Eutychus Youth: Applied Theology for Youth Ministry

by John Oberdeck

This book examines what Lutheran theology adds to the whole field of youth ministry that isn't found elsewhere. It begins with an introduction to Eutychus, who is a paradigm of adolescent development. The book chapters are divided into three
1) An overview of youth, youth ministry, and spirituality
2) Lutheran theology's unique contribution to youth ministry
3)Putting Lutheran theology's strengths to work in youth ministry

270 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2010

Reviews

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is alright; it certainly made me think, although I didn't agree with all of Oberfeck's beginning assumptions. From the start, for instance, I felt that he almost "made up" certain characteristics of Eutychus and then used them as foundational. It worked almost like adding to the Bible just a bit. Not that all of his assumptions are necessarily wrong, just that they could be just a little suspect, and at the very least detract from the actual message of Eutychus' story in Acts. When the point becomes not God's work, especially God's work through His pastors to the WHOLE CHURCH, but how all the people in the room could and should have been watching out for an "at-risk" and "bored" teen (again, possibly true, but running the book based on a tangent from Scripture), then I don't think the book has the strongest grounding.

Oberfeck said it best in Chapter 10, in fact, with his reflections on how teens are often kind of cordoned off from the whole congregation in misguided attempts to have an effective youth ministry. The problem is that that approach doesn't integrate the whole congregation; it creates miniature demographics, ones that rarely (if ever) interact and actually learn to become the whole Body of Christ together.