The IASYM exists to further the study, research and teaching of youth ministry around the world and maintains a global membership of educators and researchers who are in dialogue concerning the contextualization of youth ministry in a variety of cultures. This is a very diverse group theologically with progressive leanings, which make the online conversations all the more fascinating. The IASYM publishes the Journal of Youth and Theology twice a year containing a wide variety of international articles, holds regional conferences around the globe and hosts irs primary global conference every other year in London, England.

Research Institutes

Perhaps the most significant research institute to emerge since Merton Strommen founded Search Institute in 1958 has been the Link Institute at Huntington University, which was started in the early 1990s under the direction of Dave Rahn.

Link Institute strives to be a catalyst to the church for the development of biblically faithful, increasingly effective youth ministry for a rapidly changing world. Their passion is to improve the practice of youth ministry through critical research, writing and networking attempts to make significant connections between scholarship and practice in order to produce more faithful and effective youth ministry.

In recent years, numerous other academic institutions have created formidable institutes for youth ministry research. The Institute for Youth Ministry (IYM) at Princeton Theological Seminary is committed to integrating theory and practice not only through its degree programs, but also by providing theological training for youth workers in the field. While the IYM is ecumenical in its scope, it maintains a particular interest in the advancement of youth ministries in mainline denominations. The IYM also conducts an annual forum on youth ministry out of which they publish the Cloud of Witnesses CD that contains lectures from the forum on youth, the church and culture .

Fuller Theological Seminary launched the Center for Youth and Family Ministry (CYM), which engages practitioners and educators to identify the most pressing issues in youth ministry, carry out research on those issues and turn the research into practical solutions and resources for youth workers. The list could go on and on—there's a good chance that a college or seminary or institute in close proximity to most youth workers is in the process of seriously studying the issues of youth ministry.