CYMT Alumni and Staff Member Joins Preston Taylor Ministries as the New Executive Director
Nashville, TN, January 07, 2022 --(PR.com)-- The Center for Youth Ministry Training is excited to announce that one of our own, Dwight Johnson, will now lead Preston Taylor Ministries as the new Executive Director. Dwight is a graduate of Millsaps College where he received the Bachelor of Arts in music and is also a 2015 cum laude graduate of Memphis Theological Seminary through CYMT where he received his Master of Arts in Youth Ministry. Dwight has dedicated his life to youth and family ministry in both Amory, Mississippi where he is from and now Nashville, Tennessee.
Dwight will take over the reins of Preston Taylor Ministries which serves approximately 300 children and youth at eight after-school sites. PTM believes that to be successful in life, youth need to be connected to a caring adult, a positive peer group, a purpose, and educational opportunity. In order to help students grow in their sense of connectedness, PTM enlists over 300 volunteers to serve area youth weekly through a variety of academic, job development, and mentoring programs. The mission of PTM is to empower Preston Taylor children and youth to discover and live their God-inspired dreams, develop a love for learning, and build joy-filled friendships that glorify Christ Jesus.
In 2012, while interviewing for the CYMT Graduate Residency program, CYMT Executive Director Reverend Dietrich Kirk asked him what he felt called to do. Dwight responded by saying, “I’ve thought about being a principal or teacher because I know that education is the way out of poverty, but I also want to share with young people Jesus because He is the way to life.” Reverend Kirk then reached out to Preston Taylor Ministries Executive Director Chan Sheppard to see if they would be open to Dwight serving his residency at PTM where he could live into both of those goals. Through that partnership, God prepared Dwight to take on the mantle of PTM Executive Director. According to Reverend Kirk, “CYMT is extraordinarily proud of Dwight. Our hope for each resident is that they grow into who God has created them to be. We celebrate Dwight’s next step along this journey.”
Serving both in the local church and in parachurch organizations, Dwight loves working with teenagers, specifically middle schoolers and enjoys helping youth see their potential and reach their God-inspired dreams. He is the author of Black Boy Soar, a children’s book written to help inspire and encourage young people of color to dream big, know who they are and what they are capable of. During his time as a Graduate Resident with CYMT, Dwight served as the director of youth at Preston Taylor Ministries. “Working with a neighborhood non-profit youth ministry revealed to me a great need for a new, thoughtfully merged space for youth to think and talk about their faith differently while helping to lead the pursuit of social justice and racial equity at CYMT,” says Dwight Johnson. He joined the CYMT staff in September of 2020 as the Theology Together Director. As a different way to experience and do youth ministry, Theology Together seeks to educate youth workers in tandem with the teenagers with whom they minister to change the climate of youth ministry. “Over the past eighteen months, Dwight has launched and given structure to our Theology Together program. Under his leadership, we have expanded our curriculum and developed partnerships to deepen other ministries' capacity to do deep theological reflection with youth,” says Reverend Kirk.
CYMT offers a 3-year Graduate Residency to provide theological and practical training to those called to youth ministry. Residents gain hands-on experience by being placed in a local church to serve as their youth minister, while also earning a Master of Arts in Youth Ministry through one of CYMT’s partner seminaries. Residents receive full scholarship for tuition, books, housing, and utilities, as well as a $1000/month stipend. As the largest graduate program focused in youth ministry, CYMT’s mission is to equip theologically informed and practically trained youth ministers for the cultivation of thriving youth ministries and churches.
The Center for Youth Ministry Training is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that equips youth ministers and communities of faith to develop innovative, effective, and theologically informed ministries so youth may experience the love and grace of Jesus Christ.
To learn more about CYMT visit cymt.org. To learn more about PTM visit prestontaylorministries.org
The Center for Youth Ministry Training
309 Franklin Road
Brentwood, TN 37027
Dwight will take over the reins of Preston Taylor Ministries which serves approximately 300 children and youth at eight after-school sites. PTM believes that to be successful in life, youth need to be connected to a caring adult, a positive peer group, a purpose, and educational opportunity. In order to help students grow in their sense of connectedness, PTM enlists over 300 volunteers to serve area youth weekly through a variety of academic, job development, and mentoring programs. The mission of PTM is to empower Preston Taylor children and youth to discover and live their God-inspired dreams, develop a love for learning, and build joy-filled friendships that glorify Christ Jesus.
In 2012, while interviewing for the CYMT Graduate Residency program, CYMT Executive Director Reverend Dietrich Kirk asked him what he felt called to do. Dwight responded by saying, “I’ve thought about being a principal or teacher because I know that education is the way out of poverty, but I also want to share with young people Jesus because He is the way to life.” Reverend Kirk then reached out to Preston Taylor Ministries Executive Director Chan Sheppard to see if they would be open to Dwight serving his residency at PTM where he could live into both of those goals. Through that partnership, God prepared Dwight to take on the mantle of PTM Executive Director. According to Reverend Kirk, “CYMT is extraordinarily proud of Dwight. Our hope for each resident is that they grow into who God has created them to be. We celebrate Dwight’s next step along this journey.”
Serving both in the local church and in parachurch organizations, Dwight loves working with teenagers, specifically middle schoolers and enjoys helping youth see their potential and reach their God-inspired dreams. He is the author of Black Boy Soar, a children’s book written to help inspire and encourage young people of color to dream big, know who they are and what they are capable of. During his time as a Graduate Resident with CYMT, Dwight served as the director of youth at Preston Taylor Ministries. “Working with a neighborhood non-profit youth ministry revealed to me a great need for a new, thoughtfully merged space for youth to think and talk about their faith differently while helping to lead the pursuit of social justice and racial equity at CYMT,” says Dwight Johnson. He joined the CYMT staff in September of 2020 as the Theology Together Director. As a different way to experience and do youth ministry, Theology Together seeks to educate youth workers in tandem with the teenagers with whom they minister to change the climate of youth ministry. “Over the past eighteen months, Dwight has launched and given structure to our Theology Together program. Under his leadership, we have expanded our curriculum and developed partnerships to deepen other ministries' capacity to do deep theological reflection with youth,” says Reverend Kirk.
CYMT offers a 3-year Graduate Residency to provide theological and practical training to those called to youth ministry. Residents gain hands-on experience by being placed in a local church to serve as their youth minister, while also earning a Master of Arts in Youth Ministry through one of CYMT’s partner seminaries. Residents receive full scholarship for tuition, books, housing, and utilities, as well as a $1000/month stipend. As the largest graduate program focused in youth ministry, CYMT’s mission is to equip theologically informed and practically trained youth ministers for the cultivation of thriving youth ministries and churches.
The Center for Youth Ministry Training is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that equips youth ministers and communities of faith to develop innovative, effective, and theologically informed ministries so youth may experience the love and grace of Jesus Christ.
To learn more about CYMT visit cymt.org. To learn more about PTM visit prestontaylorministries.org
The Center for Youth Ministry Training
309 Franklin Road
Brentwood, TN 37027
Contact
Center for Youth Ministry Training
Linwood Hawkins Jr.
615-823-7595
CYMT.org
Linwood Hawkins Jr.
615-823-7595
CYMT.org
Contact
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