Chap Clark - Adoptive Youth Ministry: Integrating Emerging Generations into the Family of Faith

In Adoptive Youth Ministry some of the finest thinkers and writers in youth and family ministries explore a timely and penetrating metaphor for ministry in todays world. That metaphor is adoption, and it begs consideration of a strong commitment to faltering families, churches, and communities in our society. Adoptive Youth Ministry summarizes much of recent research, articles, and books. It can hardly be neglected by anyone wanting to be informed about the current state of, and challenges facing, youth ministry.

Dean Borgman , founder and director, Center for Youth Studies; author of Foundations for Youth Ministry

Youth ministry is at a critical turning point. Its time for pastors, youth leaders, and youth ministry professors to engage in authentic dialogue regarding how to help teenagers embrace Jesuss message and mission at the deepest core of their beings. Chap Clarks Adoptive Youth Ministry will stimulate the kinds of discussions that will form and forge the nature of youth ministry for decades to come.

Greg Stier , author of Gospelize Your Youth Ministry ; speaker; founder and CEO, Dare 2 Share

Popular youth ministry models of even a few years ago have quickly become outdated. Chap Clarks adoption youth ministry paradigm offers a reenvisioned lens through which to see youth ministrya radically welcoming and inclusive spiritual kinship with teens linked together through a solidarity of love, grace, and mercy. The breadth of Adoptive Youth Ministry thoughtfully and honestly engages this paradigm in dialogue with the social sciences, theology, and youth ministry, addressing trends that show what we in the academy and in the field already knowthat teens are not attending church and are not believing and embracing traditional faith. With the acceleration of technology, globalization, and instantaneous connections, the field of youth ministry must ever adapt to remain effective, relevant, and authentic. Adoptive Youth Ministry attempts to address these issues and move the conversation forward by answering the question, now what?

Fernando Arzola Jr. , dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Nyack College; author of Toward a Prophetic Youth Ministry

This is not just a book. Its a youth workers toolkit essential for building a deeper and more effective youth ministry.

Megan Hutchinson , adult ministries pastor, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach, California

Adoptive Youth Ministry is essential reading for anyone working in Christian education. In a single volume it provides a compilation of engaging research that spans the psychosocial nuances necessary to understand both human development and spiritual formation. The standard processes for integrating adolescents in many faith communities have unfortunately proven dysfunctional. Now, more than ever, is the time for a change, and Adoptive Youth Ministry provides the necessary metaphor for conceptualizing this change.

Chris King , president, Dallas Christian School