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 ministryWhat particularly pleased them in their work with youthWhat they found most encouraging or discouragingTheir biggest obstacle to an effective youth ministryTheir biggest concern in youth ministryTheir 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.

The questions our youth have are often the same ones that perplexed the great theologians. Andrew Root and Kenda Creasy Dean invite you to envision youth ministries full of practical theologians. Follow them into reflection on your own practice of theology, and learn how to share that theology through rich conversation and purposeful experience.

Your Onramp to Launching an Extraordinary Youth Ministry This comprehensive and practical resource about relational youth ministry is designed to help youth leaders build active, healthy youth groups that lead students to commitment to Christ through genuine relationships with their peers and youth workers. Theoretical enough to be used as a youth ministry text, yet practical enough for lay leaders to use effectively. Includes information on relational ministry, understanding youth culture, developing student leadership, building youth staff, discipling for lasting commitment, stimulating individual faith, effective counseling, promoting a sense of mission and evangelism, creative teaching of God's Word, interrelating with parents and the whole church, fundraising, emphasizing authentic worship and so much more!

What is youth ministry actually for? And does it have a future? Andrew Root, a leading scholar in youth ministry and practical theology, went on a one-year journey to answer these questions. In this book, Root weaves together an innovative first-person fictional narrative to diagnose the challenges facing the church today and to offer a new vision for youth ministry in the 21st century. Informed by interviews that Root conducted with parents, this book explores how parents' perspectives of what constitutes a good life are affecting youth ministry. In today's culture, youth ministry can't compete with sports, test prep, and the myriad other activities in which young people participate. Through a unique parable-style story, Root offers a new way to think about the purpose of youth ministry: not happiness, but joy. Joy is a sense of experiencing the good. For youth ministry to be about joy, it must move beyond the youth group model and rework the assumptions of how identity and happiness are imagined by parents in American society.

How many times have you poured your heart and soul into something for your youth ministry—only to have it fall flat, leaving not much more than a fond memory in the minds of students, let alone amazing life-change in their hearts? You’re not alone. Far too often, we build plans and programs and then stop to ask God to bless them. We all want a transformational student ministry, but we need to remember that God has to be the one doing the transformations in the lives of our students. Based on the principles found in the book of Acts, Moving Forward by Looking Back will help you look back at how God transformed lives through the early church, and look forward at how those principles can be applied to your youth ministry today. As you reflect on the book of Acts, you’ll explore how your youth ministry can implement the principles of: • Adoration—engaging students with God • Community—engaging students with God’s people • Truth—engaging students with God’s Word • Service—engaging students with God’s world With practical ideas that are easy to apply in any ministry context, whether you’re a rookie or a veteran, a professional or a volunteer youth worker, this book is an invaluable resource for any youth ministry that wants to see its students transformed by God.

This essential book provides clear, proven, step-by-step instructions to help youth workers change their youth group into a dynamic student ministry, as well as establish strategic approaches to growth at each level or size of youth ministry.

Fernando Arzola Jr. addresses the gap in the literature of youth ministry resources conceived and realized in an urban setting. He brings together three dominant paradigms--traditional, liberal and activist--to create an approach that is informed by Scripture and the contemporary realities of adolescent development in an urban setting.

There are many philosophies and strategies that drive today's youth ministry. To most people, they are variations on a single goal: to make faithful disciples of young people. However, digging deeper into various programs, books, and concepts reveals substantive differences among approaches. Bestselling author Chap Clark is one of the leading voices in youth ministry today. In this multiview work, he brings together a diverse group of leaders to present major views on youth ministry. Chapters are written in essay/response fashion by Fernando Arzola, Greg Stier, Ron Hunter, Brian Cosby, and Chap Clark. As the contributors present their views and respond to each of the other views, they discuss their task and calling, giving readers the resources they need to develop their own approach to youth ministry. Offering a model of critical thinking and respectful dialogue, this volume provides a balanced, irenic approach to a topic with which every church wrestles.

Unpacking Scripture in Youth Ministry focuses on how to teach and present the Bible in the lives of teenagers. Andrew Root argues that teens are constant interpreters – always asking the questions, who am I? and what do others think of me? – and so youth ministers must teach them to interpret the actions of God as revealed in the Bible. This view is different than teaching biblical knowledge – memory verses and Bible facts – and it’s different than teaching them to interpret the Bible themselves. Rather, they are to view the Bible as a tool for interpreting God’s actions and then respond with their own actions.

Youth ministry isn't about what to say, what to do, or how to be; it's about serving the needs of the students God has put in your life. This book is an attitude overhaul that creates a more organic approach to youth ministry that helps you create meaningful silence, covenant communities, and contemplative activities that allow your students recognize the presence of Jesus in their everyday lives.