Andrew Root - Unlocking Mission and Eschatology in Youth Ministry

Y oure holding in your hand an experimenta kind of dogmatic theology written through, and for, youth ministry. And by dogmatic I dont mean rigid, authoritarian, or inflexible, as the term is often used in popular language. Rather, I mean the heartthe essentialsof the churchs teaching on God and Gods work. When theologians throughout church history have set about to articulate the central theological ideas of our faith, they have often called it dogmatics.

So what you hold is a dogmatic theology written through youth ministry. But this is an experiment because it is dogmatics written through youth ministry as a narrative, a fictional story of a youth worker named Nadia. Adding to the peculiarity of this theological project is the fact that its shorteach of the four books is just over 100 pages, meaning you should be able to read each in a sitting or two or three. (Which volume of Barths Church Dogmatics allows for that?)

In many ways the best analogy for this series of books is the energy bar. An energy bar is a small item, no bigger than a candy bar, but it serves as a meal. I hope these small books can satisfy your theological appetite; I hope that like an energy bar they will give you a protein-filled theological power-up to your concept and practice of youth ministry. But also like an energy bar (at least a quality one), I hope it tastes goodI hope the narrative shape is like a chocolate covering making the protein burst enjoyable.

These books continue a conversationwell, maybe even a kind of movement. I believe a small but growing (in numbers and depth) group of youth workers are ready, even yearning, to think theologically about youth ministry. Kenda Creasy Dean and I have called this development the theological turn in our book The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry. These books continue fleshing out this turn, hoping to give more depth and direction as we make this shift.

There are many to thank for this odd experiment you hold in your hand; acknowledging them all would make for too long a preface for such short books. But Im compelled to thank a handful of people who directly impacted this work. First, thanks to Jay Howver, who heard about this project as just a wild idea over steak (a Zonder-steak, as I mockingly called those dinners). I thought I was only making conversation, but Jay called me the next week wanting to do the project. Jays vision helped bring this weird idea to life.

I had a great editor in Doug Davidson. He worked tirelessly on this project, making it sing. Im thankful for the support and skill he added to these books. Id also like to thank Jess Daum for writing the wonderful discussion questions for each book. Jess has been one of my brightest students, and Miss Jess is also an enormous blessing to my whole family. Jen Howver, too, deserves great thanks. I was overwhelmed with gratitude when she was assigned to title and set the marketing pack for these books. Jen is a dear friend, and it was a blessing to have these books in her talented hands. Plus, shes hated everything Ive written before thisshe thinks my writing is too academic. This gave me another shot to win her over! I think I did!

A number of people were kind enough to read versions of these books, providing major help and insight. My dear friend Blair Bertrand and the sharp-minded Erik Leafblad read book 1 (theology). One of my best former students, Tom Welch, and my colleague and friend Amy Marga (who saved me from grave error) read book 2 (the cross). One of my favorite youth workers and friends, Jon Wasson, and my dear colleague and running partner David Lose read book 3 (Scripture). And book 4 (mission and eschatology) was read by the deep-hearted and hilarious Spencer Edwards and the brilliant Christy Lang. Christy pushed me hard to rethink a number of perspectives and exegetical assertions; dealing with her feedback was exhausting and so helpful.

Finally, as always, I must thank Kara, my best friend and partner in all things. We started our friendship and love in our seminary days over summer Greek and Ray Andersons lectures. I still vividly remember stopping into the Fuller library, reading sections of Barths Dogmatics, and talking theology as we walked the streets of Pasadena. Our first intimate conversations were about theology. With her as my dialogue partner, I first learned to think theologically, parsing our way through Ray (as we called it) and discovering ourselves, each other, and God as we contemplated theology and Andersons lectures. So it is to her that this project is offered in gratitude.