Relational youth ministry, also known as incarnational ministry, can feel like a vicious cycle of guilt: "I should be spending time with kids, but I just don't want to." The burden becomes heavy to bear because it is never over; adolescents always seem to need more relational bonds, and once one group graduates there is a new group of adolescents who need relational contact. It may be that the reason these relationships have become burdensome is that they have become something youth workers do, rather than something that youth workers enter into. In Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry,...
Relational youth ministry, also known as incarnational ministry, can feel like a vicious cycle of guilt: "I should be spending time with kids, but I j...
For more than 50 years, relational or incarnational ministry has been a major focus in youth ministry. But for too long, those relationships have been used as tools--as a means to an end--where adults try to influence students to accept, know, trust, believe, or participate in something. While our motives may be good, it's possible that by focusing on these goals, we're not ministering the whole person. When we choose not to engage in the full life of a student, we run the risk of failing them and our ministry. In this thoughtful and insightful book, Andrew Root challenges us to reconsider...
For more than 50 years, relational or incarnational ministry has been a major focus in youth ministry. But for too long, those relationships have b...
Where is God present in the world? What hope does the church offer to folks who are struggling with death and despair in their many forms, from broken relationships to lost jobs to the seeming lack of meaning in our late-modern context? Some answer these questions by pointing to churches that have had success in growing their worship services and ministries. But Andrew Root invites us to answer the questions from a different angle. Rather than place primary focus on creating a successful church, he asks the church to open its eyes to the suffering and hopelessness of the world, to identify...
Where is God present in the world? What hope does the church offer to folks who are struggling with death and despair in their many forms, from broken...
The questions that youth have are often the same ones that perplexed the great theologians. Root and Dean invite readers to envision youth ministries full of practical theologians, follow them into reflection on a personal practice of theology, and learn how to share that theology through rich conversation and purposeful experience.
The questions that youth have are often the same ones that perplexed the great theologians. Root and Dean invite readers to envision youth ministries ...
Argues that practical theology has neglected deeper theological underpinnings, and seeks to create a practical theology that seeks to be fully post-postmodern, post-Aristotelian, and that in seeking to attend to doctrines such as divine action and justification, is properly and fully theological.
Argues that practical theology has neglected deeper theological underpinnings, and seeks to create a practical theology that seeks to be fully post-po...
About the Contributor(s): Carlton Johnstone is the national youth ministry development leader for the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand. He lives in Wellington with his wife, Sarah, and children, Max and Holly.
About the Contributor(s): Carlton Johnstone is the national youth ministry development leader for the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand. He...
The youth ministry focus of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life is often forgotten or overlooked, even though he did much work with young people and wrote a number of papers, sermons, and addresses about or for the youth of the church. However, youth ministry expert Andrew Root explains that this focus is central to Bonhoeffer's story and thought. Root presents Bonhoeffer as the forefather and model of the growing theological turn in youth ministry. By linking contemporary youth workers with this epic theologian, the author shows the depth of youth ministry work and underscores its importance in the...
The youth ministry focus of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life is often forgotten or overlooked, even though he did much work with young people and wrote a nu...
Current research shows what many in the Christian community already know: young people are leaving the church. This raises important questions: Why are young people leaving? How can the church respond? Some have responded to this issue out of a posture of fear and anxiety, trying to find new ways to strengthen doctrinal beliefs or practices of faith formation and discipleship. What if the best response isn't to strengthen our theology or tighten our hold on the lives of young people? What if the best response is a posture of love that lets young people go? Using the insights of philosopher...
Current research shows what many in the Christian community already know: young people are leaving the church. This raises important questions: Why ar...
