Resources for YouthMinistry:

Although intimidating at theoutset finding resources for youth ministry is actually fairly easy. There is far more out there than anyonelikely has the time or inclination to wade through. In this list of resources Ihave highlighted some web sources that I have found useful. I haveintentionally focused on Canadian resources as much as possible.

I suggest these booksprimarily because they are easy to skim and their authors have other similarresources available, many of which can be found on the web. I have suggestedspecific chapters to read that I have found especially useful and highlightedbooks that have prepared workshops or activities in them. Most of the newerbooks have accessible layouts, a self-explanatory table of contents andresource lists of their own.

A sustainable youth ministryprogram can be imagined as having four programming components; youthfellowship, engaging youth with the congregation, engaging youth with the world(social justice and social awareness development) and spiritual practices.These components do overlap of course, and should not be completely extricatedfrom eachother, but in the scheduling and design of a youth program it isextremely important to keep them all in mind. I have noted before each resourcelisted what programming components I think it most directly applies to:

Programdevelopment/leadership:

Youth fellowship

Engaging with thecongregation

Engaging with the world

Spiritual practices

Bookresources: (arranged in the highlytechnical order of that which I have found most useful/must-have-on-handdescending into should-borrow)

Programdevelopment/leadership:

Transforming BibleStudy, Walter Wink: An amazingresource for leading bible study or facilitating spiritually transformativeexperiences- super accessible and easy to read. It is rich in concretesuggestions. It has a great chapter on left versus right brain approaches tolearning and suggestion for how to integrate them. For specific advice thatapplies to leadership read Wink’s Ch 4 & 5.

Programdevelopment/leadership:

Will our ChildrenHave Faith? John Westerhoff:Though slim, this book can be hard to read due to Westerhoff’s academictone. It’s dense and full ofwisdom, but is probably not worth reading in its entirety. However, Ch 3identifies elements he sees as essential to creating a Christian community thatcan authentically nurture faith development. Ch 4 outlines a useful model of 4phases of faith formation- whichare fully explained from pg 89 to 103.

The Westerhoff and Winkbooks have been around for more than what is considered a full generation-25yrs, so these two should be fully establishment by now. The arguments andconcepts presented in the books are familiar to many in the United ChurchCommunity. They are both worth reading largely to acquire the language withwhich to advocate for congregationally integrated youth ministry thatincorporates different learning styles and opportunity for integrative learningexperiences.

Engaging with the congregation

Storycatcher.Making Sense of our Lives through the power and practice of Story, Christina Baldwin. Reading the preface, Ch 1, 8 and9 will give lots to work with and inspire. This book is especially importantfor framing why it is important that congregations and generations share theirstories with one another. If you read the whole thing and love it- track downThomas King’s The Truth about Stories as the Massey Lecture on CD or inbook form- and pay attention to opportunities to engage with First Nationscommunity members about the value and place of storytelling.

Spiritual practices

Discover YourSpiritual Type, CorrineWare. It’s easy to get the gist of the Spirituality types by reading about 30pages of the book. It also includes; a study guide, resources for individuals,a wholly assembled congregational workshop to introduce spirituality types anda guide for the spiritual practice of Lectio Devina.

Programdevelopment/leadership:

PracticingDiscernment with Youth: A Transformative Youth Ministry Approach, David F. White. This book is about placing youth ministry programs squarely within acongregational context. The introduction gives a very smooth and solid theologicalargument for what I have essentially renamed Sustainable Youth Ministry. ThenChapters 1 and 2 briefly introduce the context of youth in society and culture,and the recent history and crises in youth ministry. Section 2 breaks down the4 elements of discernment, introduces practices of discernment and then appliesthem to youth ministry. White draws from a variety of Christian traditions forpractices of Discernment. In this case the book is definitely worth reading,but it also meets the requirement of being accessible for skimming and quickreview. This is one that I do highly suggest!

Programdevelopment/leadership:

The Godbearing Life, Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster: An excellentoverall resource for leaders with youth. Guides leaders through challenges intheir roles, provides an insightful theology for youth ministry and hasconcrete examples. Section 1 and 2 really set the stage for how to engage asleaders with youth.

Youth fellowship:

Way to Live;Christian Practices for Teens,Dorothy C. Bass and Don C. Richter: As promised in the title it outlines practices we can walk through withour youth groups, designed in consultation with youth. Also a great onlineguide for leaders, and an interactive website for youth. The section reflectingpractices of Welcome is useful for reflecting on building community.

Much more and lists uponlists of book resources and linksto other useful sites on www.practicingourfaith.org

Spiritual practices

SpiritualJournaling, Julie TallardJohnson. A great resource to explore this one practice with questions andguides for reflection, stories to start with and a plethora of approaches tojournaling all served up in a package that is skim-able and readable with handypictures, quotes and focus boxes.

Engaging with thecongregation

Calling the Circle;The First and Future Community,Christina Baldwin: The whole book is an exploration of the circle as aspiritual model for community. It’s not Christian, but if offers valuableexamples of ways to be in relationship with others. Good source material forleading congregational or intergenerational dialogue.

Programdevelopment/leadership:

Leading Change; Theargument for values-based leadership,James O’Toole: The introduction to values based leadership is extremelyrelevant to how we engage with youth. The body of the book is about effectingchange with values based leadership.

Spiritual practices

I’d Say Yes GodIf I knew What you Wanted, NancyReeves. A book for spiritual discernment. Each chapter is easily accessible onits own. She introduces spiritual practices of discernment- so the book highlightsboth discernment skills and spiritual practices and so is useful for both andincredibly pertinent for youth. This is a book that I have often given familyand friends at times of transition. Another book of hers, A Path throughLoss, while a guide for grieving is also useful for engaging withtransition as so often the struggle with change is tied to grieving over whatwas.

Programdevelopment/leadership:

Leadership and SelfDeception; Getting out of the Box,The Arbinger Institute. This book is most useful for personal development. It provides a model (the box) forhow conflict occurs, and tools for how to deal with it. It is a very usefultool in the context of deep emotional work with youth. There’s a workbook thatgoes with it.

Engaging with the congregation

This UnitedChurch of Ours, Ralph Milton;New to the United Church or a tad confused about how things work? Pick this upfrom your church library and plant it on your bedside table. At a minimum readCh. 8 to learn about the decision making hierarchy of the church, as the bodiesdiscussed therein will make decisions that affect your future.

Spiritual practices

Healing Fromthe Heart, Rochelle Graham, Flora Litt and WayneIrwin. Common resource in United Church communities, most people who practiceHealing Touch own a copy- so chances are someone in the congregation can lendit out. There are good guided meditations in Appendix C, and Ch 4, 7 and 8 areworth reading for leading conversation about effect of prayer.

Engaging with the world

Me to We:Turning Self-help on its Head,Craig and Marc Keilburger. This is a youth focused, youth friendly book writtenby inspiring brothers, both still young adults. Has lots of stories with greatinspiration- basically a book that expands on the quote of Emerson’s that getwhat we give back. Canadian Living Magazine has regular features by theKeilburgers with shiny really accessible ways of engaging families in changingthe world. In the Jan 2008 issue there was a pull out “From Me to We” boardgame that broke down positive change into 7 easy steps with friendly photos andlists. Also check out the website, or look up Free the Children. The websites have tons of stuff on them gearedtowards engaging children and youth to be a force of change.

Spiritual practices

Learn to Pray, Marcus Braybooke. I’m not certain if it’s thecontent or the presentation that makes this book easy to use, but it doesdeliver as promised and is one of many excellent prayer resources. It has bothpractice (broken down into exercises) and theory, both or which are importantto teaching or group exploration of prayer.

Spiritual practices

Psalms forPraying, Nan C Merrill. Inexploring the Psalms on their own or in exploring practices of prayer, thisbook is a complimentary resource. I’d suggest it for a church library before apersonal collection though, as it works best alongside other prayer resourcesor other bible study resources.

Engaging with the world

RadicalGratitude, Mary Jo Leddy- small book, full ofinsight, readable and skimable, broken up into accessible chunks. Mary Jo Leddyand Romero house are also worth looking into.

MisquotingJesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, Bart Ehrman, see also the Tapestry Podcast about the book.

The Impossiblewill take a Little While,ed. Paul Rogat Loeb. A collection of essays, stories, and dialogues that playsout with the who’s who in past and current Western dialogues of Hope andchange- theologians, activists, scholars, poets. Besides the inspiration of thestories, which are a great pickup for days when the burden seems unbearablyheavy while being easily consumed in bite-sized pieces, this is a greatintroduction to thinkers and writers who are worth knowing more about.

Also, there is aquietly growing movement of storytellers- all across Western Canada there arestrong storytellers guilds- check Google and ask congregation members who theyknow involved in storytelling the community.

the Chicken Soup forevery-themed soul series is the standard fluffy version of emotionallyevocative, inspirational stories, but really getting people to share their ownstories is far more meaningful

Rachel Naomi Resen’stwo books Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories that Heal and MyGrandfather’s Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge and Belonging are bothwell loved, spiritually grounded collections of inspirational stories that arereadily available

Modern technology is abeautiful thing- there are far more resources available on the web, use thislist as a starting point and guide to language and names to search further onthe web.

WebResources:

Spiritual Gifts Inventory byDavid Ewart

www.davidewart.ca

Google books.- there isdetailed publishing information about the books- and for some books evenportions of the book available online

Engaging with the world

www.cbc.ca/radio

has free podcasts with lots of interesting stuff inthem:

Tapestry has discussions on faith and spirituality-check out the interview with Tom Harpur about his book , and check outTapestry’s past programs- including interview with Bart Ehrman about his book MisquotingJesus

“This I believe” – essays starting with thatline

“The Current”- current affairs issues (also on theradio every morning- the interviews are generally very good)

The CBC website can now besearched and has lots of its older programs as audio file links that can bedownloaded. Most of the radio documentaries have to be purchased on CD. Keepthe CBC in mind though- the Massey lecture series is run by the CBC annuallyand the spoken essays have become books that lots of us are familiar with:Thomas King’s The Truth about Stories, Margaret Sommerville’s TheEthical Imagination and Stephen Lewis’s Race Against Time- all ofwhich should be at your local library if not at the church library

Wondering how to getyouth fired up about socialjustice issues? Check out the Firestarter Youth Empowerment Program: www.freechild.org/firestarter/home.htm

If you haven’t seen it yet,check out www.inheritthemirth.comfor some bible cartoon humour

Youthfellowship:

www.practicingourfaith.comis an ecumenical Christian resource site, with links to other useful sites

Student ChristianOrganizations: the student Christian Movement of Canada www.scmcanada.org and the World StudentChristian Movement www.wscfglobal.org

In their own words themagazine Geez is for “the over-churched, out-churched, un-churched and maybeeven un-churchable” the website iswww.geezmagazine.com

Engaging with the world

The Pastor and theImam: search YouTube or Google Video for this documentary (it’s 40 mins long)that explores how a Christian Pastor and a Muslim Imam moved from leading rivalmilitias, through forgiveness to becoming close friends and co-leaders of aninterfaith peace dialogue. Their story speaks to the need to move beyondtolerance to acceptance of others to truly walk in faith.

For their book:

http://www.peoplebuildingpeace.org/thestories/print.php?id=93&typ=theme

Programdevelopment/leadership:

For Inspiration on workingwith children and inspiring creativity- and a fabulous critique of theeducation system watch the 20 min video of Sir Ken Robinson at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66. The transcript is also available on the site.