Mike Higgs, a youth worker with over two decades of experience, expresses the great need for youth workers to stop focusing on performance and focus instead on following God in his work so that ministry will become less noise and more substance.
Brandon McKoy mines social construction theory to redirect our youth ministries from a focus on forming and protecting the private faith-lives of students to cultivating an awareness of Christ "in our midst"--in the overlapping relationships, stories and spheres of life that make us who we are.
"The strong and spicy heat of the gospel is the secret to effective and exciting ministry just look at the early church! Gospel advancement was at the heart of the early believers? discipleship, and the book of Acts gives us a vibrant picture of God's plan to use us to build His kingdom. In Gospelize Your Youth Ministry, Greg unpacks the model found in the book of Acts, unveiling the seven key ingredients present within the early Church. Today, youth leaders can blend these same basic ingredients together in their own unique, customized recipe to create a gospelized youth ministry that results in dynamic kingdom growth. For youth leaders and adults with a heart for youth ministry who are looking to spice up their ministry and (re)discover the joy, excitement and transformation they?ve been longing to see and that Jesus promised! The gospel is the perfect kick! "
For Generation Y, born after 1982, relationships happen over the Internet and music marks their territory. How does this generation think about the world? What does their spirituality look like? And what implications does this have for the Church? This book addresses the need for the Church to reconnect and communicate with young people.
A first-of-its-kind study of Protestant youth ministers reveals the hopes, frustrations, and effectiveness of today's youth workers. Of the 7,000 youth workers assembled in 1996 under Atlanta's Georgia Dome, a sample of 2,130 full-time youth ministers from dozens of Protestant denominations and parachurch organizations answered a battery of exhaustive, deliberate questions covering: What they liked best about youth ministry What particularly pleased them in their work with youth What they found most encouraging or discouraging Their biggest obstacle to an effective youth ministry Their biggest concern in youth ministry Their answers revealed a dedicated group of professionals, concerned a out the students in their ministries, but troubled with a variety of perplexing issues. And their answers form the backbone of Youth Ministry That Transforms, a comprehensive analysis of this groundbreaking study (funded by the Lilly Endowment) focusing on the hopes, frustrations, and effectiveness of today's youth workers. Spearheaded by Merton Strommen--one of America's most exemplary and influential thinkers and authors in youth and family ministry--the research-writing team is joined by Karen E. Jones and Dave Rahn of Huntington (Indiana) College's Link Institute for Faithful and Effective Youth Ministry, and acknowledged leader in the task of undergirding youth ministry with a research base. These three deliver thorough analysis and sound interpretation regarding the state of youth ministry at the dawn of the 21st century. Youth Ministry That Transforms belongs on the desks and in the classrooms of all who are concerned with this developing profession, including denominational and parachurch leadership, professors, youth ministry students, and thoughtful youth workers themselves. It is also an insightful resource for any who want to understand youth ministers and their profession: senior pastors, executive pastors, and other individuals and committees charged with hiring and supervising youth workers.
Think about sin and the cross—the way that salvation changes who we are and how God sees us. It’s a central part of our faith, and yet it’s one of the most confusing and difficult things to teach. Especially to a room full of teenagers. In Taking the Cross to Youth Ministry, Andrew Root invites you along on a journey with Nadia—a fictional youth worker who is wrestling with how to present the cross to her own students in a meaningful way. Using Nadia’s narrative, along with his own insights, Root helps you reimagine how the cross, sin, and salvation can be taught to students in a way that leads them to embrace a lifestyle that chases after Jesus, rather than creating teenagers who just try to “be good.”
Michael McGarry explores the foundation of youth ministry in the Old and New Testaments and brings that together with Church history in a compelling way. McGarry presents a thorough biblical framework to think about youth ministry as the church's expression of partnership with the family for co-evangelizing and co-discipling the next generation.
Many gifted and passionate leaders end up on the sidelines of ministry rather than following their gifts. This work offers advice that can propel church leaders forward into a more faithful and fruitful ministry.
Youth pastors often burn out, bail out, and are pushed out of ministry. In this book, you'll be given practical insights and action steps to help you build fences against failure.
A FIELD GUIDE TO THE WILD LIFE OF YOUTH MINISTRY Youth Ministry. It’s quite an idea so much bigger than two words. One part odyssey, one part call, one part mission, and one part quest, youth ministry calls us into places of breathless exhilaration, stunning beauty, genuine peril, and unknown discovery. This is not terrain for the faint of heart. But it is a landscape of grace and wonder. This Way to Youth Ministry is the most complete academic text for those who might be called to such a journey. Thirty-year youth ministry veteran Duffy Robbins explores the theology, theory, and practice of youth ministry and helps you discover how to: Identify your calling to ministry Cultivate the traits and training that make a good youth pastor Set boundaries and maintain priorities Understand the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical development on adolescents Navigate youth culture and postmodernism Understand youth ministry in relation to the rest of the Church Develop a team of volunteers who will walk the journey with you Develop and apply a personalized ministry philosophy With just the right mix of theory and application, this extensive academic text shows you both the big picture and the close-up details of making ministry work. Whether your journey is just beginning or well under way, This Way to Youth Ministry is the book that will help with everything that lies ahead.