Ministério de Jovens e Adolescentes Centrado em Cristo

by Cameron Cole, Judiclay Santos (editor), Jon Nielson

O ministério de jovens e adolescentes é parte fortemente atuante na maioria das igrejas contemporâneas. Através de dinâmicas atraentes e muitas tentativas de propostas inovado-ras, muitos pastores e líderes têm visto esta área de suas igrejas servir mais como pretexto para encontros sociais do que como instrumento de instrução, enquanto outros ministros acabam por atuar nele sem foco na centralidade do evangelho. Este ministério passou a ser, em muitos casos, uma porta aberta para a secularização através do abandono do evangelho. Em outras situações, tornou-se um recurso para assegurar os pais de que seus filhos estão em um bom lugar para aprenderem a moral por si mesma, sem, entretanto, haver destaque para as implicações eternas do evangelho.

Neste livro, Cameron Cole e Jon Nielson convidam um seleto grupo de autores a escrever acerca de implicações importantes relativas ao ministério de jovens e adolescentes, refletindo sobre temas que se demonstram urgentes em uma parte significativa das igrejas.

Como tornar o evangelho o centro do ministério de jovens e adolescentes?

Como fazer e multiplicar discípulos?

Como dar relevância à pregação expositiva?

Como a liderança deve se relacionar com os pais?

Como integrar diferentes gerações na igreja?

Quais são as aplicações práticas do evangelho para o treinamento de líderes, a música, os retiros, o evangelismo e o serviço em um ministério de jovens e adolescentes?

Estas e outras indagações relevantes são respondidas de forma cristocên-trica e biblicamente fiel pelos autores.

Genres: Christian, Theology, Young Adult, Christian Living, Faith, Church, Discipleship

235 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 29, 2016

About the author

Cameron Cole (MA, Wake Forest University) serves as director of youth ministries at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama, and is the chairman of Rooted, a ministry dedicated to fostering gospel-centered student ministry.

Reviews

[Liz Gouger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a solid and practical book for those working in any type of ministry with younger people! It was both convicting of my role as a leader and encouraging with practical tips and ideas to encourage students to encounter Jesus.

[Jeanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It argues the gospel serves as the catalyst for fostering lasting change in the lives of teens and in the redemption of the world. It encourages youth wordkers and volunteers to place the gospel at the center of their ministries. What does this mean? How does this look like?

It is easy for the gospel to get lost in the life of any ministry. This is the heart of this book. It is for ministry leaders, parents, and anyone working with youth. One thing that I was encouraged by this book was the student ministry was not replacing church. The student ministry is a bridge between the church and the youth. With so many young people leaving the church, we must be more diligent about making the student ministry about the gospel. There are seven foundations in this book. Gospel Centrality, Discipleship, Expository teaching, Relationships, Community, Partnering with Parents, Generational integration. The study does not only explain each foundation but how to apply and why it is important. What makes this a gospel issue.

Do our students have a right understanding of who God and who we are? Do our students embrace the goodness and holiness of God. Expository teaching focuses on the gospel instead of self-help or moralism. With expository teaching the teacher/pastor can lead others to see their FCF (Fallen Condition Focus). It is not about how God is relevant in our life but how we are relevant in His plan of redemption. When good teaching occurs, then good service will follow. The service of ministry. Why we do what we do. Having a heart for different cultures that are united in the Gospel. Our service does not become a pride issue when are trusting God for the work. This comes from the leadership. I also was encouraged by serving others in dignity by encouraging participation. We rob them of joy and create a entitlement culture by not including those that we are serving. This is where real comes in.

There is nothing bad that I could say about this book. I personally think all Christians should read this book just to be reminded of what the gospel is about.

A Special Thank You to Crossway and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

[Brian Pate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had read this book 4 years ago when I started in student ministry.

Excellent overview of how the gospel affects every component of student ministry, including discipleship, expositional teaching, small groups, interaction with parents, music, events, and mission trips.

The whole book was great, but my favorite chapters were on
- discipleship (Darren DePaul),
- expositional teaching (Eric McKiddie),
- partnering with parents (Mike McGarry),
- generational integration (Dave Wright), and
- serving the poor (Philip Walkley and Drew Halton).

I highly recommend it!

[Abbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is aimed at a youth pastor and probably used as a “textbook” in college/seminary for those going into full time youth ministry. However, even as a volunteer youth leader, I was encouraged and challenged to re-examine the role and purpose of our church’s youth ministry. I especially liked the emphasis on relationships and integration of youth in the church. Highly recommend for those involved in youth min!

[Iosua Faur · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first heard about “Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry” edited by Cameron Cole & Jon Neilson on The Gospel Coalition’s site and it went up on my wish-list, just to see that after 2 days, the guys from Crossway made it available in this awesome project “Beyond the Page”.
I am involved in the youth ministry and it is one of my main responsibilities so from the beginning, even reading the title I was eager to read it and learn more. I have to say that this book came at the right time in which I was researching more for the theology and the methodology of a gospel-centered youth ministry. I didn’t hear about the authors, but after a little research I found out some interesting youth ministry websites and resources. So I was ready to be taught.
The book outline has 3 major parts: Foundation for a Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry, Practical Application for a Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry and The Fruit of a Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry. The first part observe 7 domains which are the foundation of a Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry such as: the gospel being at the core, making disciples, expository preaching of the Word, displaying God’s heart, creating a hungry community after the Gospel, making the parents your partners and gathering God’s people.
The second part goes has only 4 chapters that deal with the practice of a youth ministry. It gives insights on how to help students have a personal time in the Word, making disciples, singing for the glory of God and interrupting their daily routine with things that are significant to the detriment of things that are confortable.
And in the last part you can see the results of such ministry. It emphasizes the importance of public faith, reaching out to the poor in a helpful and wise way and encourages you to take the challenge of international short-term ministry which can be a boost for the youth.
Even from the beginning, I was excited to see that the argument of the book has a solid foundation. One of the editors says in the beginning: “This book champions the gospel as the core of effective youth ministry. It argues that the message and reality of Christ’s victory over sin and death should permeate every single facet of ministry to young people.” And the outline of the book affirms this with success. I find very useful this approach on youth ministry as I see myself fighting with a moralistic therapeutic deism methodology in youth ministry.
One of the aspects that I enjoyed and that was common to every chapter was the structure. Basically, it’s divided in two: the theological foundation (why we do this) and the practical consideration (how we do this). I have to be honest to say that I was more excited because of the practical aspect, but every theological foundation was more than bringing arguments to support an idea. For me, reading this part of the chapter transformed it in a devotional time with God. Although I appreciate every chapter, the most enlightening was the one bout singing. It was something new to see that singing is part of the way in which the Word of Christ dwells in us richly (Colossians 3:16).
Although this book is very helpful, I felt that it’s a little bit short. I wanted to dig more into every chapter because it deals with my burdens. But in the same time the authors gives you resources that help you learn “more on…” every subject they discuss.
I am thankful for this book. It was so great to see other youth ministry fighting the same battles. It was good to see that what you do is not peripheral in the life of the church, but on contrary it is a pivotal position. I joyfully recommend it to every youth minister and even to those who disconsider the youth ministry in their church.
Note: I received a copy of this book from Crossway for the purpose of providing a review.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cole provides a set of principles on the many necessary aspects involved to do Youth Ministry. This book should function as a tool to foster team vision formulation and practical improvements about how to do Youth Ministry better from day to day. As a member of the youth ministry leadership at my local church, we use the structure of this book to organize reflective discussions with the leaders to identify opportunities for improvement in how we think about discipleship towards the Youth under our care.

[Des Vera · Rating 4 out of 5]

So practical. I'm going to refer back to this book as I continue in my ministry role.
Hopefully I can take some of the stuff in this book and use it to make the student ministry (that I'm overseeing) great, By God's grace of course!

[Colby]

Thoughts I had reading this:

"For one party rock in thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be based in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of cringe."

Do kids still listen to Switchfoot?

0 mentions of an evangecube,,, shameful
0 mentions of radical purity

[Joshua Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best resources I have come in contact with regarding student ministry. Each chapter is written by a different author- so it highlights an array of life and ministry experience! Chapters on worship and biblical exposition were phenomenal! Stop reading all of the trendy ways to make student ministry relevant - center it in the Gospel alone!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very "American" but still has some helpful and biblical pointers.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best and most practical book I’ve read on youth ministry thus far. Would recommend to any church leader, youth pastor, parent of a youth-aged student, etc.

[Alexander Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Super practical and helpful for anyone in youth ministry 🤠

[John Pawlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic little book! A really practical guide to youth ministry, great intro.

[Mason Morrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful for any potential future I may have with youth ministry, and honestly very insightful for life as a faithful church member as a whole!!

[Daniel Sales · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book. Will be referring to it in future for youth ministry and other kinds of ministry.

[Mitchell Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clear and helpful guide for those in youth ministry whether they are just starting out or have been involved for years.

[Brandon Siwula · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book so much that I binged it. Really gave me a lot to think about and reminded me to keep the gospel center and to make sure that the primary focus of my ministry to students is training a new generation for gospel ministry.

[Caleb Batchelor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Michael Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great theological foundations. Good practical ideas, but could use more.

[Matthew Horne]

Audience: The audience for this book was all youth workers whether part-time volunteers or full-time vocational people, yet more specifically it was geared toward people with minimal youth experience. If you've had a good gospel foundation laid in seminary or some sort of training then I suggest you go to the table of contents to pick the chapter that best fits your needs.

Highlights: The chapters on retreats, shorterm mission trips, and serving the poor were my personal favorite because they prompt a lot of good questions. Questions for leaders to think through as they plan retreats and mission trips, but also questions for students to reflect after said trips. Overall, I think I might go back to this book for a specific chapter here or there depending on what needs I'm facing in my youth ministry.

Critique: Broadly speaking, if an overachiever got a hold of this book and tried to implement everything it suggested he/she would burn out in youth ministry. While most everything that was suggested was solid, youth workers need to address the biggest needs of their ministry and work outwards from there. There was one comment in the chapter on serving the poor where it talked about the high students feel after service weeks or projects that I disliked. The comment suggested that students can continue to feel that high if they continue to serve Jesus in such an intentional manner. The problem I have with this is that even serving Jesus in such an intentional manner as suggested, no one continually feels that high all the time. It would have been better if the author suggested that as you intentionally serve Jesus that highs and lows will come and that is ok.

[sam heaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent, mildly helpful book overall. I am pretty much wholly in line with this "gospel-centered everything" movement, and love the teaching of sound doctrine and the foundational beliefs of the faith. However, I feel as if it has sometimes become a game of "who can gospel more" and if you write a chapter without an explication of the cross that takes up 78% of your space, you didn't gospel hard enough. As a not-new Christian that has a degree from a Reformed seminary and is a Reformed youth leader, I would've liked to see less foundation (enough, but less) and more practical down-to-earth advice (you know, like the title implies). I don't want the gospel assumed but I do want gospel-driven practicals that will help a youth leader who gets the gospel but needs to grow in the day-to-day of youth ministry.

It had some of this, this the three stars, just not nearly enough for a "practical guide." I love the truths it reiterates, and need them daily. But I don't necessarily need a "practical guide" to reiterate them so much.

EDIT- Oh, forgot to add that there's an unnecessarily harsh polemic against "segregated" (meaning age-appropriate) worship. I understand and agree with the author's point in regard to youth ministry, but the wobbly argument about younger children's services was unneeded. Oh, and some things said (by Baptists probably) will not appeal to those holding to covenantal theology.

[Daniel Gish · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.2/5) [Audiobook] First and foremost, if you are looking for a book on youth ministry, I would recommend this one. This anthology of excerpts touches on some key visionary points, some practical, and some ideas for your own youth ministry to incorporate.

It gets a less than perfect score for how broken-up it is, despite that being nearly unavoidable since each chapter is written by a different author. Still, at times it felt like it lacked a little cohesion. With that said, I had plenty of takeaways, notably (a) incorporating the youth into teams of their own in order to teach them how to be a functioning member of a church, and (b) practical ideas for running youth events that include their parents, since youth leaders ultimately are mere partners with parents. I had more takeaways too — plus some mental notes that I can refer to this book in the future if I have questions on certain topics. That is one benefit of the broken-up chapters — I can come back and read each one separately as needed.

This was a helpful read and I recommend it if you’re wanting to lead youth ministry with a strong focus on the Bible and the gospel!

[Tyler Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think of this as the "Nine Marks of a Healthy Youth Group." The authors cover the basics of the gospel, expositional preaching, small group Bible studies, discipleship, etc. and practically apply them to the youth ministry context. Written mainly to the youth pastor, they give really helpful (and truly practical) tips for creating a ministry to students that is Word-centered and life-transforming. I really appreciated the emphasis on supplementing the work of parents in the home and not detracting from the intergenerational ministry of the full church.

Two main complaints. First, the authors spend virtually no time answering the "Why do youth ministry at all?" question. For those on the fence, this created lots of tensions. Secondly, the work largely seem to assume a "full time pastor" situation. The chapter on expository teaching outlined a process that would take 15-20 hours a week, on top of chapters about discipleship meetings, leader meetings, mission trips, etc. This element made it hard for me to have a take away in a very part time situation.

[Bill Ver Velde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably this biggest reason for my tepid rating is the difference between my expectations and what this book actually is. I was frustrated to find that this book is compilation with each chapter having a different author. This makes for a great ministry handbook but a ministry handbook is not what I was looking for going in the book. I told a friend that I haven’t enjoyed this book very much and he asked if it was worth reading. I told him to look at the chapters and to read the ones that interested him or were relevant to his current needs. I thought the book started well grounding ministry in the gospel. And I thought the book ended well with two chapters on short term missions. Both of these are the most relevant to where we are as a ministry right now. For anyone going into this book, I would suggest to treat it like a handbook and read whatever chapters seem most at hand in your context. TL:DR Good book, just not what I expected.

[Tori Feaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Convicting, encouraging, and resourceful! This book walks through several aspects of youth ministry (ie, small groups, events, leader training, retreats, parent communication, mission trips, etc), and gives practical instruction on keeping the Gospel at the center of each endeavor in youth ministry.

I would recommend this to anyone who serves with youth, whether in a volunteer or paid role! I felt encouraged and empowered in the purpose of ministering to youths, as the authors emphasized their capability to retain information, even if it doesn't seem to be bearing fruit in the present. It was also helpful to learn from faithful leaders who have spent decades studying the patterns of adolescents. The main message behind the book was that at the core of everything, what students really need is the Gospel. Our love of the Gospel and personal transformation by it has to be what shapes everything we do (in general as believers, and specifically as we minister to youth).

[Brad Hough · Rating 5 out of 5]

5.0 // I’ve had this book on my shelf for a few years and finally took the time to read it! This is an extremely helpful book. Each chapter is written by a different author, so you get to benefit from the expertise of many throughout the whole book. I have long been convinced of the necessity to center all ministry on the Gospel, and so the premise itself was a familiar one. But there are lots of practical suggestions and helpful encouragements, and I’ll be looking to apply most of what I read in the coming years. I’m sure I’ll also return to this book in the future for a refresher now and again.

[Jacob Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often, when you read youth ministry books, there are so many different approaches that you can take and tailor too. This book gives a good, and sometimes mediocre, point of view when it comes to gospel centered and driven youth groups.

One critique that I would have with it is to speak more on demographics and how each youth group will look different and how that's okay. We shouldn't look to other groups and desire ours to look the exact same.

Something that I learned and thought to be a good approach is to teach on specifics (doctrine, music, culture) to students. Not getting in the way, but making sense as to why Christians live a lifestyle that they do.

[Samuel Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry: A Practical Guide" von Cameron Cole ist ein äußerst praxisnahes Buch mit wertvollen Einsichten für christuszentrierte Jugendarbeit. Es liefert eine klare und umsetzbare Anleitung, wie das Evangelium im Mittelpunkt jeder Facette der Jugendarbeit stehen kann – von Predigten bis hin zur Gemeinschaftsbildung. Besonders zu erwähnen ist die Ausgewogenheit zwischen theologischer Tiefe und praktischen Tipps, was das Buch zu einer unverzichtbaren Ressource macht.
MMn. gibt es aktuell kein vergleichbar gutes deutsches Werk, das so umfassend und praxisnah die christuszentrierte Jugendarbeit thematisiert. Definitiv aus der Kategorie "Musst-read" für Jugendleiter.

[Ethan Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you read this with an understanding of what it is, it is great. You will not gain anything profound necessarily, but that is not the purpose of the book. The book is a compilation of essays from various authors on various topics. Some topics were definitely more engaging than others, however the overall purpose in being a practical guide to keeping the Gospel at the center of youth ministry was met. Will definitely keep this book around as a handbook, and as a check up to ensure that I continue to remain Gospel centered. Would definitely recommend this to anyone entering into youth ministry or just looking for practical Scripture-backed tips on staying centered on the Gospel.

[David Goetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, theologically rich, and practical reflections on the many tasks of youth ministry: making disciples, teaching the Bible, building relationships, partnering with parents, integrating generations, fostering youth Bible study, training leaders, incorporating music, planning retreats and events, teaching evangelism, serving the poor, and organizing short-term mission trips.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants to do youth ministry well. Also recommended as a resource to read with a youth leadership team as part of volunteer training / equipping.