Gospel brunch fans can now see her regularly at Jasper White’s Summer Shack in Cambridge.
http://www.katani.org/ Katani’s music website
Byron Christopher (Chris) Sumner is a graduate of Boston’s English High School, where he was well known for his outstanding athletic abilities. Looking past his issues of scholastic literacy, his exceptional skills in the sport of basketball and football led him to be heavily recruited by the major colleges and universities across the country. Chris decided to attend University of Prince Edward Island, Canada, where he received national rookie of the year honor and first team all conference. He then transferred to Acadia University in Nova Scotia. There he played basketball and became first team All Canadian three consecutive years. Mr. Sumner later finished his B.S. degree in Human Services.
Chris is an overcomer. To achieve his destiny, he has had to conquer many obstacles including, but not limited to poverty, abuse, dyslexia, illiteracy, prejudice and the lack of a father figure. His accomplishments over the last two decades have been an encouraging testimony to the young men and woman he has mentored. A dynamic teacher and educator, Mr. Sumner is known for his practical and innovative leadership and has helped to ignite a movement in the hearts of young people throughout the city of Boston.
Chris served as the Executive Director of the Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club of Boston, following successful tenures as the Program Director for the Boston Urban Youth Foundation Truancy Program and Executive Director for the I Have A Dream Foundation of Boston, for four years, respectively. Under his leadership, the Blue Hill Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston has seen incomparable achievements in social development, education initiatives and health and wellness programs. He has received countless citations from government officials of the City of Boston, to include Honorable Mayor Thomas Menino and Congresswoman Diane Wilkerson. Staff and community stakeholder alike revere him for his “touch-ability", within the faith-based and community-based organizations.
Having served as an urban pastor and a motivational speaker, Chris has encouraged people to develop spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally, and economically. His animated and powerful holistic teaching, along with his sidesplitting humor, has helped youth and adults to maximize and catapult into their proven destinies. Chris has truly grown to be one of Boston’s great success stories.
Chris is passionate about echoing his love for his family to the world. He is the loving husband of 19 years to Mrs. Katani Alexandria Sumner and father to Kandice Ayanna Sumner, age 17, Kortney Adiya Sumner, age13, and Kristian Annie Sumner, age 9.
http://www.bostontenpoint.org/ Boston Ten Point Coalition
Mercedes Miranda works as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist. She and her husband, Roberto, have pastored the Congregación León de Judá, a Latino church in Boston, since 1985. At Lion of Judah, she has served as Director of Women’s Ministries for fourteen years and leads the growing counseling ministry currently focused on preparing couples for marriage. Mercedes and Roberto delight in being the parents of Sonia and Abigail.
leondejuda.org Lion of Judah Congregation
Rev. Dr. Roberto Miranda is the Senior Pastor of the Congregación León de Judá in Boston, where he has pastored since 1985. His education includes a degree in International Relations from Princeton University and Masters and Doctorate Degrees from Harvard University in Hispanic American Literature. Dr. Miranda has received several academic honors. However, he considers his role as a servant of the Lord to the highest honor in his life.
Ordained with Conservative Baptists in 1986, Dr. Miranda has since devoted himself to full time pastoral ministry where he considers his involvement and leadership in various local, national, Christian and secular community organizations to be an extension of his pastoral ministry and vision for the Lion of Judah Congregation.
Dr. Miranda’s preaching and teaching engagements have taken him to many places around the world including visits to the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Czech Republic, and Russia. His sermon recordings have reached many other Latin American countries. Dr. Miranda frequently speaks across the United States in conferences for pastors and lay leaders.
leondejuda.org Lion of Judah Congregation
Karin M. Wall, MSW, LICSW, is executive director of Bruce Wall Ministries in Boston and co-pastor of Global Ministries Christian Church (formerly Dorchester Temple Baptist Church). Prior to that she worked in the areas of child welfare, adoption, as a policy analyst for the Dept. of Health and Human Services, and as Director of Admissions for Boston University School of Social Work.
Bruce Wall Ministries was founded by her husband, Rev. Dr. Bruce H. Wall. The mission of the organization is to foster and accentuate hope through the gospel message of a future to children, youth, and families primarily in the Boston area. In line with this, Bruce Wall Ministries has an afterschool program, youth employment and leadership development, a computer technology center that offers classes and free access to the community, and works with ex-offenders. The ministry also maintains an active presence in the community through outreach in neighborhoods, a collaborative effort that includes a neighborhood festival and other activities.
Karin and Bruce have three children, two sons and a daughter, ages 17, 14 and 10. Originally from New York, she came to Boston in 1977 to pursue her college education. Her undergraduate degree is in psychology. Her graduate degrees are in social work and African American studies.
globalministriesboston.org Global Ministries Christian Church
http://www.prephosting.org/bwministries// Bruce Wall MinistriesRev. Dr. Bruce Wall is Senior Pastor of Global Ministries Christian Church in Dorchester, Mass. and founder of Bruce Wall Ministries. He has an earned doctorate from the Center for Urban Ministerial Education, the urban extension of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He has extensive experience in the juvenile court system.
Bruce Wall Ministries began by offering court advocacy support to those involved in juvenile court proceedings, assisted families with counseling and after school tutoring mobilization efforts to underserved communities. Today Bruce Wall Ministries is a multi-service, multi-level outreach that responds to various needs of youth and families in the inner city of Boston. It accomplishes its goals through after school discipleship and tutoring programs, summer intern programs for youth completing grades 9-12, and its PREP Community Computer Center.
globalministriesboston.org Global Ministries Christian Church
http://www.prephosting.org/bwministries// Bruce Wall MinistriesRev. Dr. Ray Hammond was born and raised in Philadelphia, the eldest son of a Baptist minister and a schoolteacher. He was educated in the public schools of Philadelphia and went on to graduate from Harvard College and Harvard Medical School. He completed his surgical residency at the New England Deaconess Hospital (Boston) and joined the Emergency Medicine staff at the Cape Cod Hospital (Hyannis, Mass.).
Pastor Hammond accepted the call to the preaching ministry in 1976 and completed his Master of Arts degree in the Study of Religion (Christian and Medical Ethics) at Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1982. In 1988 he was called to be the founder and pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston.
Pastor Hammond has a long history of involvement with youth and community activities. He is Chairman and Co-Founder of the Boston TenPoint Coalition-an ecumenical group of Christian clergy and lay leaders working to mobilize the greater Boston community around issues affecting black youth; Executive Director, Bethel’s Generation Excel program; Chairman, Boston Foundation; Vice President for Membership, Boy Scouts Minuteman Council (Boston); Executive Committee Member, Black Ministerial Alliance; trustee of Catholic Charities of Boston, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, the Yawkey Foundation, and other religious, community, academic and policy organizations. He is also a Director for The Boston Globe and Citizens Bank of MA. He continues to work in local and district youth activities in the AME Church.
He is the husband of the Rev. Dr. Gloria White-Hammond and the father of two daughters, Mariama and Adiya.http://www.bethelame.org/index.html Bethel AME Church
Rev. Dr. Gloria E. White-Hammond, M.D. has been the Co-Pastor of Bethel AME Church in Boston since 1997 and a pediatrician at the South End Community Health Center since 1981.
Rev. White-Hammond has a long history of involvement in community service. She is the founder of and consultant to the church-based creative writing/mentoring ministry called “Do The Write Thing” for high-risk black adolescent females. The project, which began in 1994 with four girls, now serves over 550 young women through small groups in two Boston public schools, two juvenile detention facilities in Boston, and on site at Bethel AME Church. Gloria is past co-chair of the Faith in Action Committee of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay. Since 1997 this committee has contributed 2.5 million dollars to faith-based initiatives that address the needs of high-risk children and youth. She currently serves on the Women’s Health Leadership Forum of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Board of Visitors for the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union, as well as the boards of the American Anti-Slavery Group, Christian Solidarity International and the Winsor School.
Dr. White-Hammond’s work as a humanitarian has achieved global impact. She has worked as a medical missionary in several African countries including South Africa, Cote D’Ivoire and Botswana. In 2001, Gloria traveled to southern Sudan where she was involved in obtaining the freedom of 10,000 women and children who were enslaved during the two decades long civil war. In 2002, she founded My Sister’s Keeper, a human rights group organized to support women of southern Sudan in their efforts toward the reconciliation and reconstruction of their communities.Gloria was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Boston University, a Doctorate of Medicine from Tufts Medical School and a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School.
Since 1973, Rev. Gloria has been married to the Rev. Ray A. Hammond, M.D., who is the founding pastor of Bethel AME Church, the Chairman of the Boston Ten Point Coalition and the Chairman of the Boston Foundation. They are the parents of two daughters, Mariama and Adiya.http://www.bethelame.org/index.html Bethel AME Church
Rev. Zina Jacque (emcee) is the founder and former executive director of the Pastoral Counseling Center of Trinity Church, Boston. The Center was created to provide men and women of faith a place to come and receive quality counseling from mental health professionals in an atmosphere that honors and utilizes faith as one of the tools to achieve a healthy mental state.
Rev. Jacque has served as the Protestant Chaplain for Bentley College, Waltham, Mass.; the Director of Christian Education for the First Baptist Church of Melrose; the Executive Director for the Boston TenPoint Coalition; and, before coming to the northeast, she enjoyed a 17-year career as a college admission and financial aid officer, holding admission and financial aid positions at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of California Santa Cruz, and Mills College. Rev. Jacque has completed her Doctorate in Practical Theology at Boston University and holds degrees from Northwestern University (BA), Columbia University (MA) and Boston University (M.Div).
Rev. Jacque is married to Andre Bell and is the mother of Tiffany and Christian, and the grandmother of Devon Casey.
http://www.trinityboston.org/ned_pst.asp The Pastoral Counseling Center at Trinity Church in Boston
Issue No. 15 main article | Research Review index | Emmanuel Gospel Center
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