Date
4-7-2026
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Doctor of Ministry (DMin)
Chair
John Peterson
Keywords
African American, Chaplain, Chaplaincy, Community, Identity, Identity in Christ, Image of God, Imago Dei, Racial Trauma, Resilience, Trauma, Youth
Disciplines
Christianity
Recommended Citation
Creer, Michelle A., "Establishing the St. Paul AME Church’s Community Youth Chaplain Ministry to Equip African American Youth to Manage Their Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Health" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8106.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8106
Abstract
African American youth face a myriad of challenges that negatively impact their well-being. As such, this study explores the role of community youth chaplaincy interventions in helping African American youth manage their mental, emotional, and spiritual health. The study focused on training the trainers who will guide and support the young people. The training and self-application/intervention centered on building resilience, identity formation, addressing racial trauma, and nurturing spiritual growth through understanding that God created participants in His image and their identity is in Christ. Nine adult participants who are engaged in churches and activities within the African American community, contributed insights on the challenges and benefits of the community youth chaplaincy ministry. The researcher used a mixed-methods approach, with a primary emphasis on qualitative analysis. The qualitative analysis included questionnaires, journaling, daily devotions and activities, group discussions, and facilitator storytelling to capture participant experiences. The researcher identified recurring themes using thematic coding and interpretive synthesis in participant responses to the questionnaires. The research also included quantitative measures of resilience to provide supplemental data. The research results suggested that the chaplaincy ministry creates a space for youth to process their experiences, learn techniques to address mental, emotional, and spiritual challenges, and prepare youth ministry leaders. Limitations include the small number of participants and the narrow demographics. Future researchers could include a larger, diverse population of participants, widening the research's applicability. Overall, this study contributes to the body of literature that offers a framework for a faith-based, practical, youth chaplaincy model.
