A New Paradigm for Understanding the Congregation in Contemporary MinistryChurches often realize they need to change. But if they're not careful, the way they change can hurt more than help.Leading practical theologian Andrew Root offers a new paradigm for understanding the congregation in contemporary ministry. He articulates why congregations feel pressured by the speed of change in modern life and encourages an approach that doesn't fall into the negativ...

Shining a Light on the Problem of InnovationChurches and their leaders have innovation fever. Innovation seems exciting--a way to enliven tired institutions, embrace creativity, and be proactive--and is a superstar of the business world. But this focus on innovation may be caused by an obsession with contemporary relevance, creativity, and entrepreneurship that inflates the self, lacks theological depth, and promises burnout.In this follow-up to Churche...

Even if you know you’re called to youth ministry and are passionate about the students in your group, you’ve probably had a few of those moments when you’ve wondered why you’re doing certain things in your ministry, or wondered why you’re even doing youth ministry in the first place.If you’ve ever stopped to ask, “What’s the point of youth ministry?” …In Taking Theology to Youth Ministry, Andrew Root invites you along on a journey with Nadia—a fictional yo...

Post-Christian life and society do not eliminate a desire for the transcendent; rather, they create an environment for new and divergent spiritual communities and practices to flourish. We are flooded with spiritualities that appeal to human desires for nonreligious personal transformation. But many fail to deliver because they fall into the trap of the self.In the last book of the Ministry in a Secular Age series, leading practical theologian Andrew Root shows the differences betw...

Unpacking Scripture in Youth Ministry focuses on how to teach and present the Bible in the lives of teenagers. Andrew Root argues that teens are constant interpreters – always asking the questions, who am I? and what do others think of me? – and so youth ministers must teach them to interpret the actions of God as revealed in the Bible. This view is different than teaching biblical knowledge – memory verses and Bible facts – and it’s different than teaching them to interpret the B...

"Evangelism" is a contested, even conflicted word. But churches are declining in numbers and resources. What if we aren't thinking about evangelism in the right way, culturally or theologically? This book proposes a conversation that contextualizes evangelism in our late modern times and reimagines what the call to outreach means in today's world.Our sad times are made sadder by the realization that our all-out pursuit of happiness has made us stressed, anxious, lonely, and depress...

A New Vision for Pastoral Ministry TodayIn Faith Formation in a Secular Age, the first book in his Ministry in a Secular Age trilogy, Andrew Root offered an alternative take on the issue of youth drifting away from the church and articulated how faith can be formed in our secular age. In The Pastor in a Secular Age, Root explores how this secular age has impacted the identity and practice of the pastor, obscuring his or her core vocation: to call ...

How should we think about church growth in our current cultural moment?The golden era ushered in by the industrial revolution led the Protestant church in America to experience unprecedented growth and prosperity in the twentieth century. This environment has formed our understanding of and dependence on growth for stabilization: It's assumed that if we aren't growing, we are stagnant at best, and declining at worst.In Baal and the Gods of More, leading practical t...

Since the late 1970's practical theology has had a significant voice and influence in the academy. While many have seen great hope and potential in this work, not everyone has agreed. Some, for instance, have examined the conversation and found by focusing on the concrete and lived experiences of humanity, by and large, practical theology has not had the theological vision to present frameworks for understanding concrete and lived experience with divine action. So argues Andrew Root, who i...

Christianity Today Book Award of Merit winnerWhat haunts your youth group? So often we avoid talking about doubts and fears because we feel inadequately equipped to address them in any meaningful way. Thecrisis of existence can't be answered with pat Sunday school formulas or a few Bible verses, let alone another relay race.The questions our youth have are often the same ones that perplexed the great theologians, driving them to search for...

What if the solution for the decline of today's church isn't more money, people, programs, innovation, or busyness?What if the answer is to stop and wait on God?In When Church Stops Working, ministry leaders Andrew Root and Blair Bertrand show how actively watching and listening for God can bring life out of death for churches in crisis today. Using clear steps and practices, they invite church leaders to stop the endless cycle of doing more and rather to simply "b...

Many things threaten the faith of youth today, but none more than science. The commitments of science and Christianity seem to be at odds—science makes truth claims based on experiments and proofs, while religion asks for belief and trust. But Andrew Root demonstrates that, in fact, the two are not incompatible.Root, a renowned expert on adolescent spirituality, shows how science overstates its claims on truth, while faith often understates its own claims. Both faith and science fr...