Thompson makes youth ministers aware of concerns and problems prior to their development. This allows each minister to evaluate his or her situation and search for practical and positive ways to either prevent these trials from happening, or at least diminish their potentially dangerous effects. (Christian)

An essential speaking tool for youth workersThese 40 outlines for youth talks--written by veteran youth leaders--are just the beginning. Youth pastors, volunteer youth leaders, camp directors and counselors, and retreat leaders will also find suggestions for bringing talks to life--with illustrations, object lessons, video clips, music, and more. Each outline is followed by dozens of questions for use in small groups--to ensure that your words are heard, processed, and applied.Features include:* Sidebars for every main point which contain key illustrations, object lessons, and video or music clip suggestions* Dozens of small group discussion questions for middle and high schoolers* Fully indexed by contributor, topic, and Scripture* All of the outlines are compiled onto a companion CD-ROM in Microsoft Word® format

Seasoned youth pastor David Chow has some engaging anecdotes and tested advice to remind youth pastors that God influences their work even when it's not perfect.

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.

Most adults feel uncomfortable in the teen subculture. From this uneasy position, adults like to 'handle' the teens like children because they are threatening. The purpose of Timeless Youth Ministry is to help people in the church and Christian youth organizations minister to teenagers. As former youth pastors and current professors of youth ministry, the authors have 'been there, done that' in this field. They've run programs, camps, and ministry trips in such diverse places as southern California, east Tennessee, northeast Ohio and Alberta, Canada,to name a few. This book is a needed resource to examine afresh what it means to be an adolescent in today's culture and how those who minister to young people can best reach them.

Is ministering to youth like being a cross-cultural missionary? You'd better believe it. The parallels between ministry within youth culture and global missions have long been touted by youth ministry experts, yet few resources exist to help youth workers benefit practically from the insights of missiologists. In Youth Ministry as Mission, Brian Hull and Patrick Mays fill this gap with an introduction to missiology, missions practice, and missionary witness tailored especially for a youth ministry context. Youth ministers will discover missiological language that describes realities they face regularly and activities of cross-cultural missionaries that translate well into leaders within youth ministries. Hull and Mays address issues such as: • Understanding the relationship of the incarnation to ministering in youth culture • Translating stories and practicing storytelling as preparation for witnessing • Teaching for witness in a multi-religious context Youth Ministry as Mission will be a valuable guide for college and seminary students as well as a breath of fresh air to those already working in youth ministry. "Hull and Mays show us how missiology can help us see a way forward in youth ministry, humbly discovering the mission of God right where we are--where we, too, have been sent to become living translations of the gospel for young people." --Brad M. Griffin, senior director, Fuller Youth Institute; author of 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager "With deferential scholarly humility, Hull and Mays have written a book that insists on integration over invention." --Dr. Dave Rahn, coauthor of Disrupting Teens with Joy

Just like all schools are not the same, all youth groups are not the same. But how can parents know that their kids are going to a good, Biblical youth ministry? And what makes a group ""Biblical""? In "Playing Games with God," Sam Magdalein lays out a simple framework that parents can use when searching for and examining a youth group for their teens. But what about modern youth ministries? Parents may have a feeling that something is wrong in these churches, but can't quite put their finger on the problem. Sam includes a thorough examination of the foundations, philosophies, drivers, and everyday practices of modern youth groups. Using numerous quotes from youth ministry seminary textbooks, lessons plans from youth ministry conferences, ministry resource books, and articles, you'll read in their own words what modern churches are actually doing with our kids.

The Kids in Your Youth Group Are Not Isolated Beingshellip; Ministry to Youth Means Ministry to the Families! Churches are hiring Youth and Family Pastors, finally, in an overdue ministry focus. A critical component of a family-based or family-friendly youth ministry is a conscious strategy for ministry to the parents of adolescents. Expectations and opportunities in the area of parent and family ministry have increased dramatically. Youth Worker's Guide to Parent Ministry develops a model of parent ministry based on the belief that for a youth worker to be truly effective, it is important to lay careful relational groundwork to ensure that the right to be heard has been earned. Dr. Marv Penner, respected adolescent researcher, youth pastor, and family counselor, presents nine evolving levels of parent ministryndash;each one strengthening the credibility of the youth worker and opening doors to deeper and more meaningful parent support. Each of the nine levels is supported with a number of practical ideas and strategies for implementation. Youth Worker's Guide to Parent Ministry provides both a theoretical framework and the tools for implementation in local-church or para-church settings. Marv constructs his effective plan in a "Paradigm Pyramid"-rationale and practical hands-on programming ideas at each of the nine evolving levels of parent ministry: Acknowledgement Affirmation Information Encouragement Connecting Equipping Involvement Educating Co-nurturing Bible-based, time-tested, innovative, experiential, adoptable! Youth Worker's Guide to Parent Ministry is a foundational text in this vital area of youth ministry! Featured are sessions, sidebars, Web links, application points, contests and games, sample newsletter ideas, funky cartoons, and many worksheets (all downloadable and adaptable)!

Mike Yaconelli composes his thoughts and passions regarding the nine core realities of youth ministry: veracity (youth ministry must expose students to the life-giving truth of Jesus Christ), authenticity (authentic youth workers will draw young people to Jesus Christ), audacity (youth ministry must push students, parents, and the church outside their comfort zones), sanctuary (youth ministry must provide a safe place for students), diversity (youth ministry must challenge young people to embrace diversity), humility (youth ministry should be clothed in humility), intimacy (our relationship with Jesus is our youth ministry), mystery (youth ministry must foster mystery, rediscover astonishment, and leave room for unanswered questions), and creativity (youth ministry must free students and youth workers to discover and express their God-given creativity). As an added resource, each member of the CORETM seminar team, including authors and speakers such as Laurie Polich, Efrem Smith, Marv Penner, Duffy Robbins, contributes sidebars throughout the book responding to Mike’s thoughts.