Awakening Youth Discipleship [Paperback]

Brian J. Mahan (Author), Michael Warren (Author), David F. White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2007

Youth ministry has increasingly lost touch with its origins in the way of Jesus and the social practices intrinsic to Christian discipleship, and has instead substituted layers of Jesus talk, middle class values, fun and games, and doses of warm fellow-feeling. Awakening Youth Discipleship articulates the history of this domestication of youth and ministry. Mahan Warren, and White tell a story of the ways in which our society has colluded to shape a domesticated adolescence. The authors believe a Christian response to this challenge must be multilevel, addressing the problem at three levels: society, church, and individual. The authors propose reclaiming practices of discernment that both engage congregations in social awareness and involve individuals in discerning fuller vocational opportunities than those allowed by popular cultural norms.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Awakening Youth Discipleship is a terrific, troublesome, hopeful book, offered with characteristic thoughtfulness by three prophets in our midst. Drawing from decades of teaching and research in youth ministry, Brian Mahan, Michael Warren, and David White make a provocative case for youth ministry that practices, as Daniel Berrigan puts it, the upside-down hermeneutics of Jesus Christ. Awakening Youth Discipleship topples many of youth ministry's most sacred cows, and offers strategies that help young people (and the rest of us) resist the deformative power of consumerism. These views are seldom voiced in youth ministry--but our ability to reflect Christ to and with young people absolutely depends upon hearing them. --Kenda Creasy Dean, Associate Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary

Brian Mahan, Mike Warren, and David White invite us to engage in an increasingly rare and dangerous spiritual practice: thinking. Why do we define teenagers by what they consume? Why does youth ministry feel like a finishing school for the middle class? Who profits from keeping teenagers nice? Where would Jesus shop? Like Jesus, the authors walk us up the steps of the sacred temples, tune our ears to the clink of the money-changers, and then show us how easily the tables are flipped. Awakening Youth Discipleship is a necessary read if youth workers are going to expose the sanctified greed, passionate advertising, and soulful materialism that keeps all of us, young and old, from entering the freedom of Jesus. --Mark Yaconelli, author of Contemplative Youth Ministry

Brian, David, and Michael have given us a real gift, a pearl of great price. As a father, a teacher and a consultant, I only wish I had this book years earlier. If, as Rahner said, the church of this century would be a church of mystics, these three guides prove that they are the right people to help us navigate the culture tricks so that we're mindful of pouring new wine into new wineskins. This book is a significant contribution for all interested in formation, Christian discipleship and everyday life. This book is also a great read! It made me smile often. --Michael J. Downey, Australian Youth Minister, author of Digging Deep: Fostering the Spirituality of Young Men

About the Author

Brian J. Mahan is the former director of the Program in Religious Education at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, and author of Forgetting Ourselves on Purpose: Vocation and the Ethics of Ambition. Michael Warren is Professor for Religious Education and Catechetical Ministry in the Department of Theology, St. Johns University, New York, and author of many books, including Youth, Gospel, Liberation; Youth and the Future of the Church; and At This Time In This Place. David F. White is the C. Ellis and Nancy Gribble Nelson Associate Professor of Christian Education at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas. He is the author of Practicing Discernment with Youth.

Product Details

• Paperback: 138 pages
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556351364
• ISBN-13: 978-1556351365
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #275,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Examines How You Understand Youth, December 30, 2008

By 

Richard L. Williams (Paramount, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Awakening Youth Discipleship (Paperback)

Unlike most Youth Ministry books, this six chapter compilation takes a few steps back and asks some of the bigger questions. Even though a number of the chapters end with very practical suggestions for exercises and lessons, the real power comes in the authors abilities to question the underpinnings of adolescence as a whole.

Most youth ministry books seem to swallow the assumptions of adolescence and developmental psychology and then provide answers to questions such as, "What are the best services we can provide for the developmental needs of our teens during this time in their life?" "Awakening" takes two steps back by asking questions like, "Where did our notion of adolescence come from in the first place?"

In all, the construction of adolescence has allowed teens to be passive and unquestioned consumers for longer and longer periods and has had a detrimental affect on their abilities to meaningfully connect with and engage in big issues. Through a number of stories and illustrations, the authors argue that we should begin to treat teens as the capable and competent humans that they can be.

The book is absolutely worth the $15.30 and by reading it you will gain a deeper appreciation for your students. Although it is a bit more scholarly than most Youth Ministry books, put it in your shopping cart and exercise your Youth Pastor mind.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for every Parent, Teacher and Youth Worker, November 21, 2007

By 

Dr. Michael J. Downey (Brisbane, Qld, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Awakening Youth Discipleship (Paperback)

This is a mind-blowingly clear and well written book. On almost every page I stopped and thought, "I wish I had written that". These three guys know their stuff, and luckily for the rest of us, they have a good handle on our stuff as well. Creation has been groaning, longing for the revealing of wisdom like this. When I finished reading it, I re-read it. In a world of foggy confusion, ambiguity and chaos, this book will help us find our way home. What's next?

3.0 out of 5 stars academic essays, December 5, 2010

By 

Paul Martin "smartshopper" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Awakening Youth Discipleship (Paperback)

This book is really a collection of academic essays by three people. Instead of a blended writing, each author presents his own essay separately. There are some good points made in the essays, though I wouldn't agree with the other review that calls it a must read. Neither would I say it is "mindblowingly clear and well written." The language used is very academic and a bit hard for the average reader to decipher. The subject matter is less about discipleship and more about youth culture and critical thinking.

I would say, without other obvious biases, that this is a good book for youth workers if they can take some time to read it thoroughly.