While most youth pastors are being regularly evaluated (or even scrutinized) for what they’re doing right now in the youth group, the reality is that the most important thing they are doing won’t actually be evident until much later. That’s because the biggest challenge for any youth ministry is helping teens embrace a whole-hearted devotion to God that lasts far beyond their years in the youth room. Unfortunately, much of youth ministry seems to be designed on the model of setting teenagers up for a “date” with God—a delightful evening that involves music, laughter, food, and light conversation. But what scripture calls us to is not a “one-night stand” with God, but a lifelong love of God that endures.Youth ministry educator and veteran, Duffy Robbins, offers youth workers a blueprint for building that kind of faith in teenagers. In this concise book, ideal for busy youth workers, they’ll be equipped to build a youth ministry that instills that lasting faith in its students.
A youth pastor—whether paid or unpaid, full-time or part-time, right out of college or right out of retirement—has a big job to do. Actually, anyone who accepts God's call to help young people grow as disciples of Christ has several big jobs to do. The youth minister must be a teacher who can communicate the essentials of the faith; a friend who can listen to and be present with young people; a prophet who challenges teens to live lives of justice and righteousness; and an administrator who can manage the day-to-day logistics of youth ministry. Youth Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Youth Ministry provides a biblical and theological grounding for the many jobs a youth minister does, explains what each of these jobs entails, and helps youth pastors identify where their gifts lie and where they still need to grow. Whether you are a first-time youth minister or a seasoned youth ministry veteran, Youth Pastor gives you valuable tools for evaluating your ministry and vocation. It also serves as an excellent text for undergraduate courses in youth ministry. Table of Contents: Introduction Chapter 1 Becoming All Things in Ministry Chapter 2 Discipling Teacher Chapter 3 Evangelistic Missionary Chapter 4 Pastoral Shepherd Chapter 5 Organized Administrator Chapter 6 Bold Prophet Chapter 7 Compassionate Priest Chapter 8 Spiritual Friend Chapter 9 Equipping Recruiter Chapter 10 Visionary Leader Chapter 11 Faithful Teammate Chapter 12 Discover Your Ministry Style Epilogue: Character and Competence in Ministry Appendix: Youth Ministry Role Inventory
Youth ministry veteran and bestselling author, Duffy Robbins, offers an updated and revised edition of his book about the important, behind-the-scenes mechaincs of youth ministry. The tasks of budgeting, decision-making, time management, team ministry, staff relationships, conflict resolution, working with parents, and a range of other issues, are the things that keep a ministry together and functioning well. Nobody gets into youth ministry because they want to think about these things; but a lot of people get out of youth ministry because they didn’t think about them. All youth workers—whether paid or volunteer, full-time or part-time—will find Youth Ministry Nuts and Bolts to be a thoughtful, fun, practical guide to youth ministry administration.
In this thoughtful, comprehensive guide you will find ideas for encouraging spiritual growth in young people by one of the most authoritative voices in youth ministry today.
Create a missional youth ministry where disciple-making happens naturally by exploring the idea of ACTS: Adoration, Community, Truth-and-Grace, and Serving-and-Sharing. Through ACTS, you'll see Jesus' style of ministry and how to apply it to yours. With 101 ideas that are easy to implement, your ministry can start looking the way you envisioned.
Dean Borgman, a nationally known youth ministry expert, offers a new edition of his influential classic. Reaching a broadly ecumenical audience, this book challenges readers to think about the theological nature of youth ministry. Questions for discussion and reflection are included. This thoroughly updated edition was previously published as When Kumbaya Is Not Enough. Praise for the first edition "Writing with the lens of a theologian, the heart of a pastor, and welcome doctrinal breadth, Borgman has provided a 'field book' of pastoral theologies that takes seriously the social systems shaping the lives of adolescents. This book is a significant step toward the long-awaited conversation about theology and youth ministry in postmodern culture."--Kenda Creasy Dean, Princeton Theological Seminary; author of Almost Christian "In this excellent work Borgman brings theological integrity, depth, and years of wisdom like nothing else I have seen in our field."--Jim Burns, author of Teenology: The Art of Raising Great Teenagers
Youth ministry isn't just meeting with students and teaching them God's truth. It also involves a myriad of administrative and operational details. Youth Ministry Management Tools 2.0 provides youth ministers and volunteers with helpful insights, advice, and practical resources to successfully manage a youth ministry. You'll find sample budgets, release forms for trips, and clear direction for screening applicants for volunteer positions. Authors Mike Work and Ginny Olson provide you with quick and accessible answers to all of your management, administrative, and supervisory questions and needs. Sprinkled throughout the manual are brief personal anecdotes by actual, in-the-trenches youth workers, case studies of church-office debacles, pivotal lessons learned over decades of ministry, nightmare scenarios to avoid, and glorious successes to emulate. No other book provides everything a youth ministry leader needs in one place at such an affordable price.This revised and updated edition of a youth ministry classic includes bonus online content, copy-ready pages and forms, and loads of other highly practical material.
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.