Four Views of Youth Ministry
& the Church

by Senter, Black, Clark and Nel

This is not a new book, but it is an important one in the continuing development of youth ministry. There has been very little discussion and almost no books written about how youth ministry fits into the life of the church. “Fours Views” seeks to address this.

It begins by exploring the failure of youth ministry in so many places to connect young people to the church and proposes that valuable insight into why. From here it develops a schema which places styles of youth work along two intersecting spectrums. The first spectrum relates to the degree to which young people are treated as the church now or the church of the future. The second focuses on churches that are either about attraction or mission – the old come or go dichotomy. From the intersection of these two spectrums emerge the four views that give the book its title.

The four views, named Inclusive Congregational, Preparatory, Missional and Strategic, are explored in chapters through the rest of the book by an experienced proponent of that view. Each chapter also contains a critique from the three other perspectives and concludes with a rejoinder from the author of that chapter.

This book is valuable for anyone trying to understand more deeply their own approach to youth ministry and some of the strengths and weaknesses of it. It will also open up a wealth of possibilities for those trying to establish youth ministry in their own church.

www.thesource4ym.com
This website is jam packed full of all sorts of helpful resources for youth ministry including: games, team builders, activity ideas, movie reviews, youth culture windows and much more. Although this site emerges from an American context it still contains many useful and cutting-edge resources for youth ministers.

Edited by Stephen Harrison
Director of Youth, Children’s, & Family Ministry
Anglican Diocese of Brisbane.