Immerse Journal

I wanted to share just a few thoughts about the new Immerse Journal for youth workers.

Immerse Journal home page

I have been waiting for a publication like this for quite some time, and have been encouraged and inspired so far by what I have read.

For those of who unaware of Immerse, here is some brief information on it.

A note from Chris Folmsbee regarding Immerse:

“Each article is meant to help youth workers in whatever context they might find themselves working to help guide students into spiritual formation for the mission of God.  Immerse is about providing youth workers with theologically robust, soul-caring and genuinely practiced tools for contextualizing the mission of God. ”

He could not have said that any better, and three issues from it birth, Immerse has proven itself true to its vision and hopes.

What I have discovered in Immerse is new ideas, theological insights, spiritual direction and formation, and an emphasis on historical and ecumenical Christianity rooted in biblical narrative of missio Dei (the mission of God)

What I also have appreciated is that under the guidance of Chris and the executive director Mike King, Immerse is providing a voice for new thinkers and youth workers.  While I have always appreciated the “experts” speaking into youth ministry issues, it has long been an issue of mine that those individuals are “the” voice of youth ministry.  They are the ones who speak at conferences and, until now, they are the ones writing for all the youth ministry magazines and books.  I get it.  They have years of experience and wisdom and we can learn a great deal.  But what about younger, fresher voices?  There has not been a platform for the unseen youth workers until Immerse jumped into the seen.

Sure, Immerse has and will continue to seek input from veterans (as they should), but will also provide all types of youth workers and thinkers a voice.  In the past few years, I have met numerous young youth workers who have amazing theological insights to youth ministry.  Some have collaborated on some writing with me and others I hope to work with in the future.  Though less “experienced” than even myself, these men and woman understand contemporary teen culture and the interplay of contextual Christianity and, I also believe represent where youth ministry is heading in the future.

Immerse, and youth ministry leaders such as Chris and Mike are progressive, forward thinking, yet still grounded and rooted in historical and biblical Christianity.  I appreciate them as friends and as believers in the emerging generation of youth workers.  They believe in the Church, the future of youth ministry, and the hope and dream of God for the world.

Immerse is a good read for youth workers of all types, and finally ones who are really interested in the interplay of theology and youth ministry.

Our theology influences and impacts how and why we minister to teens. It helps determine what we teacher, how we teacher, what kind of environment we hope to create, the type of faith community we strive to build with our teens, why we do “missions” or service trips, and what we hope to accomplish while on them.

This past year I attended a conference in MN focussing on this same interconnectedness.  You can read my thoughts here

First Third

A note about Mike King

Mike King is the CEO of Youth Front Youthfront and author of Presence-Centered Youth Ministry.  Presence Centered Youth Ministry

*This book sets the bar for creating a theological and historical foundation for God’s presence in youth ministry.  The book shows how classic disciplines, symbols, and practices can shape the worldviews, virtues, and habits of young people today.    “If Brother Lawrence had been a youth pastor, this book would have been his favorite resource.” – Kendra Dean

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Updates from Dan

Greetings!  (I love saying that word…it seems so…I don’t know….old school European or something)

Anyways, I wanted to write a quick update on my writings.  I will be taking a short 3 month break or so from my personal writings and thoughts while I work on the upcoming book project God is Loud.

I do have some interesting thoughts and blogs in the making including the following categories

Youth Ministry/Personal:

Why I stopped witnessing

Spread too thin?

You never know who will walk through your doors

Lessons learned from college football

A fresh up of inspiration

Actions speak louder than words (and often beliefs)

Book reviews:

Sustainable Youth Ministry

Presence Centered Youth Ministry

The Blue Parakeet

The Youth Ministry Survival Guide

and…the “Shift” series parts 8-10.

So stayed tuned ladies and gentlemen for those posts plus many more in our next episode.

However, the exciting news is that I will be switching gears for a bit and using this blog as a springboard, launching point, and collaborative laboratory for the God is Loud project.

I am working on a time-table and talking with Chris Folmsbee and Barefoot about deadlines, but hopefully this will be finished around graduation time (making for a great gift for your seniors…they don’t have to know it was free!)

I hope to post one chapter at a time and then for around two weeks get input, examples, writings, etc.. from youth workers.  We will then process them all and use what we can (while taking every thought into consideration) and expand and edit the chapter until completed.

In order not to confuse things, I will refrain from posting my usual writings and articles.  However, if and when articles are published, I will simply add a link to those.

I will be out in the Twin Cities, attending the First Third conference held at Bethel Seminary.  Andrew Root, Kendra Dean, Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, Mike King and others will be on hand leading the discussions of theological foundations and implications for the future of youth ministry.  Should be great!  I will hopefully post a few blog updates from my time out there, and after that will be posting the God is Loud materials.

So there you have it.

Thanks for your support, partnership, and participation in the months to come.

My top 5 list for youth workers

As I meet new youth workers in my area, I am often asked the question “What books or resources do you recommend?”  My thoughts have changed over the years, but having read most youth ministry books out there, I have come to some decisions.  Granted, every youth worker is different and so is every context .  These are the five books I would recommend a new youth worker read and, in fact, I have given this list to my former interns who are now in full-time youth ministry.

(There are other non Youth Ministry books I highly recommend as far as theology, personal and spiritual development, church ministry, etc…, but this list is primarily about progressive and innovative youth ministry ideas, philosophies, and content that I have personally found to be the most helpful and inspirational in my situation)

I have posted a page on my blog with a more complete list of recommended books, but I chose to keep this list limited to five so not to overwhelm someone.  All of the books are fairly short and easy reads, and my advise is to read one book a month and really digest it.  After six months, you should have a good understanding of new models and thoughts for an every-changing youth ministry)

Each book speaks into different aspects of youth ministry including relational approaches, spiritual development, philosophical/theological perspectives, cultural/worldview changes and implications, and new ministry models.  I have written some reviews of these, which you can find by searching the blog, and intend to have a review written on each book shortly.

In no particular order:

A New Kind of Youth Ministry– Chris Folmsbee

An excellent book about re-culturing forms and structure of traditional youth ministry models such as evangelism, disciple ship, leadership, missions, etc..

“A New Kind of Youth Ministry should be the handbook for a generation of forward-thinking youth workers.” – Tony Jones

Youth Ministry 3.0– Mark Oestreicher

Marko realizes that the way we have been doing things is already not working. This book looks back historical to the major shifts in youth ministry while attempting to create a third way- new approach in ministering contextually and cross-culturally to new generations of students.

“This book will inspire, equip, and challenge you with an extremely thoughtful and realistic approach to youth ministry for the 3.0 orbs we find ourselves in.” -Chris Folmsbee

Postmodern Youth Ministry- Tony Jones

Probably the first book published that researched the effects of postmodernity on students and attempted to re-think what youth ministry needed to look like.  Eight years after publication, it is still probably the best book out there on the issues and countless people are finding encouragement as they realize the inevitable influence on postmodernity in their own contexts.

Presence-Centered Youth Ministry- Mike King

This book sets the bar for creating a theological and historical foundation for God’s presence in youth ministry.  The book shows how classic disciplines, symbols, and practices can shape the worldviews, virtues, and habits of young people today.    “If Brother Lawrence had been a youth pastor, this book would have been his favorite resource.” – Kendra Dean

Relationships Unfiltered– Andrew Root

Andrew Root challenges youth workers to reconsider our motives for relational youth ministry and begin to consider simply being with and dong life alongside teenagers with no agenda other than to love them right where they are, by place sharing.  “Relationships Unfiltered is the single most important youth ministry book in a generation. ” -Tony Jones