The Beautiful Disciplines

by Martin Saunders

Many of today's young people practice a dangerously brittle faith. They swing wildly between belief and skepticism, Christian service and the temptations of teen culture. Surrounded by a multitude of distractions, they long for a grounding that can't be found in the euphoria generated by big events or in the personalities of their leaders. They need to be led into a deeper faith, one that puts them in a disciplined and direct relationship with God.

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 17, 2011

Reviews

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really glad that I found Martin Saunders's The Beautiful Disciplines. I've been leading a Wednesday night group of five 7th grade boys this past year, and we were casting around for some kind of book or curriculum to study. The guys were interested in something about science and faith, which has been an interest of mine lately, too--but some of the parents forbade me from talking about science, since they know I accept evolution as part of the creation process. The guys also asked for a study on C.S. Lewis--such as going through one or more of the Narnia books, or Mere Christianity--but again, some of the parents said I couldn't do that either (which really, really puzzled me; I still haven't figured that one out). So then it came down to two books I found that looked like they might be what we're looking for (and parent-proof). One was 10 Minute Moments: The Basics: Exploring the Book of John Ten Minutes at a Time, which looks like a decent way of getting the guys into the Bible at least a little bit every day (that's a habit they've said they would like to be better at). The other was The Beautiful Disciplines.

I was excited about going through a study of the spiritual disciplines with the group, because the disciplines have been an important part of my own Christian journey. I feel that Western Christians could do with a more disciplined Christian faith, a faith that draws from the historical tradition and not just Christian pop culture from the past few decades. I've appreciated Richard J. Foster's Celebration of Discipline, and other books about the disciplines.

I know almost nothing about youth ministry, except that it seems very difficult to find a curriculum or book that is deep but not beyond the ability of the kids, and friendly toward youths but not shallow and silly. Saunders's book was right on. Each discipline is one lesson, which includes an introductory story (how fun to introduce one lesson with a story about David Lynch! I, um, didn't mention that one to the parents...), discussion questions, Bible passages to read together, a game or two, and a few activities. Each lesson also ends with a few ideas to match the lesson with various age groups, which is a nice idea. The lessons are primarily geared toward a large-group format, so a few items here and there weren't worth trying with a small group of five guys. But for the most part, everything set out in the lessons was useable, and it all worked great with our Wednesday night group.

At the end of the time going through this book, the guys and I talked through what we'd learned, and if we felt we'd grown in our Christian journey through the study of the disciplines. The answer was a resounding "yes"--though in some ways, this study opened their eyes to areas that they need to develop that they really didn't think about before. And that's a good thing, too. I encouraged the guys to bring these disciplines back to mind at any time in their lives that Christianity starts to seem like a frivolous, shallow thing. I hope that they'll remember the tradition of disciplines that has come down to us from 2000 years of Christianity, and not be distracted by the silliness of what Christianity sometimes looks like today.

I highly recommend The Beautiful Disciplines to anyone working with youth, and I affirm that it can work really well with an evening small group of 7th grade boys.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you lead a youth group or even just your own children in your home, this book is a wonderful resource to have on hand. I might even go so far as to say if this had been around and the youth group leaders had used this when I was young, I may not have strayed as far as I did from the Lord and His church. The plans are all laid out for you and even alternate ideas are given based upon the ages that you may be working with. Before reading this I never really gave any thought to what disciplines beyond prayer and Bible reading there could be for my life as a Christian – but this has really opened up a new way of looking at my walk and the walk of my children.



Using prayer, study, meditation (not to be confused with the New Age version), fasting, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, worship and celebration children are guided through how to make the Christian walk indispensable in their daily lives and how to apply it constantly. In today’s world where so many children are plugged in to video games, iPods, cell phones, etc not many know how to study the Word of God, how to pray or even what it means to be of service to others. Martin Saunders, works to correct this through the book The Beautiful Disciplines, as he wants children and young adults to really connect with their faith. I have to say this isn’t just for children either, I got a lot out of it just by reading it and I can’t wait to implement the ideas in my own life.



Each week is divided up into sections such as:

The First Steps – this is the discussion/conversation starters.
The Adaptable Meeting Guides – these are the lesson plans. The author suggests going through prior to the meeting and picking the best and most relevant areas that you feel your group needs to focus on.
Going Deeper – extra activities to be completed based on the Discipline being studied

What I really appreciated is the fact that the material in the book can be adapted for older groups, younger groups, for those church-ed youth and those who are not in church. There are no age suggestions given for what is older and younger – so it’s really up to you to decide what the children can take in in any given time. I also like that there are estimated times given, some activities may take only 5 minutes or some may take 30 minutes – however the point isn’t really to rush through this but to make sure the children grasp the importance and I could see taking 2 weeks to go through each discipline and a guide on how to turn this into a longer study is also provided.



**Disclaimer: I received this book from Kregel Publications in exchange for my honest opinion, no other compensation was given.

[Rachel Blom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Beautiful Disciplines is written by Martin Saunders, until recently the editor of the British Youthwork Magazine (he just changed jobs within his organization) and an experienced volunteer youth leader. He tested the curriculum in The Beautiful Disciplines in his own youth group.

The Beautiful Disciplines consists of multiple resources, making it usable for youth groups, but also for retreats, assemblies or other gatherings:

- A short overview of each discipline, meant as background info
- First step resources: discussion starters about each of the disciplines, aimed at a positive, but non-Christian audience. These are all based on real life stories
- Adaptable Meeting guides: stand alone lesson plans on each of the resources, containing games, discussions, Bible study and often some kind of practical ‘test’ or experience. These are aimed at a generally Christian audience
- Going Deeper resources: practical extra activities for those with extra time or for people who want to dig deeper

I found the lessons to be fun, thought-provoking and practical. There was a good mix of fun activities and deep discussions. I didn’t like all of the games, I may replace some of them when I use the curriculum, but as always that’s just a matter of personal preferences.

For a full review, see: http://www.youthleadersacademy.com/bo...