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DECEMBER 2021
The Christian Recorder
THECHRISTIANRECORDER.COM
RESPONDING TO OUR YOUNG PEOPLE IN STRESSFUL TIMES By Dr. Betty Holley, Contributing Writer
During my years as an educator, I have always been observant of young people, especially in times of challenge. Since the onset of the coronavirus, young people have had to endure a plethora of stressful circumstances: homelessness, living in insecure family situations, living with traumas from early childhood, making life choices, and lacking a solid network around them to gain comfort, a sizable proportion of teenagers and young adults in church life being challenged by questions of identity; just to name a few. I share this arsenal of observations under the umbrella of “stressful times.” Stress, according to Lazarus & Folkman, in Stress Appraisal and Coping, is “… the negative emotional and physiological process that occurs as individuals try to adjust to or deal with environmental circumstances that disrupt, or threaten to disrupt, their daily function.” These observations are not just my own private observations. Studies show trends in 2018 to the present, young people are being confronted with great expectations from their environment (schools, parents, etc.), pressure to achieve, and the complicatedness of finding out who they are when the concept of identity is more and more liquid because of a highly fragmented world with an enormous number of subgroups and temporary choices. Concern for young people’s survival during these stressful times must become a
goal of the African Methodist Episcopal Church if we want to close the exit door of our youth departing from our denomination!
attentive to each other to experience reciprocal relationships.
How can educators in faith communities, whether parent or teacher, pastor, Missionary/YPD director, or Christian Education director, understand today’s young people in these stressful times? How can they serve young people with contexts of identity formation that fit their deepest needs? Young people are indeed challenged with all kinds of stressors, but at the same time, they bring to life an attitude of innocence, open-mindedness, boldness, and energy which can help them to really encounter each other. Learning in encounter offers a basic and promising approach to learning for Christian educators in both schools and faith communities.
Learning in encounter requires three simple steps: Observing, listening, and learning b language. First, we must bbecome observant off our young people. Intentional observing must be employed to allow young people to know that they are not invisible by creating activities to allow them just to be themselves and have center stage during the activity from start to finish. Second, we must remain intentional in listening to let our young people know that they are indeed being heard. As adults, we must create listening activities and allow youth to engage in conversation, respond directly to their questions, ask for their help about particular matters, and take their advice on solutions to the issue or concern. Finally, we must intentionally learn their language as a way to communicate with our young people.
Learning in encounter is a form of social support, a coping strategy in times of stress that presents an opportunity for understanding the other as part of a reciprocal process. Learning in encounter helps to develop empathy and tolerance for the other. Life is all about establishing relationships. Without others, young people, especially, cannot become themselves. They cannot experience relationships alone. In order to help young people be authentic, a more relational approach is needed. In stressful times, particularly, we must take time to engage our young people to be
CONGRATULATORY ANNOUNCEMENTS
These three steps can serve as points of departure to have a learning encounter that could be the start of an innovative approach in working with our young people. We must readjust our identities to make space for our young people to hopefully help them get through these stressful times.❏ ❏ ❏
NOVEMBER 2021
*Purple font connotes Episcopal Family; Red font, General Officers; and Blue font, Connectional Officers. Dr. Thema S. Bryant-Davis Elected President of The American Psychological Association
Dr. Thema Bryant-Davis completed her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Duke University and her post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical Center’s Victims of Violence Program. Upon graduating, she became the coordinator of the Princeton University SHARE Program, which provides intervention and prevention programming to combat sexual assault, sexual harassment, and harassment based on sexual orientation. She is currently a tenured professor of psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University, where she directs the Culture and Trauma Research Laboratory. Her clinical and research interests center on interpersonal trauma and the societal trauma of oppression. She is a past president of the Society for the Psychology of Women and a past APA representative to the United Nations. Dr. Thema also served on the APA Committee on International Relations in Psychology and the Committee on Women in Psychology. The American Psychological Association honored her for Distinguished Early Career Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest in 2013. The Institute of Violence, Abuse, and Trauma honored her with their media award for the film Psychology of Human Trafficking in 2016 and the Institute honored her with the Donald Fridley Memorial Award for excellence in mentoring in the field of trauma in 2018. The California Psychological Association honored her for Distinguished Scientific Achievement in Psychology in
2015. She is the editor of the APA text Multicultural Feminist Therapy: Helping Adolescent Girls of Color to Thrive. She is one of the foundational scholars on the topic of the trauma of racism and in 2020, she gave an invited keynote address on the topic at APA. In 2020, the International Division of APA honored her for her International Contributions to the Study of Gender and Women for her work in Africa and the Diaspora. Dr. Thema has raised public awareness regarding mental health by extending the reach of psychology beyond the academy and private therapy office through community programming and media engagement, including but not limited to Headline News, National Public Radio, and CNN. Having earned a Master of Divinity, Dr. Thema is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She directs the mental health ministry at First AME Church in South Los Angeles. Dr. Thema also utilizes sacred dance and spoken word in therapy, community forums, and faith communities. A member of the Association of Black Psychologists, she incorporates culturally based interventions in her teaching, research, and practice. Dr. Thema is the host of the Homecoming Podcast, a mental health podcast to facilitate your journey home to your authentic self. Dr. Thema is the daughter of retired Bishop John Richard Bryant and Episcopal Supervisor, the Rev. Cecelia Williams Bryant. She is the mother of two children, Ife and Ayo. Congratulatory messages can be emailed to: info@ drthema.com - Dr. Bryant-Davis • Bishopjohn4th@
aol.com - Bishop John R. Bryant • Queenakosua@ hotmail.com - The Rev. Dr. Cecelia Williams Bryant AME Church General Counsel Douglass P. Selby named managing partner of the Atlanta office of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. Established in 1988, the Atlanta office combines the advantages of an international platform with the accessibility of a local firm, with lawyers providing clients with a complete range of legal services, including highlyranked public finance, commercial lending, litigation, and complex corporate transaction practices. Selby’s long-time practice focuses on public finance, including serving as bond and disclosure counsel to issuers and underwriters, counsel to investment banks for governmental and private activity bonds, and corporate representation of governmental authorities as outside general counsel. He has earned a reputation as a highly effective and trusted dealmaker. Selby has spent the entirety of his 26-year legal career in the Atlanta office of Hunton Andrews Kurth, perfectly positioning him to drive the enhancement and growth of the firm’s Atlanta practice. In addition to his new role as managing partner, Selby also sits on the Atlanta office’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. “We are grateful for Doug’s clear investment in and commitment to the firm’s Atlanta office and look forward to his continued leadership in this new role,” said Wally Martinez, Hunton Andrews Kurth managing partner. “His exceptional practice, commitment to client service, strong firm relationships, and deep engagement with the Atlanta community make him the right person to lead our Atlanta office.” ...continued on p25
