The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry

by Andrew Root, Kenda Creasy Dean

Overview

Christianity Today Book Award of Merit winner

What 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. The crisis 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 God in the places God didn't appear to be—places of brokenness, suffering and confusion. What if we let these questions drive our search for God too?

Andrew Root and Kenda Creasy Dean invite you to envision youth ministries full of practical theologians, addressing the deep questions of life with a wonderfully adolescent mix of idealism, cynicism and prophetic intolerance for hypocrisy. Follow them into reflection on your own practice of theology, and learn how to share that theology through rich, compassionate conversation and purposeful experience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830838257
Publisher:	InterVarsity Press
Publication date:	08/18/2011
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Andrew Root (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary) is in the Baalson Olson Chair as associate professor of youth and family ministry at Luther Seminary (St. Paul, MN). A former Young Life staffworker, he has served in churches and social service agencies as a youth outreach associate and a gang prevention counselor.

Kenda Creasy Dean is an ordained elder in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference (United Methodist) and professor of youth, church and culture at Princeton Theological Seminary, where she works closely with the Institute for Youth Ministry. She is the author of several books, including OMG: A Youth Ministry Handbook, Practicing Passion, The God-Bearing Life and Almost Christian.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction (Kenda Creasy Dean)

Part 1: A Theological Starting Point for Youth Ministry
What Does Youth Ministry Have to Do with Theology?

1 The New Rhetoric of Youth Ministry
Kenda Creasy Dean
2 God Is a Minister
Youth Ministry as Fundamentally Theological
Andrew Root
3 Youth Ministry as an Integrative Theological Task
Toward a Representative Method
Andrew Root
4 Proclaiming Salvation
The Ministry of Youth for the 21st Century Church
Kenda Creasy Dean
5 Walking into the Crisis of Reality
How Theology Is Constructed
6 Youth Ministry as Discerning Christopraxis
A Hermeneutical Model
Andrew Root
7 God's Hiddenness, Suffering, and Doubt
Andrew Root

Part 2: Theology Enacted
Exploring Youth Ministry Practice

8 Is Jesus Magic?
Healing and the Cross in the Context of Youth Ministry
Andrew Root
9 Talking About Sin with Young People
Andrew Root
10 Holding On to Our Kisses
The Hormonal Theology of Adolescence
Kenda Creasy Dean
11 The Eschatological Significance of Summer Camp
Kenda Creasy Dean
12 What Are We Doing in These Mountains?
The Outdoor Trip and the Theology of the Cross
Andrew Root
13 The Mission Trip as Global Tourism
Are We OK With This?
Andrew Root
14 Doubt and Confirmation
The Mentor as Co-Doubter
Andrew Root
15 Ascension Deficit Disorder
Youth Ministry as a Laboratory for Hope
Kenda Creasy Dean

Postscript: Reflecting on Method—-
Youth Ministry as Practical Theology
(Andrew Root with Blair D. Bertrand)

Notes

What People are Saying About This

Kara Powell

"The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry is a practical theology winner. Newcomers to practical theology will applaud its interplay of experience, reflection and action. Veterans to the field will give its masterful synergy of breadth and depth a standing ovation."

Christian Smith

"An important step in the right direction. Who says teenagers can't understand the theological thrust of, say, Karl Barth? They can and they must."
— Christian Smith, University of Notre Dame, author of Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers

Mike King

"I am euphoric over Kenda Creasy Dean and Andrew Root's book, The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry. We have been perplexed by decades of accumulating and overwhelming data indicating that the Christian church in North America is failing to form disciples among adolescents who stay connected to their churches. Root and Dean skillfully illustrate the essential role practical theology plays as an imperative correction toward authentic Christian formation of young people. The authors describe and advocate for a theological turn that will not only prove to be a key factor in transforming the way we engage youth ministry but also result in widespread ecclesial change. Today's young adults are eager to engage in deep theological reflection that allows them to wrestle with the issues that can truly bring meaning to their lives. The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry is a seminal work that will stir up the prophetic imagination of youth workers."
— Mike King, president of Youthfront and author of Presence-Centered Youth Ministry

Editorial Reviews

"I am euphoric over Kenda Creasy Dean and Andrew Root's book, The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry. We have been perplexed by decades of accumulating and overwhelming data indicating that the Christian church in North America is failing to form disciples among adolescents who stay connected to their churches. Root and Dean skillfully illustrate the essential role practical theology plays as an imperative correction toward authentic Christian formation of young people. The authors describe and advocate for a theological turn that will not only prove to be a key factor in transforming the way we engage youth ministry but also result in widespread ecclesial change. Today's young adults are eager to engage in deep theological reflection that allows them to wrestle with the issues that can truly bring meaning to their lives. The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry is a seminal work that will stir up the prophetic imagination of youth workers."

Mike King

"Andrew Root and Kenda Creasy Dean invite you to envision youth ministries full of practical theologians, addressing the deep questions of life with a wonderfully adolescent mix of idealism, cynicism, and prophetic intolerance for hypocrisy."

Youth Discipleship Leadership

"This book has much to commend itself. It both offers fresh approaches to issues the church has thought about often, and addresses new areas about which the church has not thought enough. . . . Having read this book and absorbed the depth and vision the authors present, I find myself hopeful. . . . If youth ministry is the research and development department to the church, then this product is ready to launch for the sake of the world."

Philip L. Ruge-Jones

"The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry is a practical theology winner. Newcomers to practical theology will applaud its interplay of experience, reflection and action. Veterans to the field will give its masterful synergy of breadth and depth a standing ovation."

Kara Powell

"It is time to turn to theological substance and faith formation. This book talks about why this is true, and more important, it demonstrates how it may be done. The closing postscript on youth ministry as practical theology is worth the price of admission."

The Christian Century

"An important step in the right direction. Who says teenagers can't understand the theological thrust of, say, Karl Barth? They can and they must."

Christian Smith

"Root and Dean invite readers to envision youth ministries full of practical theologians, addressing the deep questions of life with a wonderfully adolescent mix of idealism, cynicism, and prophetic intolerance for hypocrisy."

YouthWorker Journal

"Andrew Root and Kenda Creasy Dean invite you to envision youth ministries full of practical theologians, addressing the deep questions of life with a wonderfully adolescent mix of idealism, cynicism, and prophetic intolerance for hypocrisy."

--Youth Discipleship Leadership, Summer 2012

"I am euphoric over Kenda Creasy Dean and Andrew Root's book, The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry. We have been perplexed by decades of accumulating and overwhelming data indicating that the Christian church in North America is failing to form disciples among adolescents who stay connected to their churches. Root and Dean skillfully illustrate the essential role practical theology plays as an imperative correction toward authentic Christian formation of young people. The authors describe and advocate for a theological turn that will not only prove to be a key factor in transforming the way we engage youth ministry but also result in widespread ecclesial change. Today's young adults are eager to engage in deep theological reflection that allows them to wrestle with the issues that can truly bring meaning to their lives. The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry is a seminal work that will stir up the prophetic imagination of youth workers."

--Mike King, president of Youthfront and author of Presence-Centered Youth Ministry

"It is time to turn to theological substance and faith formation. This book talks about why this is true, and more important, it demonstrates how it may be done. The closing postscript on youth ministry as practical theology is worth the price of admission."

--The Christian Century, October 17, 2012

"The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry is a practical theology winner. Newcomers to practical theology will applaud its interplay of experience, reflection and action. Veterans to the field will give its masterful synergy of breadth and depth a standing ovation."

--Kara Powell, executive director, Fuller Youth Institute, Fuller Theological Seminary

"Root and Dean invite readers to envision youth ministries full of practical theologians, addressing the deep questions of life with a wonderfully adolescent mix of idealism, cynicism, and prophetic intolerance for hypocrisy."

--YouthWorker Journal, July/August 2011

"This book has much to commend itself. It both offers fresh approaches to issues the church has thought about often, and addresses new areas about which the church has not thought enough. . . . Having read this book and absorbed the depth and vision the authors present, I find myself hopeful. . . . If youth ministry is the research and development department to the church, then this product is ready to launch for the sake of the world."

--Philip L. Ruge-Jones, Word World, 33/3, Summer 2013

From the Publisher

"Andrew Root and Kenda Creasy Dean invite you to envision youth ministries full of practical theologians, addressing the deep questions of life with a wonderfully adolescent mix of idealism, cynicism, and prophetic intolerance for hypocrisy."

Youth & Discipleship Leadership