The Youth Theological Initiative offers a one-week residential summer academy for rising 10th-12th graders. Teens explore their own questions about faith, justice, and their place in the world. While our expertise is rooted in Christian traditions, teens of any faith are welcomed and valued for the perspectives they bring. YTI provides scholarly tools teens can use to make sense of their own faith. For 30 years many have considered the YTI Summer Academy a pivotal life experience.
Do you wish people who believe different things could really talk to each other? For 30 years, alumni of YTI have described the life-changing impact of getting to know and care about peers who come from different backgrounds and belief systems. At YTI, teens can ask questions about faith without fear of being judged, while exploring their role in making the world better for all of us.
The Youth Theological Initiative was founded at Emory in 1993. We offer a one-week, residential summer academy on Emory’s campus where diverse teenagers experience college campus life while exploring their questions about God, faith, and the world. The YTI Summer Academy aims to empower young people by providing space where they can explore their most important questions about faith and the world alongside peers who share their interests and adults with theological training.
Our program is rooted in Christian traditions and is at the same time radically inclusive. Youth of any faith are welcome. The goal of YTI is not to lead youth to particular beliefs, but to provide theological tools they can use to make sense of their own faith. YTI teen scholars come from a vast spectrum of theological views and racial and cultural backgrounds.
The Summer Academy is a unique experience where youth can experience deep belonging in the midst of this diversity. Over 1000 high school students have attended YTI’s Summer Academy. Our alumni have become activists, ministers, professors, scientists, writers, you name it. One YTI scholar was part of a team that won the Nobel Peace Prize! Regardless of what they go on to do in the world, alumni often say that the YTI Summer Academy was a turning point in their lives where they started on the path of finding their purpose and a deeper understanding of themselves, their faith, and the world.
