Family-Based Youth Ministry

by Mark DeVries

Book Overview

Have you tried all the new youth programs? Have you planned one too many wacky activities? Are you frustrated about the size of the youth group? Here's an approach to ministry that takes youth work seriously. Family-based youth ministry is about adults discipling teens one-on-one and in groups. It is about involving not just the nuclear family but the whole church family--from singles to older adults. More important, it's about incorporating youth...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830832432
• ISBN13: 9780830832439
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: IVP
• Length: 255 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

The fact you are looking here means YOU NEED THIS BOOK

When I got involved in Youth Ministry, we were at a crossroads with a shrinking program. This book was recommended to us, and everyone in youth leadership roles at the church read and discussed it. That was at least five years ago and the book is still impactful to me as a youth advisor in what is now a larger and growing ministry. You'll learn what success really means, and it's not how many kids come each week. Devries argues convincingly that nothing's more important than connecting youth to the adults in the church family, and putting the youth program into the context of overall family ministry. If you think you're successful because you offer a lot of activities, you need to read this book. I learned that a successful youth ministry is one that results in life-long discipleship.

One of the Best Youth Ministry Books Written

Mark DeVries insight into youth ministry is exactly what needs to be heard and then put into practice. This book is a must-read by anyone involved in youth ministry and considering being involved in youth ministry. This book should open eyes in regards to the Church's responsibilty to our youth and their families!

Family Based Youth Ministry - A must for all Youth Minsters

This book is a wonderful companion for all who are involved in youth ministry. It focuses on the importance of relationships in the success of the ministry. It doesn't mislead by asserting that all the answers are on the pages of this book. You will be challenged to move your ministry into a more lasting phase in which the adults of the congregation become integral parts of the foundation of the teens.All youth ministers, youth deacons, and youth volunteers should own a copy of this book.

A different perspective

I'm coming from a different perspective than most of you who read this book. I'm a 20 year old Gordon College student who is learning about youth ministry from his friends and from classes. I never really felt connected to any of the youth groups I belonged to, and consequently I understand why now.I read this book to make up for an incomplete. I had to read this book and Doug Fields Purpose Driven Youth Ministry as well as doing a lot of field research. It was alot like finding a diamond in the rough. I've learned alot about Youth Ministry from this assignment and consequently I can see what DeVries is talking about in this book. I would say that this book is one of the most definitive books on where Youth Ministry should be heading. The approach is "radical", from our perspective, but is in fact traditional. He is essentially advocating that we give children of my generation one of the main things we have lost in this hedonistic and pluralistic society: A deep connection with adults. My parents and I get along better than most people these days, but they weren't the greatest advocates of church involement. I had a strong relationship growing up, but what I didn't have was a strong connection with other adult Christians. There was no "cloud of witnesses" to encourage me and challenge me to continue forward. Consequently, I have found it difficult at times to continue forward in my faith. DeVries' concept would change that. The focus of the book is to show youth workers that the method they have been using needs updating. A new process for quantifying success in a youth ministry also needs to be used. A youth group shouldn't be judged by how many people are in it, but rather by how many people stay in the church once they "graduate" from youth group.All in all this book is wonderful. I suggest it to everybody who has to work with youth.

My all-time favorite book on youth ministry

I have written and edited Christian education curriculum for teens for more than 25 years, I've edited a Christian magazine for youth for 9 years, I've edited a journal for youth workers for 8 years, and edited youth ministry books. I majored in Christian education with an emphasis on youth ministry. So I've seen quite a bit of what's out there on this subject.Far and away, this is my favorite book on youth ministry. In my present role as a church consultant, this is the only book on youth ministry I give to the youth pastors at the churches where I am consulting.But a lot of people in youth ministry won't share my opinion. Why? Because this book advocates a basic approach to youth ministry that is so different from what we're used to that most youth pastors are not comfortable with it. A pastor recently told me that they interviewed several candidates for a family-based youth ministry position. None of the youth ministry candidates they interviewed had any clue about how to do family-based youth ministry, so they didn't hire any of them.Here's the heart of this book. The purpose of youth ministry is to produce adult disciples. What predicts whether a teen will ten years later be an adult disciple? It's not youth group attendance. It's not attending the teen Sunday school class. So, what is it? Give up? It is the quality of the teen's relationship with one or more mature Christian adults. Kids who just plug into youth group but don't develop close friendships with mature Christian adults are not likely to be in church ten years later. Building a youth ministry around teen-adult relationships--including both parents and others--sounds revolutionary to us. Chances are it would have sounded just normal to the New Testament church. If you care about teens, and if you dare to open yourself to a radically different way of structuring the church's ministry to and with them, you need this book.