Deep Ministry in a Shallow World: Not-So-Secret Findings about Youth Ministry (Youth Specialties) [Paperback]

Chap Clark (Author), Kara E. Powell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006 | Series: Youth Specialties

Whether you re struggling to make anything work in your youth ministry or finding that most things are clicking along, this book will help you develop a practical theology to ask what is happening, what should be happening, and how you can make it happen. Each chapter is followed by discussion questions to help you process in a group or on your own.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chap Clark has more than 20 years of experience in youth and family ministry and is currently a professor of youth, family and culture at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California. He also created and directs Fuller s Doctor of Ministry program in youth and family ministry. Chap is the co-author of Deep Ministry in a Shallow World, and was one of the editors for the YS book, Starting Right: Thinking Theologically about Youth Ministry.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan/Youth Specialties (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310267072
• ISBN-13: 978-0310267072
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #342,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome! Must read!, March 2, 2007

By 

Howard J. Snyder "youth pastor howie" (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Deep Ministry in a Shallow World: Not-So-Secret Findings about Youth Ministry (Youth Specialties) (Paperback)

Okay, I have to say that after the first couple of chapters I wasn't overly impressed. But once they started to apply the principle to each of the cases in subsequent chapters, it blew me away. I would say this is a MUST READ for those in youth ministry today, if you want to have a Deep Impact in the midst of most ministry examples out there that don't get past the shallow stage.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deep Program Evaluation, September 29, 2007

By 

M. Cleaver "youth minister, amateur theologian" (Arlington, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Deep Ministry in a Shallow World: Not-So-Secret Findings about Youth Ministry (Youth Specialties) (Paperback)

Co-written by Chap Clark and Kara Powell of Fuller Theological Seminary, Deep Ministry in a Shallow World: Not-So-Secret Findings about Youth Ministry hits its target of providing youth workers with a resource to help them deepen their ministries. The book takes the discipline of practical theology and cloaks it in terms that will allow youth workers to put it into practice.

The authors contend that most ministries compensate for a lack of depth by implementing at least one of three flawed solutions: by doing more of the same thing, doing what worked for someone else, or by doing whatever they found in a book. These changes typically fall short because of the various variables relating to context, expectation, or surface-level change. Rather than prescribing how to do youth ministry, Clark and Powell offer a strategy for discerning what to do within a specific ministry context.

Drawing on theory taken from practical theology, four steps are offered: 1.) Evaluating where you currently are in ministry 2.) Reflecting on scripture, history, research, and experience to open up some new and creative options 3.) Examining how others address the situation you are faced with (without simply copying their program) and 4.) Deciding how you will take your ministry deeper by using insights gained in steps 1-3. Once the new strategy is implemented, you find yourself back at step one with the need to re-evaluate if you met the goals that were set out at the beginning. This practical theology loop allows for constant refinement and evaluation of a ministry. The book offers multiple examples of how one might go about using their method in areas such as mentors, mission trips, and worship.

From reading the title and the description, I expected a book that hit a little harder on the topic of overall youth ministry philosophy. Those who are looking for such a book will be disappointed. The book primarily focuses on purposeful program evaluation, and it does a good job of that. If you intend to use this book for the purpose for which it was written, you should not be disappointed. Clark and Powell should help countless ministries begin the trek out of the shallow end and towards a Deep Ministry.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YOU MUST READ THIS, December 1, 2007

By 

Luke E. Price "cmguitars" (Indiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Deep Ministry in a Shallow World: Not-So-Secret Findings about Youth Ministry (Youth Specialties) (Paperback)

This is a great book with many good ideas. I didn't like it at first but as I read more of it I realized that the reason their method works is because it molds to your individual youth ministry. Unlike Purpose Driven Youth ministry which gives Field's layout this book helps you create your own layout that matches your Ministry perfectly. It's a must read more so than Purpose Driven.