ReThink: Decide for Yourself —Is Student Ministry Working? by Steve Wright with Chris Graves
InQuest Publishing, 2007, 240 pp. $13.99
www.inquest.orgSteve Wright is a veteran and writes this book from that deep experience in youth ministry. It is filled with personal stories as well as fascinating stats about the condition of adolescent culture. If you seek a book that distills much of the current research on adolescent culture, this book is a great buy. Other strengths of the book include a wonderful focus on the ecclesiology of youth ministry and a non-negotiable commitment to parental involvement in youth ministry. There seems to be an increase in books dedicated to criticizing what exists with no viable replacement.
ReThink spends more time explaining the problems than providing solutions. The first chapter focuses on measuring the current health of youth ministry. One of the gauges of assessment the authors suggest is baptisms. Do you keep baptismal records? Maybe you do. However, I anticipate the authors disconnect with some readers when they use and reference baptistic language. I suggest skipping the first chapter and focus on the last three. The chapter on spiritual formation is the best part of the book. Written to a lay audience, this book would be great to place in the hands of your youth ministry parents. They will see their role much differently as a result. —Larry Lindquist
Outflow: Outward-Focused Living in a Self-Focused World by Steve Sjogren and Dave Ping
Group, 2007, 236 pp., $14.99
www.group.comStever Sjogren has a gift for keeping ministry simple yet powerful. Combining efforts with Dave Ping, the duo has put together
Outflow, a highly practical resource about how one life can impact many. Through sound theory and a biblical foundation, the book provides insights and ideas that can be easily integrated into any lifestyle. The running metaphor of the book is a four-tiered fountain, painting an Acts 1:8 picture of how the Holy Spirit can nourish layer after layer of the lives that surround our own. Although at times sounding like a remix of
The Purpose Driven Life, the authors do offer an inventive spin through stories, introspection, Scripture and strategy. In doing so, this feels less about a program and more about transformation. Whether used as a personal study or as a way to transform an entire group,
Outflow promises a refreshing approach that just might (super)naturally change the world. —Tony Myles
Life After Church: God’s Call to Disillusioned Christians by Brian Sanders
InterVarsity, 2007, 185 pp., $15.00
www.ivpress.com