Youth Books

I just starting to work in Children's Ministry. This book gave me some excellent ideas to get started with. It also has great ideas for age appropriaste teaching. Would highly recommend.

This is a must have book for anyone involved in Children's Ministry in a small church...particularly those just starting out in a church plant!

Great book. It's a simple read. Practical and user friendly. Filled with transferable concepts that any leader can build into him or herself and then transfer to others.

I wish I had this my freshman year of children's ministry.

This is the BEST leadership book I've read -- especially for anyone in a staff position. Excellent, practical information for any staff position -- not just for children's ministry. This is a MUST HAVE!

I bought it used, but actually it was a brand new book. Highly recommended to buy from this shipper.

I must admit that even before I got this book I was thinking it would be a book that was going to be just total review and a quick read.

It was full of some review and could be a quick first read, but here is where my surprise came in. This book was written so well and down to earth with very good examples, I often found my mind going to specific times in my own life that what Bro. Jim was talking about in the book had actually taken place or was taking place in my own life. This book made a great connection personally for me.

This is a book that can be a great read for veterans in Children's Ministry of 20 years (Like myself) or for newbies just getting started. I am getting this book for my whole team!!

Here are essays on young people that tell of their various ways of seeking God's presence in their ongoing lives--an aspect of faith observed and discussed with intelligence and sensitivity. Here is a book many of us will greatly value--its wisdom an important presence in our effort to understand children.
--Dr. Robert Coles, Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities at Harvard Medical School, and the author of The Spiritual life of Children.

This extraordinary book is a must read for all who teach and practice religious education. It gathers, with breadth and depth, the best current research from an exploding renewal in the study of the spirituality and religious development of children. Teachers, students and scholars dedicated to understanding and nurturing our children's growth in faith will find this rich volume indispensable.
--James W. Fowler, author of Stages of Faith and C. H. Candler Professor of Theology and Human Development Director, The Center for Ethics, Emory University.

Written in the best of the Evangelical tradition, Children's Spirituality is a must read for all those interested in children, the spiritual life and Christian formation. Descriptive phrases include well conceived and edited, clearly written and well documented, thorough and all-encompassing, academically sound and popular, combining research and practical application.
--The Rev. Dr. John Westerhoff, formerly Professor of Theology and Christian Nurture at Duke University, he is Theologian-in-Residence at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia

This pace-setting text considers a wide variety of topics related to the spiritual development and spiritual experiences of children. The chapters grew out of presentations at the first major conference to consider these important topics from a distinctly Christian perspective. The first section considers the important question of defining spirituality and summarizes some of the history of the spirituality of children, as reflected in theology and the Bible. Social influences on children's spirituality are considered, as well as how brain activity relates to spiritual experiences. The second major section highlights children's spirituality in the Christian home, both in history and at the current time. Here the development of the concept of God is considered, as well as how parents and children work together to construct understandings of spirituality. A third section reflects upon the spirituality of children in the church, including alternative perspectives of how spiritual growth and experience are best encouraged in that setting. The distinctive aspects of African American and Latino children's spirituality are given careful attention. Schools and other settings are examined in the fourth section of the book, with an emphasis upon moral learning, encouraging faith development with preschoolers, how spirituality helps children cope with serious medical conditions and the stresses related to being children of missionaries, and best practices in reaching inner city children. The book concludes with a chapter that examines how Christian's views of children's spirituality are changing, and anticipates a follow up conference in the near future.

CHAPTER TITLES AND AUTHORS:

1. Identifying Children's Spirituality, Walter Wangerin's Perspectives, and an Overview of this Book by Donald Ratcliff with Scottie May

2. Children and Mature Spirituality by Jerome Berryman

3. Historical Perspectives on Children in the Church: Resources for Spiritual Formation and a Theology of Childhood Today by Marcia Bunge

4. Biblical Perspectives on Developmental Grace for Nurturing Children's Spirituality by Klaus Issler

5. Unless You Become as One of These: Biblical Perspectives on Children's Spirituality by Shelley Campagnola

6. Christian Perspectives on Children's Spirituality: Social Science Contributions? by Rebecca Nye

7. A Sociocultural Perspective on Children's Spiritual Development by Wendy Haight

8. Exploring Scientific and Theological Perspectives on Children's Spirituality by Eugene Roehlkepartain

9. Children in Wesleyan Thought by Catherine Stonehouse

10. Children's Spiritual Experiences and the Brain by Scottie May and Donald Ratcliff

11. How Shall We Study Children's Spirituality? by Chris J. Boyatzis and Babette T. Newman

12. The Co-construction of Spiritual Meaning in Parent-Child Communication by Chris J. Boyatzis

13. The Child's Concept of God by Joyce E. Bellous, Simone de Roos, and William Summey

14. From Doctrine to Practice: The Influence of the Doctrine of Original Sin on Puritan Child-Rearing by Timothy Sisemore

15. Six Children Seeking God: Exploring Childhood Spiritual Development in Context by Dana Hood

16. Children in Congregations: Congregations as Contexts for Children's Spiritual Growth by Joyce Ann Mercer, Deborah L. Matthews, and Scott Walz

17. Nurturing Children's Spirituality in Intergenerational Christian Settings by Holly Catterton Allen

18. A Narrative of Children's Spirituality: African American and Latino Theological Perspectives by Karen Crozier and Elizabeth Conde-Frazier

19. Narrative and the Moral Education of the Christian Child by Victoria Ford and Esther Wong

20. The Ecology and Social Dynamics of Childhood Spirituality by James Estep and Lillian Breckenridge

21. Using Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Faith-Based Early Childhood Settings by Joyce Ruppell

22. Spiritual Influences in Helping Children to Cope with Life Stressors by Sara Pendleton, Ethan Benore, Katherine Jonas, Wendy Norwood, and Carol Herrmann

23. Ministering to Unchurched, Urban, At-risk Children by Gary Newton

24. Looking Back, Looking Forward: Reflections on the Conference and Anticipation of the Future by Kevin E. Lawson

Appendix 1: Children's Ministry Models by Scottie May and others

Appendix 2: Theological Life of the California Child by Earl Barnes with Miss Ora Boring (published 1892)

I spent quite some time studying this text but have thoroughly enjoyed it. I think that this is the best text for children's ministers to be reading today because it deals with the real life issues of spiritual development in children. Other texts are not dealing with such issues.

I highly recommend that someone read this book who is interested in learning about spiritual development instead of just trends and fads in children's ministry.

Jack Lopez has crafted a series of essays that speak more to the human condition than to the latino condition. For anyone who has grown up in America, let alone southern California, this is a collection that speaks volumes. There is an emotional tug in each piece that requires the reader to stop, go back a few sentences and then read again. At times funny, sad, and hopeless, this is a major work.

In these remarkable personal essays Lopez is son, brother, father, husband and friend; the human condition (and within it the "Latino condition") is inseparable from family and friends, for without them we have nothing. For Lopez, as one critic has pointed out, surfing is a powerful metaphor for staying alive and being true to yourself in a society where identities are so easily washed away. Lopez's quiet compassion, insight and honesty manage to make more meaningful thunder than many of the trendier, louder essayists writing about the American scene today; and anyone who likes the work of Mary Helen Ponce, Ilan Stavans and Richard Rodriguez (or for that matter Joan Didion and Truman Capote) should try this book, and, if they like it, to make the effort to track down Lopez's fiction, which has appeared in these excellent Latino short story anthologies: MIRRORS BENEATH THE EARTH, PIECES OF THE HEART, IGUANA DREAMS, MUY MACHO and CURRENTS FROM THE DANCING RIVE! R, among others.

Why does someone not seek God? Why would someone exchange the Truth for a lie? This is the emphasis of this book, and the theme is directed toward college age people. Written to accompany an audio series by RC Sproul, one need not hear the lectures to comprehend the book. I found the book an interesting argument about the nature of man and the nature of God, even though I am twice the age of the target audience. How does culture affect views about the condition of man, his perspective of God, and his need for salvation.

The first chapter quotes many young adults what their perspective is of belief. The answers illustrate a philosophy of relative thought: what works for me, what works for you, what is functional to the individual. RC Sproul explains why people come up with their own religion. He uses the story about the prodigal son throughout the book to illustrate his point: man's natural inclination is to rebel against God.

The second chapter starts with many quotes from young people about code of conduct or morals: how does someone choose what is right from wrong. How does someone determine what behavior is acceptable? Is there an ultimate ought ness? Sproul uses this point to explain the myths of relative truth, relative morals and a life with no absolutes. That someone may accept the concept of God, but make it out of his own choosing- not what actually exists or is described in the Bible. The author further explains the difference between a God pleasing life and a clean life to bow to social pressure to a parent or another person.

The third chapter starts with many quotes from young adults about the afterlife. Sproul goes into a discussion about how people perceive God's hatred of sin and the judgment of God. Because of today's culture tend to dismiss God's holiness and God's perspective of the deserved punishment of the created. Man does not perceive the need to be saved from the wrath of God. The author explains the difference from being saved from pain and current circumstance as compared to salvation from damnation.

The fourth chapter starts with quotes deal with perspectives about the Christian church. Sproul uses this point to argue what people perceive the Gospel is? Someone may perceive Jesus as philosopher maybe even theologian but not as the redemptive sacrifice for ones sins. Man does not want to accept the idea what punishment he deserves, so he does not want to believe in the atonement.

The fifth chapter deals with quotes about God the Father. Sproul uses this point to explain the holiness of God and worship. What does it mean to believe in a Holy God?

My brief description of this book fails to demonstrate how Sproul incorporates the story about the prodigal to explain all these points. I found the book very interesting.

This book was the impetus for me sharing the Gospel and the reality of objective truth surrounding it. It gives non-Christians a bold but sensitive reality check and offers them the correct alternative. I can see it hangin on God's toolbelt right now...

This book has greatly affected my view of what my role as a father really is. John Angel James understands the heart of man and has written this book specifically for fathers pushing one main agenda: the importance of training their children in godliness. I found this quote helpful and convicting: 'Religion, by every Christian parent, is theoretically acknowledged to be the most important thing in the world; but if in practice the father appears a thousand times more anxious for the son to be a good scholar than a real Christian, and the mother more solicitous for the daughter to be a good dancer or musician, than a child of God, they may teach what they like in the way of good doctrine, but they are not to look for genuine piety as the result: this can only be expected where it is really taught and inculcated as the one thing needful.'
The father's own understanding of spiritual truths will be challenged as well as our own hearts thoroughly examined. We owe our children as well as the next generation of the Church our undivided attention and prayers en route to teaching them the ways of God. Fathers, we need to lead that charge!

A facimile copy of the 1828 fifth edition, it is absolutely brilliant; a must read for any and all Christians that truly carry a heartfelt desire for holiness in their families and themselves. James' soundness of doctine and eloquent style of writing make each page a veritable treasure. A most timely reprint in these most wicked days.

A quietly beautiful memoir, Rick Skwiot details his early boyhood on the near side of poverty in the wide-open spaces of the midwestern countryside. Despite living in an old fishing shack in the middle of nowhere, Skwiot regards this part of his life as near Eden, as he writes of old-fashioned pleasures in simpler times as well as of the hard work of daily living. This is the story of Skwiot's last Christmas in the country as he wrestles with possible consequences of his father's recent job loss, but there are plenty of meanderings back to other seasons and other times that fill out the picture of blue-collar life in the early 1950's. The epilogue reminds us that life is everchanging and we must hold tight to our treasured memories.

This book is a little gem that will be a special delight to those who remember simpler times or life in the country, but for others the descriptive prose just might bring up shadowy memories that never were.

It's not often you pick up a memoir these days about a functional family; a family steeped in Christian values and country ways, straight out of Norman Rockwell's post-war Americana-- and yet human and fallible enough in character to hold a reader's interest. Author Rick Skwiot's critically-acclaimed third book, Christmas at Long Lake [Antaeus Books], does exactly that, reflecting on a boyhood Christmas in 1953 when his father loses his job at the Granite City Steel Mill and the family is forced to move to the still segregated city of St. Louis.

The wonder of this quiet, quick-reading memoir (112 pages) is not the action of the story so much as the beauty of the language, and all that Skwiot manages to encapsulate in character, setting, and emotion within just a few days' time. Growing up in virtual poverty, this six-year-old's life was rich and downright blessed in many ways. A great read for anyone familiar with the St. Louis region, urban or rural--and a beautiful little book to stuff in any stocking.

Rick Skwiot is also the author of two novels set in Mexico: Flesh, which won the Hemingway First Novel Award, and Sleeping with Pancho Villa, a finalist for the Willa Cather Prize.

This book really outlined the essentials of urban youth ministry. It described in detail how to minister to different groups of teens, taking into account the urban environment and influences of the hip-hop culture. I would highly reccomend this book to anyone involved with urban youth.

Having recently finished a seminary urban youth ministry course, this is the one published text on our required reading list that I regard as worth buying. The authors of the essays are not ivory tower academics but rather are writing out of their own experience of working intensively with urban youth (note the emphasis here and in the title on urban youth; we're definitely talking inner city rather than suburbia). These insights are especially helpful for those unfamiliar with life in the inner city.

"Climb up the tree with Zacchaeus" is another story from the life of Jesus in the exciting Action Rhyme Book Series from New Day Publishing. Chris Saunderson's illustrations stir the child's imagination. The suggested actions that accompany Leena Lane's story line produce emotions, of sadness, lessons on sharing, helping others, and pleasing Jesus.

The child shares the experiences of Zacchaeus, through counting coins, climbing a tree to see above the crowds, and celebrating with Jesus in his home. This is an excellent book, ideal for teaching young children about applying principles taught by Jesus to contemporary living.
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake, a Christian Education Consultant.

The story of Jesus befriending Zacchaeus, the tax collector, is hard for adults to understand! Why would this gentle man befriend a greedy administrator? Saunderson's illustrations do much of the storytelling in this title from New Day Publishing's Action Rhyme Book series of Bible stories. The suggested actions are fun and provide other teachable moments - like what does "mutter" mean?