Youth ministry is a unique part of the church's mission. There are so many angles that can be taken to reach teens, but only a few are very effective. Vandegriff and Brown lay out their philosophy for doing this here in Student Ministry Essentials.
The philosophy that these men take looks at three different parts of youth ministry: 1) leadership, 2) nurturing, and 3) reaching. In leadership, they talk about the developing of leaders in the church to help with the youth ministry, which includes the pastor, youth workers, volunteers, and especially the parents. Nurturing looks at understanding and developing the youths of today-- helping them grow to new heights. Reaching involves anything outside of your own services-- youth activities, partnership with other churches, and outreach into the community.
Each of these areas is a necessary one. There are so many charts, figures, and images to help one understand the concepts that are given in the book. I felt that the book was very basic at times, but that comes from giving the bare essentials of the message. For these reasons, I give 4.5 stars out of 5.
WHERE TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK:
https://www.amazon.com/Student-Ministry-Essentials-Reaching-Nurturing/dp/0802412653/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524677458&sr=8-1&keywords=student+ministry+essentials
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THIS BOOK:
Vandegriff, Steve, and Richard Brown. Student Ministry Essentials: Reaching. Leading. Nurturing. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2015.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL: I received a complimentary copy of this book through the MP Newsroom book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
