Reaching Out to Unchurched TeenagersFive facts about the unchurched:1. They believe all religions have value.2. They are spiritual, not religious.3. They don’t know what Christianity really is.4. They don’t know what they believe.5. They are looking for something that works.If you want to make an impact on this generation, these are five basic rules you must understand. Author Jonathan McKee writes that by taking the time to learn students’ unique situations you show you care about them as...

Christian Book Award® Finalist—Ministry ResourcesWhat is Good News to Gen Z?Gen Z, born into a complex and rapidly changing world, carries unique questions about life and God. Church methodologies that worked for previous generations often miss their mark with this one. Understanding Gen Z's real questions about faith opens the door to meaningful conversations and deeper connections.In What Gen Z Really Wants to Know Ab...

In simpler, more homogenous times, youth ministry was a relatively straightforward activity. The church's youth gathered (occasionally inviting their unchurched friends from school), played together, sang together and listened together to a message from a bright, engaging youth minister, selecting from a relatively defined set of topics: "What does it mean to follow Jesus when it comes to _______?"Now Christian youth must make sense of their faith, with its exclusive claims, in light of th...

We tend to organize our youth ministry from the inside out. We give gathered groups of individual youth tools and teaching to form their souls around a Christian identity. So far, so good. But what if our identity is not merely or even primarily rooted and established somewhere inside ourselves? What if our identity is shaped and cultivated in the relationships we inhabit--each with their own distinctives and demands—and in the overlapping stories we find ourselves in? Prefabricated approa...

Sticky Faith delivers positive and practical ideas to nurture within your kids a living, loving faith that lasts a lifetime.Research indicates that almost half of high school seniors drift from their faith after graduation.Struck by this staggering statistic, and recognizing its ramifications, the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) conducted the "College Transition Project" in an effort to identify the relationships and best practices th...

It doesn’t take a long list of statistics to convince you that our world is broken. Mission trips, service projects, and supporting children through relief organizations are just a few of the ways that many youth workers engage their students in serving the least, the last, and the lost. As good and helpful as these things may be on the surface, that’s where they remain—at the surface. The problems run far deeper than an occasional paint job or fundraising project can solve. But it’s not h...

Think of it as a lean, mean Bible doctrine course--without the lecture. But with lots of options, videos, music, and drama. And small group work. And reproducible, interactive worksheets with eye-catching designs and soul-searching content. (Like, what else do you expect from St. Paul when he sits down to write the meatiest book of doctrine in the Bible?) in the 12 clear, complete sessions of Creative Bible Lessons in Romans. Author Chap Clark guides kids (and you) through the Big Ideas in...

Hurt provided a vivid and insightful view into the world of today's teenagers. Now leading youth ministry expert Chap Clark substantially updates and revises his groundbreaking bestseller (over 55,000 copies sold). Hurt 2.0 features a new chapter on youth at society's margins and new material on social networking and gaming. Each chapter has been thoroughly revised with new research, statistics, quotations, and documentation.Praise for the first edition

Twenty-first-century society is diverse, and Christians must be able to understand other cultures and communicate effectively between and among them. Following up on the bestselling Hurt: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers, this new addition to the Youth, Family, and Culture series explores the much-needed skill of Cultural Intelligence (CQ), the ability to work effectively across national, ethnic, and even organizational cultures. While rooted in sound, scholarly research,

Why does divorce cause so much strain and long-term distress for children of all ages?Andrew Root, a recognized authority on youth ministry and a child of divorce himself, explains that divorce causes children to question their core identity. Since a child is the product of the union of a mother and father, when that union ends, he or she experiences a baffling sense of loss of self--a loss of his or her very sense of being. Root redirects efforts for assisting chi...

Join the conversation as experts propose, defend, and explore Four Views of Youth Ministry and the Church.In a dialog that often gets downright feisty, four youth ministry academicians delineate their distinct philosophical and ecclesiological views regarding how youth ministry relates to the church at large--and leave a taste of what’s profound and what’s not in these four typologies:Inclusive congregational (Malan Nel). What happens when a church thoroughly integrates its adolescents, ma...

Parents worry they don't have the understanding or training to be able to care for their kids in a world that is increasingly superficial, politicized, and performance driven. Disconnected makes the concepts and strategies described in the bestselling Hurt: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers accessible to parents. After the overwhelming response to Hurt, authors Chap and Dee Clark here equip parents with an up-to-date, realistic parenting book that doesn't ign...