Anyone who serves teenagers today knows that more and more young people are eager to make a difference in the world. When students participate in short-term missions, service, and justice causes, parents and youth leaders hope these experiences will lead to real transformation. But research shows that our efforts don’t always stick.If we truly want short-term work to translate into long-term change, leaders and students must spend more time before, during, and after service project...

Unleashing the Passion of Young People in Your Church Is Possible! Churches are losing both members and vitality as increasing numbers of young people disengage. Based on groundbreaking research with over 250 of the nation's leading congregations, Growing Youngprovides a strategy any church can use to involve and retain teenagers and young adults. It profiles innovative churches that are engaging 15- to 29-year-olds and as a result are growing--spiritually, emotionally, missionally, and nu...

All churches grow old. Strategic churches grow young.Churches are losing both members and vitality as increasing numbers of young people disengage. Based on groundbreaking research with over 250 of the nation's leading congregations, Growing Young provides a strategy any church can use to involve and retain teenagers and young adults.This strategy includes six core commitments for growing young:● Unlock keychain leadership● Empathize...

60 Devotions to Help Young People Explore Their Identity, Belonging, and PurposeSometimes life gives you way more questions than answers. And yet it seems like everyone expects you to just figure it all out!Whether you're looking toward your future or wrestling to get through today, it doesn't have to be so stressful. Just three big questions will help you find clarity about all the rest:● Who am I?● Where do I fit?● What diffe...

Today's teenagers are the most anxious, creative, and diverse generation in history—which can make it hard for us to relate. And while every teenager is a walking bundle of questions, three rise above the rest:● Who am I?● Where do I fit?● What difference can I make?Young people struggle to find satisfying and life-giving answers to these questions on their own. They need caring adults willing to lean in with empathy, practice listening, and gently point the...

Help teenagers become adults who boldly live out a robust faith in a watching worldMost typical youth ministries today produce nice, obedient kids who behave themselves--and then leave the church and the faith. Even those who remain struggle to extend their own faith beyond youth group. They seem like "good kids," but their lives and decisions outside youth group aren't oriented toward Jesus.Clearly, that is not our goal. So what are we doing wrong? And how...

Many of the statistics you read about teenagers and faith can be alarming. Recent studies show that 40-50 percent of kids who are connected to a youth group throughout their senior year will fail to stick with their faith in college. As youth workers are pouring their time and energy into the students in their ministries, they are often left wondering if they’ve done enough to equip their students to carry their faith into adulthood. Fuller Youth Institute has done extensive research in th...

Because "Nice" is not enough.Most typical youth ministries today produce nice, obedient kids who behave themselves—and then leave the church and the faith. Even those who remain struggle to extend their own faith beyond youth group. They seem like "good kids," but their lives and decisions outside youth group aren't oriented toward Jesus. Clearly that is not our goal. So what are we doing wrong? And how can we better serve the unique needs of the most anxious, adap...

Known as "the internship guy" at Dallas Theological Seminary where he teaches, George Hillman talks daily with students about God's movement in their lives. The goal of Ministry Greenhouse is to help seminary and Bible college students, their supervisors, and the lay leaders who work with them create the best environment for leadership development through a beneficial internship. An internship is not busy work or cheap labor but is instead fundamental to the development of a leader. Hillma...

Youth ministry veteran and bestselling author, Duffy Robbins, offers an updated and revised edition of his book about the important, behind-the-scenes mechaincs of youth ministry. The tasks of budgeting, decision-making, time management, team ministry, staff relationships, conflict resolution, working with parents, and a range of other issues, are the things that keep a ministry together and functioning well. Nobody gets into youth ministry because they want to think about these things; bu...

Millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) constitute a group of over 80 million individuals who are technologically astute, ethnically diverse, and culturally and vibrantly engaged. Yet they face high unemployment and massive debt, and they comprise the largest number of religiously unaffiliated individuals in American history. Concerned by these and other hard-hitting facts, experts Alex McFarland and Jason Jimenez have created a book that interviews top Christian leaders who work wi...

The Power of Mentoring is a groundbreaking guide for mentoring the next generation of Christian leaders. With its variety of practical, insightful mentoring models, The**Power of Mentoring provides motivation for mentoring involvement, new approaches and skill-building exercises and implementation strategies. This ideal resource includes: key thoughts questions for reflection, action plans, a "Life Plan" for self-evaluation, accountability questions and additional suggest...