Youth Ministry Book Reviews

Book Review: Youth Ministry in the 21st Century

October 26, 2015 by Mary Davis

DANNY MITCHELL

October 22, 2015

Youth Ministry in the 21^st Century: Five Views. Chap Clark, Ed. (Baker Academic, 2015)

Writing book reviews can be a tricky thing.

After all, a book review is ultimately only one person’s opinion about a particular book. I have often wondered why I should trust the opinion of a reviewer that I most likely don’t know, about a book that I have not read. And yet, I regularly find myself reading these reviews to help determine whether I should purchase a book.

If you find yourself in a similar conundrum regarding this review of Youth Ministry in the 21^st Century, let me cut to the chase and say that this is an important enough book in the evangelical youth ministry world that every youth ministry practitioner should take the time to read it. Whether or not you like the book, or are able to find direct application to your ministry, is something that you will have to decide. But the book merits serious consideration for those who work with junior high and high school students.

There are three reasons that I am able to make such a bold claim about this book.

First, to my knowledge, this is the only time any attempt has been made to present a theologically conservative “Reformed” view of youth ministry through a publisher that appeals to a broadly evangelical audience. While I believe that a Reformed view of youth ministry is more comprehensive than Brian Cosby was able to present in this book (you can read more of his view in his book Giving Up Gimmicks: Reclaiming Youth Ministry From an Entertainment Culture) and while I do not agree with every aspect of Cosby’s presentation of Reformed youth ministry through a “means of grace” grid, I am glad to see Reformed Theology being discussed in the same conversations where youth ministry in being talked about. It was particularly helpful to read Dr. Cosby’s critiques of the other views (Gospel Advancing, Adoption, Ecclessial and D6 view). He does a solid job helping readers see pros and cons of each authors presentation of their view. It is my hope that this book will help move more and more youth ministry discussions toward the theological foundations that we should be building our “Reformed” youth ministries on.
The second reason is that the predecessor to this book, The Four Views of Youth Ministry in the Church, was written about 15 years ago. This book played safe by not diving deep enough into the underpinnings of each view. The book gave us fresh categories to classify the models of youth ministry that we were employing, but not enough foundational depth to help us when the inevitable shifts in youth ministry methodology came. Youth Ministry in the 21^st Century seems to make some corrections in that area. The rejoinders written by the authors, after each view is presented, help the reader see more clearly the strengths and weaknesses of the various views. I am not much of a fan of youth ministry books that focus on discussion starters “that will get any student talking” or “101 surefire retreat ideas.” What I am a fan of is a youth ministry book that pushes readers to think deeper thoughts about youth ministry, especially when that book helps us connect the dots between our theology and our methodology. Thankfully, Youth Ministry in the 21^st Century, is a book that does both of those things well.
The last reason has to do with the timing of this book. We are emerging from a period of about ten years when a glut of negative research suggested that youth ministry wasn’t successfully discipling young people into a lasting faith. In the youth ministry world, this was like the shifting of tectonic plates and many of us were shaken to our ministry cores. Books like Youth Ministry in the 21^st Century are helpful as we continue to move beyond the research toward new solutions. Through its thoughtfully written views of youth ministry, this book reminds us again that youth ministry is not dead. There are men and women who are called to the next generation who wrestle with not only the methods and models of next generation ministry, but the theology behind them. I anticipate that if you read this book in its entirety, you will, at times, be bothered, encouraged, and challenged. The beauty of a book like this one is that in the written interactions between the authors, we see that when a mutual calling is shared, respectful dialogue is possible even when there are points of disagreement.

You won’t have to agree with everything in this book to find it valuable. In fact, excluding Brian Cosby, I may have found more with which I disagreed with which I agreed. But I am certain that this book has helped sharpen me in my calling to work with the next generation.

The Juvenilization of American Christianity

February 5, 2014 by admin

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Author: Thomas E. Bergler

Reviewed by: Stephen Yates, Pastor for Youth & Families at University Presbyterian Church in Las Cruces, NM.

Shifting in response to both fluid adolescent culture and fluctuating church support, youth ministry as a field often struggles to hold onto a cohesive identity, not unlike the adolescents it serves. One welcome development in light of this in recent years has been a newfound interest in the history of ministry to young people by historians and practitioners alike, who are humbled, encouraged, and inspired by a history that pushes back against the tyranny of the ‘new’ with faithful innovation and honest struggle. The Juvenilization of American Christianity by Thomas Bergler stands in this tradition by covering informative and unique content, as well as offering a biting critique of American Christianity that youth worker and senior pastor alike must wrestle with.

Beginning his discussion of modern youth ministry in the fallout of the Great Depression and buildup to WWII in America, Bergler charts the development of the field in a number of denominations and movements across America, including the Roman Catholic Church, mainline Protestant denominations, the widely successful Youth for Christ movement, and various African-American denominations. While Bergler’s text will likely be compared to colleague Mark Senter III’s massive work When God Shows Up: A History of Protestant Youth Ministry in America by those looking for a definitive history of modern youth ministry, Bergler’s broad focus beyond evangelical Protestantism is a highlight of the book. Readers are thus able to explore connections such as those between youth ministry and the cultural upheaval of the 1960s, including participation in the civil rights movement and struggle over changing moral norms, or view the wide-sweeping fallout of the Catholic Church’s Vatican II church council from a next-gen ministry lens.

Strangely, where Bergler both succeeds most strongly and fails most deeply is in the book’s final chapter. Critics of Bergler’s work will note that he actually fails to cover much history past the 1960s, making the book far from the definitive history many will desire to read. Instead, The Juvenilization of American Christianity emerges in its final chapter as a polemic work. Bergler’s discussions of history are in service of his key argument – that while it was a good thing for youth ministry to develop in the United States and elsewhere, such a development has unwittingly become a poison to the American church. Bergler argues that instead of simply providing a developmentally appropriate point of ministry to youth, the evolution of youth ministry in America has redefined what Christianity as a whole should look like, transforming a robust, orthodox faith into a superficial quest for a ‘feel-good’ spiritual high that must continually and progressively compromise to draw people in.

Ultimately, Bergler’s critique is likely valid. Many cite the explosion over the past decade of young, trendy churches filled with late adolescents who failed to find a place in older, historic churches as evidence that instead of helping American teens mature in their faith, be active in their present churches, and prepare to serve churches following their teenage and collegiate experiences, youth ministries have essentially rewired teens to be unable to worship, experience community, and listen to teaching outside of the high-octane, culturally-saturated youth experience. At the same time, readers must be careful to not allow an accurate critique become a battle cry for the elimination of age-specific, developmentally sensitive ministries as a whole, but rather for the re-evaluation and intentionality the field desperately needs.

Bergler’s failure to provide fleshed-out recommendations in service of his critique beyond a few sentences is a striking flaw in this carefully written work. One hopes that this is simply indicative of a coming sequel, or at least that Bergler’s work will motivate others to the careful evaluation and application The Juvenilization of American Christianity makes you long for. However, because the book raises many questions yet offers few answers, readers who would rather study a more thorough treatment of the history of youth ministry must look elsewhere, and may find that simply borrowing the book to read its final chapter, or reading Bergler’s June 2012 cover story in Christianity Today entitled “When Are We Going to Grow Up?” (which summarizes the book itself incredibly well, makes helpful connections to the work of Christian Smith regarding Moral Therapeutic Deism, and offers commentary from frequent CT contributors), more helpful. Regardless, The Juvenilization of American Christianity, in thought or print, is a worthy shot across the bow of our field that should be chewed carefully, an endeavor that hopefully will cause more and more youth workers to move beyond simple ‘how-to’ books to deeply think about our calling to reach teens with the gospel.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Taking Theology to Youth Ministry

January 23, 2014 by admin

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Author: Andrew Root

Reviewed by: John Sutton, Youth and Children’s Ministry Director at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, GA.

Taking Theology to Youth Ministry (TTtYM) by Andrew Root is the first in a series of four 100-ish page “narrative” books about youth ministry. They follow Nadia, a youth minister who wrestles with what youth ministry is and how she does it. But the narrative is more the skeleton for Root’s discussion of youth ministry (in fact, Nadia’s story is more the bookends of each chapter). Root’s main theological emphasis is that all ministry is participating in the action of God. Youth ministry is simply participating in what God is doing in the lives of students. I really appreciate his main point. It portrays God as living and active; He is not a subject to be studied, He is personal, loving, and at work. His thesis also gets us out of exhausting, selfish, me-centered ministry. We youth workers don’t have to be perfect or the most creative or biggest personality; after all, “Moses’ weakness becomes the material for God’s own action” (p.48). Youth ministry is something God does. God is already at work in the lives of students and we are to help students see this. “God tells us, ‘Stop trying to do youth ministry. I am the one who ministers through my love for young people. Follow me as I love young people…” (p.47).

But along with this, Root makes statements that are confusing at best and unbiblical at worst. Root talks about the judgment and love of God, both of which are essential to the gospel. But his “judgment of sin” seems to have nothing to do with God’s just reaction to our rebellion. Rather, judgment, according to Root, is God’s revealing our weakness and inability to do anything apart from Him. “[Love] blooms from the judgment of God, which whispers, ‘I know you are weak. I know you are sad. But I am strong. Let me be your joy.’ (p.47)” While we are weak and incapable of doing any heart changing ministry without God, and God is our strength in weakness and joy in sadness, this is not a definition of God’s judgment. In Root’s definition of judgment, I’m afraid we lose a God who must punish sin and pours out judgment and wrath on Jesus instead of His children.

I picked up on a universalist tone, especially evident toward the end of the book when he talked about evangelism. “Youth ministry is not about getting kids to ‘accept’ the gospel… It’s about helping them see and participate in God’s mission as the gospel (p.92).” He goes on to say: “Nadia would reach out to young people in the community not with a vision of converting them all, but with the desire to be near to them as God is near them (pp.92-93).” In summary: “Mission is witnessing in word and act to the fact that we have been reconciled” (p.89).

Positively, Root talks about our calling to be present in the lives of students. He uses words like gospel and mission. He even talks about the “cross of death [that] brings eternal life” (p.42) and “reconciliation” (p.91). But it feels like we are using the same words with different meaning. I get the sense that Root believes that all people “have [already] been reconciled” to God. He says our job is not to convert students, which I would agree with, to the extent that conversion is something God does. But Root seems to imply that conversion doesn’t need to happen at all. All this is picked up from pages of flowery, sometimes confusing explanation.

I would not recommend this book. Root said a lot of good things, especially regarding God as the main actor in youth ministry. But he says a lot of things that are unclear and unbiblical. If you want a book that gives a beautiful and helpful picture of ministry, I would rather see you read a book like Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being by Zack Eswine. If you were attracted to TTtYM for its brevity, yes, Eswine’s book is longer, but you end up reading more pages if you read all four of Root’s books. Eswine is theologically solid, poetic in his writing, and has been good for my soul. Unfortunately, while I like what Root was going for, I can’t say the same for the first book of his series.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]