Comments on: the top 10 books that have influenced youth ministry

By: books that have shaped my thinking on youth ministry — ysmarko

books that have shaped my thinking on youth ministry — ysmarko — Sat, 23 May 2009 16:24:23 +0000

[...] long time ago, i posted my opinion of the top 10 books that shaped youth ministry. some of those were books i was passionate about, but others were, well, just influential books. [...]

By: Larry Marshall

Larry Marshall — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 03:12:25 +0000

Some great ones listed here. Duffy’s Nuts & Bolts a must-have, and the Senter book Coming Revolution. Two that I have recently found great resource in are Working the Angles by Eugene Peterson and Brothers, We Are Not Professionals by John Piper. Both strong reminders.

By: ysmarko

ysmarko — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:49:53 +0000

[...] the top 10 books that have influenced youth ministry [...]

By: David Mehrle

David Mehrle — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:21:58 +0000

I think that there are two books that really assisted in the changes that occurred in youth ministry during the early 90′s.
1. Student Ministry in the 21st Century, by Bo Boshers – this was the first book that dealt with programming on a new level in ministry.
2. Coming revolution in Youth Ministry by Mark Senter.

Love the list and additional thoughts that everyone had on Youth ministry. Honestly just glad that youth ministers are reading.

By: kenda

kenda — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 20:22:33 +0000

You don’t know how helpful this conversation is–we’re trying to compile a list like this at PTS as we speak–thank you!

At the risk of broadening the conversation beyond evangelicals (not that I really know who fits in that category anymore)–a couple books Nobody Has Heard Of that have influenced us more than we realize: 1) from 1976, David Ng’s little book *Youth in the Community of Disciples* (Judson) was the first theological ym book, I think, ever published–he reinterpreted Bonhoeffer’s *Life Together* for youth ministry. But in so doing he modelled a way to think about youth ministry as…well… ministry; 2) William Myers, *Black and White Styles of Youth Ministry* (Pilgrim, back in print, originally published 1990)–reminds us that there’s a lot to learn from churches (like black churches) who don’t do youth ministry the way the “ym literature” suggests. Here we are, almost 20 years later, just beginning to catch on.

By: Faith

Faith — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 20:43:15 +0000

oh, I second David Elkind … though I knew it as “All Grown Up and No Place to Go.” and while we’re on the secular kick, Patricia Hersch’s “A Tribe Apart” and Mary Pipher’s (?) “Reviving Ophelia” were so influential for me. at least one of those three would be on my list. though they don’t have a biblical filter, they gave me a deep look into the souls of young people.

By: Kyle Nix

Kyle Nix — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 00:47:25 +0000

Not sure if it fits in the category of a Youth Ministry book, but one that has shaped the way I do youth ministry is David Elkind’s, The Hurried Child.
Very good list though. I also hope Contemplative Youth Ministry makes the list down the road.

By: Jen Brown

Jen Brown — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:41:09 +0000

If you don’t mind some input from the Catholics…
I have a lot of resources that I keep on my blog for other youth ministers, particularly if they are Catholic, but I think you may find them helpful as well.

One of the books, if you can get your hands on it is called the Educational Philosophy of St John Bosco. Bosco’s Catholic religious order is called the Salesians (after another Saint: St Francis de Sales) and their apostolate is youth and youth ministry. It may be out of print, but he was ahead of his time and his maxims, his sayings, his teachings are all quite relevant for today. One of his big things is “Reason, Religion, and Kindness” or, teaching the youth the faith, giving them the experience of faith and loving them into the kingdom as God the Father loves us.

Another book that I’m sure is easy to find is called Growing Teen Disciplies by Frank Mercadante. Again, written from a Catholic perspective-he’ll talk about the Mass and such, but he’s right on the money. I believe it’s one of the text books used here at Franciscan University for the youth ministry concentration.

I could give scads more, but one that has been essential to me-and essential to every Catholic parish doing youth ministry-is called “Renewing the Vision” which was put out by the Catholic Bishops of the United States. It gives a blueprint, if you will, or a skeletal outline of what all goes into youth ministry, such as the three goals of youth ministry and 8 Components used to acheive those goals: Evangelization, Leadership Development, Prayer and Worship, Service and Justice, Community, Catechesis, Advocacy and Pastoral Care. This involves more than just Sunday night youth group, and gets ministers to think more in terms of formation and the process of growing in the Faith rather than just “programming ” (which I just ranted about on the blog…guess it’s on my mind!)

So, I hope this is helpful, from the Catholic girl!

By: Trey

Trey — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 21:31:56 +0000

Seven Cries of Today’s Teens – what an insightful book, for both youth pastors and parents – a must have in the library!

By: terry covert

terry covert — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 21:15:30 +0000

I would include any number of Dawson McAllisters student manuals which are a great resource for teaching. And what about Rich VanPelts Intensive Care a true classic!