YOUTH MINISTRY MANAGEMENT TOOLS 2.0
Mike Work and Ginny Olson
To be successful on this theatrical stage of youth ministry we need to play a multitude of characters: teacher, leader, parent, mentor, friend, pastor and sometimes even police officer! But there will be times when the persona of manager needs to take the leading role and let’s be honest, we didn’t get into youth work because we’re passionate about administration or streamlining processes. So what do we do when we’re looking to strengthen the ministry we are involved in?
Youth ministry management tools 2.0 is a behemoth of a ‘how to’ manual. Weighing in at 475 pages, it is packed full of tips, tools and tasks to undergird the practical foundations of your work with young people. Want a strategic plan for your ministry? There’s a guide to help you set it. Interested in an intern? Follow a suggested recruitment plan. Need to build a budget? Read through the tips on monetary mastery. It seems no area of life and ministry has been left uncommented on by this handbook. It even offers advice on more peripheral situations, like negotiating a raise and setting up an office.
As is to be semi-expected with youth ministry books, the text needs to be read by an able translator from ‘large American church’ to our relatively quaint British setting. Regular references to delegating to your media team, screening your interns and reaching out to eighth graders remind you that we here in Blighty were not the target readership. This said, the majority of tools, techniques and tips are easily transplanted into our culture in order to boost productivity. Time management strategies, chairing skills and communication techniques often taught in business are converted conveniently into a ministry setting in the book and explained in a practical and graspable manner.
This book sets out to be a practical aid for your youth ministry, and it really does achieve this aim. It points to numerous websites for topics you may wish to go into further. Although this is very helpful now, it could also mean the book goes out of date a lot sooner than others, but this is more than compensated for with nearly a third of the book dedicated to forms, tables and resources that are all ready to photocopy and use.
Youth ministry management tools 2.0 is never going to be a book you can snuggle up with and feel the warmth of encouragement or the fire of character development, but it doesn’t aim for this. The knowledge that this guide is on your bookcase should be a great comfort to a youth leader. It’s there and ready to go when you need to plan a big event or recruit a new volunteer, giving you more time to play the next role needed in your theatre of youth ministry.
JOEL PRESTON IS THE YOUTH MINISTER FOR ST MICHAEL’S BRISTOL. HE ALSO COORDINATES WWW.YOUTHMINISTRYMANAGEMENT.CO.UK
CHOOSE LIFE: 365 READINGS FOR RADICAL DISCIPLES
Simon Guillebaud
As January arrives / approaches (delete according to when you read this), I will start contemplating what I shall attempt as my next New Year’s resolution. Will it be to eat better, drink less, exercise regularly or read the Bible more? As my bookshelf can testify, I have plenty of ‘Bibles in a year’ and study notes, all bought with the good intention of reading and praying more. It is rare that I make it to the end of January before missing a day and collapsing as the inevitable guilt kicks in.
This is where Choose life: 365 readings for radical disciples by Simon Guillebaud comes in. I have been reading this for the last few weeks and it has been a welcome addition to my previously lacking morning (sometimes afternoon, often evening) routine.
Simon writes with honesty, integrity and godly wisdom throughout. The daily readings are substantial enough to go with your morning coffee but easy enough to read after college, school, university, work or the kids’ bedtime. However, these reflections have a depth that belies their brevity.
All in all, during the short time that I have been reading this book I have been refreshed and revived, challenged and comforted. This book would be a great journey to embark on for a year and not just for the first three days of January.
BEN WHITMARSH IS CURRENTLY COVERING HIS WIFE’S POST AS YOUTH MINISTER AT CHRISTCHURCH, BAYSTON HILL AS SHE IS ON MATERNITY LEAVE.
KILLING LIONS
Mike Work & Ginny Olson
This is a book aimed at guys who have been adults for a few years and realise they don’t know what they’re doing with their lives. They ask: is life meant to be this hard and unfulfilling? The book is a dialogue between the father and son authors about what being a man means, what adult life is supposed to look like, and how to live that out. The problem of not knowing what to do on reaching adulthood is a real one and the dialogue between the authors works effectively, allowing them to explore why growing into manhood seems so hard without being either overly preachy or wishy-washy. Sam mostly throws out questions and struggles, while his father John, asks questions back to clarify and then offers advice.
There are genuine struggles for meaning and happiness in the transition to adult life, and the authors articulate these with clarity. A lot of the book is helpful thought on how young men should live in light of the perceived ‘purposelessness’ of modern life. The book is at its best when channelling the wisdom literature of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, and applying it to our 21st Century, postmodern context. Occasionally it loses sight of biblical wisdom and slips into the language of self-help and the American dream. Some of the advice, especially around dreams and plans, reads more like how Walt Disney would imagine your life, not Christ.
This blurring of the line, between what Jesus is going to do in your life and what middle-class success would do to your life, means this book is merely OK, not great. That’s not to say your young people transitioning into adulthood couldn’t appreciate it. The authors’ strong articulation of the frustrations of adult life would help a young person struggling with the same things realise these questions are important and that they are not alone. It’s a shame that they are sometimes pointed to unfulfilling middle-class dreams rather than the fulfilling future of Jesus Christ. Would I give it to my older young people? I would to some of them, both male and female, but I’d caution them about of some of the issues with it.
MARK WALLEY IS A YOUTH WORKER IN A CENTRAL LONDON COMMUNITY CENTRE AND CHURCH.
