don’t miss this article on cnn.com about kenda dean’s book, almost christian. the money paragraph:
No matter their background, Dean says committed Christian teens share four traits: They have a personal story about God they can share, a deep connection to a faith community, a sense of purpose and a sense of hope about their future.
**notice she doesn’t say “…and a fun youth group!” but, i would like to think that those four key qualities could be foci of our youth ministries.
THIS JUST IN: kenda’s response to the article with an important clarification on one point.
AND NOW, THIS JUST IN: kenda responds with more, this time about the title of the book and the title of the article.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Kenda Dean also wrote a follow up to the CNN interview. It helps clarify some claims that were made by the author.
http://kendadean.com/307/cnn-response/
“Almost Christian” doesn’t mean “Fake Christian.” Another follow-up post by Kenda Dean.
http://kendadean.com/318/almost-christian/
I know everyone is not totally familiar with the National Study on Youth and Religion. As a part of our Lilly grant, we have been working on In a Nut Shells to give a Cliff notes version of various Lilly studies. Here is a link to Andrew Zirschky’s NSYR in a Nutshell: http://ymtoday.com/articles/article.php?aid=2664
We will have Almost Christian in a Nutshell out today. Thought it would be helpful for those trying to understand what Kenda is talking about.