Youth Ministry in the 21st Century: Five Views (Youth, Family, and Culture) Paperback – August 18, 2015

Great shap

Excellent book

Some people don't like these Views books, but I just love them. He best thing about them is hearing someone else's view from their own mouth (pen? keyboard?) and not from someone else's summary of their position.I was really forced to think through some philosophy of ministry things in my own ministry to the youth at my church. I have been challenged to sharpen things and be more deliberate and explicit in goals and methods.

An excellent way to assess and design where Youth Ministry is and where it is headed for hiring.

good book

I expected something else, more of a "how to" and I didn't get that from this book.

Good job.

I am a youth pastor, which means that the Lord has given me the privilege of ministering to a group of bright, knowledgable, confused, hormonal, and impressionable people known as teenagers. As we find ourselves ministering to this group of people in such a different age known as the 21st-century, what is the best way of going about reaching them?It is in response to this question that a new book has been written: Youth Ministry In The 21st Century: Five Views. The book is edited by Chap Clark, and includes contributions by the editor, Fernando Arzola, Brian Cosby, Ron Hunter, and Greg Stier. Each of these men has had a substantial time of their life devoted to youth ministry, and therefore they each have wisdom and experience from which to speak.The PurposeFrom the introduction, Clark says that the purpose of the book is that each of the contributors would "advocate for their own convictions and perspectives on what ministry to adolescents essentially is. Our desire is to offer five relatively unique voices and perspectives on the basics and foundation of what youth ministry should be about now and in the coming decades" (xiv).The ViewsSo what are the five views represented?1. Greg Stier — The Gospel Advancing View of Youth Ministry. In essence, Steir argues the the central and primary focus of ministry to youth is evangelism. Everything else that the ministry does should be serving this one ultimate purpose of evangelism.2. Brian Cosby — The Reformed View of Youth Ministry. Cosby argues that we are to use "the blueprint of biblical methodology" that we find in Scripture in our youth ministry. And what is that "blueprint"? Using the means of grace — God's Word, prayer, sacraments, service, and gospel community — to minister to teenagers and incorporate them into the life of the body of the church.3. Chap Clark — The Adoption View of Youth Ministry. Clark argues that the primary focus of the youth ministry should be adoption into the family of faith. He says: "I contend that the primary reason we have lost so many of the hearts and investment of our young when they leave the confines of the high school routine is that we have failed to provide them with the most vital resource they possessed in Christ: the God-given faith community" (75).4. Fernando Arzola — The Ecclesial View of Youth Ministry. Arzola writes as one who desires youth ministry to focus less on contemporary matters and more on understanding their places within the larger communion of saints, particularly in the context of church history. Therefore, he sees the need for youth ministry is to recover the 4 credal characteristics of the church: The Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. He sees the need of the day for youth ministry as being reconnecting youth to their roots and having a better understanding of church history and tradition.5. Ron Hunter — The D6 View of Youth Ministry. Hunter, the Found of D6 (short for Deuteronomy 6), argues for intentional "generational discipleship lives out through both the church and the home" (148). He sees the youth pastor's role as threefold: (1) Teach and minister to the youth; (2) Train and equip the parents; and (3) Work closely with the leaders of other age-specific ministries in the church to develop a consistent and comprehensive process of training and discipling children and young adults in the church.My ThoughtsSo which "view" did I think was the best? Honestly, there was good stuff in all 5 of them. I would say that the view that I found myself saying the most "Amens" while reading was Brian Cosby's Reformed View (followed closely by Ron Hunter's D6 view). My least favorite view was Fernando Arzola's Ecclesial View.In Cosby's chapter, he reflects on a statistic that tells of that 3 out of 4 American teenagers claim to be Christians, and most are affiliated with a religious organization in some way. However, only half consider it very important, and fewer than half actually practice their faith as a regular pat of their faith. So what should we do about this reality? Cosby comments:This is where the importance of method comes to the forefront. How do we get these bored, purposeless, yet (self-professing) 'religious' teens not only into the church but also into a sustainable, Christ-treasuring faith? Many churches have turned to competing with the world to woo and attract them by all sorts of gimmicks and giveaways. But is this the method that God has given us to draw young people into a relationship with him, or are we supplanting the God-ordained means by which he does that work of saving and sanctifying?" (40).The answer is that this is not the method that God has given us, and it is supplanting the God-given means of saving and sanctifying — the Word of God, prayer, sacraments, service, and community. These are the things that the Lord has given us to use in our ministry, for it is through these things that the Lord has promised to save and sanctify.ConclusionOverall, there was quite a lot of agreement between the 5 contributors. Rather than there being a lot of disagreement, there was instead just a difference in emphasis. All of the contributors agreed that a number of things were vital for a successful and faithful youth ministry — Intergenerational discipleship, parental training, evangelism, quality and substantial Bible teaching vs. entertainment, etc. Where the difference seemed to lie, then, was a matter of emphasis.Overall, I thought the book was only mildly helpful. It was interesting to read the 5 different articles, and then the responses to each view by each contributor. It felt like I was watching an extended panel between 5 experienced youth ministers. However, it felt sometimes like they were arguing about nothing. What I mean is that there seemed to by so much agreement and consistent emphases between all of them that what it really came down to was a matter of emphasis, not actual disagreements.I appreciated the book, definitely took some things away from it, and was stretched and challenged in some areas. But I suspect it will be one of those books that will now get added to my shelf and never picked up again. If you are a youth pastor, or training to be one, it may be a helpful book for you to pick up, but I wouldn't say it's an essential one.In accordance with FTC regulations I would like to thank Baker Academic for providing me with a review copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

It's refreshing to have a book where people aren't trying to convince you that their way is the best, but encourages and demonstrates gentle conversation around this topic.