Christian Youth Work In Theory And Practice

Churches today face unique challenges as they seek to help young people engage with the Christian faith and youth workers, whether employed or volunteer, play a key role in supporting this process. This book provides a comprehensive overview of Christian youth work, drawing together practice, theory and theology in a format which is both engaging and informative. Serving as both a text and workbook, it brings together key youth ministry thinkers and grass-roots practitioners to explore significant themes and issues. It will be invaluable to those thinking about youth work at a strategic level as well as youth work practitioners. Each of the sixteen chapters is followed by a response written from a different perspective, modelling reflective practice and theological reflection. Topics covered include mission, church, adolescent identity, appropriate relationships, spiritual practices, youth culture, pastoral care, work with families, education, leadership and management, inclusive youth work, theology, lifelong learning, ethical dilemmas and the Kingdom of God.

This book explores youth ministry and the role of the youth minister by looking at a range of various metaphors for the youth worker, such as 'flawed hero', 'visionary architect', 'party planner' and 'guardian of souls'. Each chapter takes one of these metaphors as a central theme, offers biblical and/or theological reflection on this aspect of youth ministry, explains the relevant theory and the necessary skills, uses real-life stories from practitioners to bring the metaphor to life, summarizes the key principles and values, gives questions for reflection and makes suggestions for further reading.

This valuable textbook communicates the complexities and controversies at the heart of youth work management, exploring key issues in a critical fashion. Written by a team of experienced youth work lecturers, the chapters cover topics such as planning, evaluation and supervision, whilst acknowledging the changing structures of integrated services and the impact of public service reform. Divided into three sections, it covers: Historical and theoretical context Critical practice issues, including leadership, policy constraints, planning and accountability Managing in different settings, for instance integrated services and the voluntary sector. Aimed at both youth work students studying for their professional qualification, as well as practicing managers, Critical Issues in Youth Work Management encourages critical thinking about what management in youth work is and what it can be. It includes reflective questions and further reading, and case studies are integrated throughout.

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.

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.

A contemporary reflection on current practice, this book gets to the heart of what 'youth work' is about. It provides an in-depth overview and analysis of practice,addressing the many experiences of working with young people through insightful chapters written by practitioners themselves.

This book addresses a systemic gap in existing studies on human services and youth work. While the notion of spirituality does make rare appearances in such literature, it is often vaguely defined and underdeveloped both as a concept and as a mode of practice. This ambiguity is symptomatic of the broader shift in the sociological context of Western and global societies that has been referred to variously as post-modern, late-modern and post-secular. From the perspective of the relationship between human development and the spiritual/theological, we live in a “time between times”. We have not yet worked out how to speak of “spirit”; nor how to include its meanings in positive youth intervention, and developments in our language for a public spiritual consciousness remain in a state of cultural flux. This book offers a coherent vocabulary and narrative from which to construct a more explicit and deliberate practice of spiritual care, education and professional identity for youth workers. It speaks directly to youth work practitioners, managers of youth services, those providing youth work education, and anyone with an interest in youth and spirituality research and practice.

Research in youth ministry has excelled and developed rapidly over the last four decades. Youth ministry is not just a church practice, but has become an emerging academic discipline, with a variety of methodological, theoretical, and contextual approaches. This academic handbook offers an assessment of contemporary youth ministry research to assist students doing bachelor, master, and doctoral research, and youth ministry scholars, in their studies of youth ministry. By examining youth ministry research through the lens of the following five fundamental questions, the reader is challenged to engage with state-of-the-art theory, methods, and findings from current youth ministry research: • Who are the youth in youth ministry? • Where is God in youth ministry? • What is the purpose of youth ministry? • Who is the youth minister in youth ministry? • How to research practices in youth ministry? The academic handbook is a must-read for everyone who is interested in systematic reflection on youth ministry and youth ministry research.