Abstract: This ethnographic study analyzes the negotiation of moral identity for urban adolescents through an examination of communicative practices employed in a religious community youth organization. More specifically, through participant observation, conversation analysis and study of cultural practices, I investigate how teens and adult leaders communicate in small group discussions to apply a framework for judging the morality of thoughts and actions. I restrict my analysis by focusing on the collated narratives used in the negotiation of moral identity and in the socialization of the teens into a moral framework. Collated narratives are paired narratives that are carefully compared to note any points of disagreement so that some goal, such as moral development, may be accomplished. In this work, I analyze both imaginative and recounted collated narratives. With imaginative narratives, Jesus is normally the protagonist in the exemplar narrative. The exemplar is collated with the essay narrative, which has a 'you' protagonist. When collated, the exemplar provides the benchmark for moral assessment of the action and the protagonist in the essay. Recounted collated narratives are narratives of transformation and are presented as a narrative package of avowal, catalyst, and attainment. When solicited by teens in a small group setting, the avowal aspect of the package is launched as a second story. Recounted collated narratives are used in moral negotiation both to exhibit moral growth and to model moral behavior as a solution to a troubles telling.