An International Youth Ministry book to check out
By Andy Root on January 11 2012
I’ve just read a book that I think those youth workers that love reading and thinking about the theory and conceptions of youth ministry should know about. It is called Youth Ministry: A Multi-Faceted Approach and comes out of the UK. The very sharp-minded Sally Nash is the editor, and most of the authors either work for, or are connected to, the Center for Youth Ministry (centreforyouthministry.ac.uk).
In twelve short chapters the book explores multiple needed metaphors of a youth worker. It argues for visions of the youth worker as “politician of integrity,” “flawed hero,” “community builder,” “boundary marker,” and many more. Each chapter seeks to be formative to youth workers, explaining how this metaphor can shape the identity and practice of one's ministry. Each chapter richly weaves together theology, bible, and a number of social scientific perspectives. This is not a fluffy youth ministry book (not that those are bad), nor is it a heavy monograph. It is a book that will help you think deeply about yourself and your ministry. Or better, it will help you think about how your very self, your very person is the gift of ministry and is pulled into ministry.
Most American readers will need to do a little jostling as they read, applying perspectives to our own context, parsing a few words, and recognizing the difference in the state of the church in the UK, and the reality that the youth worker is also known in the UK as a non-religious affiliated professional, something more like our YMCA director or city parks summer program leader. But this should be seen as an asset. So often in American youth ministry we read only stuff from our large youth ministry infrastructure (complex really)—it may help us all to stretch our minds as we read and think with others doing youth ministry in differing contexts. This would be a great place to start!
Comments
From Etchie on February 17, 2012
Huh! This is the third time this week that this theme has come up in my life. All three times from three tloatly different sources. Ya think God is trying to tell me something?
