Moving Away from the Kid Table A Bigger Vision of the Church
What’s so bad about the kid table? Kara explores a theology of church and youth ministry that might challenge your assumptions.
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The Soul of Hip Hop Part 1 Toward A Missiological Gospel of A Culture
FYI’s Hip Hop scholar takes us a step toward understanding the core theological beliefs that weave through Hip Hop music and culture.
The Attack of the Zombies Why Community and Belonging are Hard to Construct
Note: This article is an adaptation of chapter three of The Promise of Despair: The Way of the Cross as the Way of the Church
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Going Green God’s Way Implications for Your Youth Ministry
Whether you’ve thought a lot, a little, or not really at all about what environmental concerns have to do with your youth ministry, Kris Fernhout makes a strong case for why we should all join God in caring about our–and our students’–impact on the world around us.
Why Ecclesiology? Imagining a New Theology of Youth Ministry for the Church
What do we really think about the church, and does it make a difference in the way we do youth ministry? Kara Powell and Brad Griffin argue here that our ecclesiology matters immensely for youth workers, and make practical suggestions for working out a new theology of youth ministry for your church.
A Theology of Culture for Your Ministry Is “The World” Friend, Foe, or Something Else?
Whether it’s deciding what music to listen to in the church van or which movies to see with students, youth workers are always wrangling with questions of culture. How we think theologically about culture has a huge impact on the way we answer the questions, but we rarely have time to contemplate the roots of our responses.
Re-Storying Conversion Listening to Students’ Accounts of Coming to Christ
“Conversion” and “evangelism” are words we often throw around in ministry without really stopping to consider what we mean and what we are attempting when we use them. Looking at two different approaches to conversion research might help us think more carefully about how we—and the students we serve—see the roles of both story and process in evangelism.
Technology Matters Provocative Ideas About Media and Ministry from Shane Hipps
Have you ever stopped to think about whether using a cell phone, instant message service, email, or even a sound system impacts the message you communicate using those media? In this interview with author Shane Hipps, we are challenged to stop and think about the implications of every day technology that we may never have considered before.
A Deeper Integration of Theology and Ministry
How often do you stop to ask, “Is the way I practice ministry leading to the results I am hoping for?” or, “How do my theology and my ministry shape each other?” Whether you think about these kinds of things a lot or a little, this Deep Design from Kara Powell and Chap Clark’s new book Deep Ministry in a Shallow World offers a “practical theology” loop that you can incorporate into virtually every aspect of ministry.
We Have Forgotten that We Belong to Each Other
Who are the youth you consider developmentally “at risk” in your church or neighborhood? In contrast to the individualism that has guided most work with kids who are labeled this way, Jude Tiersma Watson offers an approach based on ecological development theory and a theological principle of belonging. These insights affect the way we view ministry with ANY kind of student.