The End of Youth Ministry? (Theology for the Life of the World): Why Parents Don't Really Care about Youth Groups and What Youth Workers Should Do about It

by Andrew Root

What is youth ministry actually for? And does it have a future? Andrew Root, a leading scholar in youth ministry and practical theology, went on a one-year journey to answer these questions. In this book, Root weaves together an innovative first-person fictional narrative to diagnose the challenges facing the church today and to offer a new vision for youth ministry in the 21st century.

Informed by interviews that Root conducted with parents, this book explores how parents' perspectives of what constitutes a good life are affecting youth ministry. In today's culture, youth ministry can't compete with sports, test prep, and the myriad other activities in which young people participate. Through a unique parable-style story, Root offers a new way to think about the purpose of youth ministry: not happiness, but joy. Joy is a sense of experiencing the good. For youth ministry to be about joy, it must move beyond the youth group model and rework the assumptions of how identity and happiness are imagined by parents in American society.

Genres: Theology, Parenting, Church, Christianity, Nonfiction, Christian, Spirituality

233 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 17, 2020

About the author

Andrew Root joined Luther Seminary in 2005 as assistant professor of youth and family ministry. Previously he was an adjunct professor at Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington D.C., and Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J.

Root received his bachelor of arts degree from Bethel College, St. Paul, Minn., in 1997. He earned his master of divinity (2000) and his master of theology (2001) degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, Calif. He completed his doctoral degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2005.

Root's ministry experience includes being a gang prevention counselor in Los Angeles, youth outreach directed in a congregation, staff member of Young Life, and a confirmation teacher. He has also been a research fellow for Princeton Theological Seminary's Faith Practices Project.

Root has published articles in the Journal of Youth and Theology, The International Journal of Practical Theology, and Word and World.

He is a member of the International Association for the Study of Youth Ministry and the International Bonhoeffer Society.

Reviews

[Nathan Marone]

A frustrating but worthwhile book. Positive and negative

Positive.

- The question Root wants to explore, "What is youth ministry for? Why does it even exist?" is a good one. Many books want to get at the "how" before answering the "why" of youth ministry.

- The cultural analysis is top notch. Root does a good job of observing generational trends and how youth ministries have, historically speaking, worked as a counter to those trends. In particular, Root considers how our current youth are in what might be called a "slow growth" time, in which we push off much of what is considered "adult" until later and later. So how does YM function in that context?

- His most basic conclusion, that YM can no longer be for "fun" or for giving kids some wholesome fun so they don't get drunk and have sex, is a good one. First, those aims, even if they were good in the 80s and 90s, they no longer apply as well. Second, there is a larger reality that teens need to be pointed to anyway. It may be that the old model, while keeping kids from doing stupid stuff in their teen years, basically taught them a cultural, nominal Christianity that had no value once they left the "fun" space of youth group.

Negative.

- Root's stylistic approach here is to grapple with the question "what is youth ministry for?" by taking us along on his intellectual journey, describing meetings and interviews he has with friends, parents, and one particular youth pastor. I give Root credit for creativity here, but the style lends itself to massive amounts of repetition as he spoons his ideas out in small measures. This book could have been 100 pages shorter. This sounds like a minor complaint, but it got honestly tiring to read the book.

- While I've included his conclusion in the "positive" part of this review, I was left cold by some of it. Root concludes that youth group is for "joy" by which he means a few different things - "...Storytelling, humility, openness to transcendence, the Good, and friendship with one another and God through Jesus Christ." He sees YM as a place where teens wrestle with their identity through these things. They interpret stories and narratives to sort of, uh, figure out who they are. To the extent that teens need this kind of space, I agree. Often churches err on the side of proclamation and propositional truth, leaving no space for people to wrestle, be vulnerable, or to fail. But the flip side here is that without any emphasis on propositional truth, I fear YM becomes a glorified form of group therapy. Young people need to know the claims of Christianity. Those claims need to be presented at least clearly enough that people can accept or reject.

Final Verdict

I found this book stimulating and there are some ideas that I want to explore a little more in my own work. Root's strength is in his analysis, but his conclusions leave something to be desired.

[Carl Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is youth ministry even for? What is its goal? In a culture that has drastically changed since youth ministry really took off, Andrew Root tries to discern the answer to these questions and does it quite well.

Root takes a very unique approach (but necessary to his overall goal) of working to reveal the answer to these questions through a story that revolves around a youth minister who changed the way she did her ministry, interviews with parents, 80's cinema, Gilmore Girls, and Orlando, FL theme parks. What more could you want from a book?

Roots main idea is that the West has changed since the 80's when youth ministry really began. At that point youth were growing up quickly and often on their own and so youth ministry served as a way to slow that down and give the youth a safe and godly place to have fun and learn about God in the process. A place safe from a lot of the evil out there they might wander into. But things have changed and young people are growing up much more slowly. Parents are much more involved in the lives of their kids to not only slow them down, but also to help guide them into "finding their thing" and ultimately pursuing happiness.

This is where Root's critique comes into view. While explaining the history behind this shift into a consumer society driven to find happiness above all else, he ties in why this is not sustainable and more importantly a Christian perspective of how to approach this concern.

I'll go ahead and spoil the book a bit as I believe it's worth having and reading regardless of knowing the "outcome," but Root ultimately decides that youth ministry is for joy, specifically joy in friendship. This book is a story to interpret centered around interpreting stories with one another to see how God is alive and at work in our church communities. Happiness is more self-centered, while joy finds its place in community, even when it is tied to events such as loss, grief, and failure. Rather than just living moment to moment, what is the story we inhabit? And is our story one that lasts and has real meaning?

I am rather new to the youth ministry game, but I do believe this book is one that should be on the shelves of not just every youth minister, but every parent as well as it hit home for me in that area too.

I received a digital copy of this book for free from Netgalley in order to give an honest review of it.

[Akash Ahuja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every once in a while, I think Andrew Root is secretly putting bugs in my youth pastor zoom meetings, or even using advanced technology to read my mind. Root has his finger on the pulse of contemporary society and how teenagers make meaning of the world.

Thankfully, he is not busy chasing youth, trying to catch up to where they’re at and what they want, only to see that they’ve already moved onto the next thing - this is the mistake some “thinkers” and podcasters in the church ministry scene make all the time. Instead, he returns to roots and to Jesus, reminding us that rather than being “youth pastors of fun,” we are here for the transformation of lives and finding joy in the joining together of Christ-centered community.

If you’re in ministry (even if it’s not youth ministry!) don’t miss this book.

[Anthony page · Rating 4 out of 5]

CMAT! A lady poet, I feel like she’s saying the things I’d be thinking if I were a woman, very first aid kit, and if I have a daughter she’ll be baptised in CMAT’s waters

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent read on the issues facing youth ministry today. So many youth ministry books today focus simply on strategy and method - which are of course important - but Andrew Root goes much deeper to address the actual WHY of youth ministry. This is a high-level read- he addresses concepts like worldview, highest good, joy vs. happiness and identity. Charles Taylor's work is largely engaged with and consulted - so this isn't a skim read, you have to pay attention. But, it is so worth it. This book is profound, makes so much sense and I found myself highlighting and sharing the insights with my husband on almost every page. I highly recommend this read that challenges current models of youth ministry and presents a convincing argument that youth ministry is for joy.

[Conrade Yap · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is youth ministry for? What is its purpose? Some say it is for helping young people not waste their lives, to learn to be good people. Others say it is for God. Still, others, especially parents would want them to learn something good for the soul, on top of other priority activities. Still there are those who think that youths need their own space. So they carve out a ministry for young people and call it youth ministry. Does it work? According to Andrew Root, he thinks that times have changed. The youth ministries we have known in the past are now dwindling fast. Not only is it difficult to sustain the model of the past, it is impossible to see it growing in the future. Rather than to immerse ourselves into some archaic dying model, we are challenged to rise above these things of old to embrace the central motivation for ministry: Joy. Author and professor of youth and young adult ministry, Andrew Root has seen many signs of the "somewhat directionless" youth ministry. The title of the book is essentially a challenge for all to re-examine the implications of such a shift in the ministry. The purpose of such a ministry is clear: To reach out to the young for Jesus. Yet, the methods and strategies need to be adapted in order to meet the needs of changing times. By understanding the reasons behind the cultural changes, it is hoped that not only will we refresh our outreach to this generation, we will also learn about what it means to live a good life. The central concern of this book is two-fold: First, it is to refresh our understanding of the purpose of youth ministry. Second, it is to tie together parents' vision of a good life and how such a vision influences and impacts their children. Root's central thesis is that any such ministry must be led by joy and to progress toward true joy. This whole book is thus an "ode to joy."


The first step is simply to try to fill in the blanks in: "Youth Ministry is for _________." If it is for fun, then all the plans and activities are there in provide for fun. If it is for learning, then we will plan for curriculum and Bible syllabus. One youth minister told the author that Youth Ministry is for not wasting their lives. Others say that it is for God. Eventually, Root puts it as a ministry to help youths live a good life and to flourish. This cannot be separated from parents' desires and hopes for their children. Sometimes, parents' desires need to be guided as well. Some wants their kids to simply stay out of trouble while others hope that youth ministry can inject some good sense into their kids. By analyzing the evolution of youth ministries, Root finds out that in the past couple of decades, there is a pattern of parents concerned about kids growing too fast toward adulthood. They felt that the children ought to be adequately prepared before unleashing them to the world. Slow them down so that sufficient good could be imparted into them before they become adults. Thus, Youth ministries become the go-to place for parents to put their kids in, to "slow" them down. Yet, there is a shift right now, that kids are growing way too slow. Will it help to slow youths down when they are already slow? Root asks three parents. The first say that youth ministry is to help one figure out his or her identity and sense of belonging. The second say that youth ministry is for "knowing and belonging." The third say that they want their kids to find their purpose in life. In all of these interviews, they all had a common goal: They want their kids to be happy and to know their identity.

Root takes us through a 9-months journey of discovery as he interviews parents, speaks with youth ministers, pastors, and young people, and comes to a surprising conclusion as to what youths need: Friendship.

My Thoughts
There is a sense that youth ministry is changing rapidly. Despite these changes, there is still a sizeable portion of churches and ministers to do youth ministries according to old ways. One will know the motivations simply by asking the question: What is youth ministry for? Theologically, many will say to know God. Socially, it means to hang out with friends in a safe environment. Morally, it is to learn how to make good decisions as they grow into adulthood. Mentally, it is about learning what it means to be good people under adult supervision. Root cuts through all these mass of motivations to identify the importance of friendship. True joy comes about when one has strong and honest friendships with one another. This is called "joy in friendship." This makes sense as friends help one another to discover their identity; to know their calling; and to do things together. Youth ministry is essentially about friends and relationships in the journey to joy.

I suppose just saying that there is a need for friendship does not mark the end of youth ministries as suggested in the book title. Instead, it is a good time to ensure that while still executing the existing youth ministries as they are, gradually sharpen our focus on what it takes to cultivate deeper friendships. Once this is identified, it makes for better planning, resource getting, and enrichment of other associated activities.

I was thinking: Wow. It takes such a long road just to identify the new paradigm of friendship making. I suppose when the answer appears so simple, readers would need to be convinced. Root does this by inviting us along in his journey of discovery. He asks the same kinds of questions that we would naturally ask. He interacts brilliantly with those with vested interest in youths, and sheds light on the future of youth ministries. I believe that youth ministry is here to stay. There will always be young people and their need for belonging. Perhaps, we should try to integrate them more into the mainstream church environment rather than to segregate them according to their age groups. After all, if Church is for all, then all should be willing to interact widely and to cultivate friendships across all generations. To do so might bring some initial discomfort. Not to do so would impoverish everyone of us. There is much to learn by all. May we take the subject of friendship and broaden it beyond simply youth ministry, but all ministries. After all, we need friends.

Dr Andrew Root is the Olson Baalson Associate Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary in Minnesota. He is a co-recipient of a Templeton grant that invites conversations into "Science for Youth Ministry." Check it out here.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Academic and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

[Zach Barnhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Root's writing is intriguing and different, which makes for a stimulating read. Incorporating narrative and humor in a way that most books of this nature don't, I can appreciate this project for its uniqueness. And it's obvious that Root thinks about youth ministry at an intellectual and philosophical level that we need. His argument that youth ministry will never work *as one more thing* given our cultural context is compelling.

However, I felt that the book was entirely too drawn out, and that we didn't get much of a concrete answer to the second half of the book's subtitle: "What Youth Workers Should Do About It." I ultimately closed the book thinking that the book's constant question, "What is youth ministry for?" if anything was exacerbated rather than answered.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fine reflection from our leading thinker on the theology of (youth) ministry. The title suggests cynicism about parental expectations and programmatic burdens, but this book is, in fact, an exploration of Joy. What is youth ministry for? For Joy, cruciform Joy, the Highest Good who is God in Christ Jesus, the Joy of Christ who encounters us in our shared suffering, stories, and spiritual exhaustion in a world of "finding your thing" and "being happy." There is much more to say, but I highly recommend this book. It is also a timely read during the Coronavirus quarantine, because our programs have been removed, leaving only the actual friendships we share in Christ.

[Lucas Hagen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is youth ministry actually for? Think about your answer to that question. You may struggle to come up with a solid answer. That is the very question that Andrew Root set out to answer, ultimately leading to his writing of The End of Youth Ministry? Why Parents Don’t Really Care about Youth Groups and What Youth Workers Should Do about It.

This book is unlike any other youth ministry book I have read. Typical youth ministry books are highly practical, inundated with lists of steps to take in order to best make disciples of teenagers and equip others to do the same. Typical youth ministry books are full of anecdotes of the author’s practical youth ministry experience. Youth ministry books typically seek to answer the everyday questions that a youth leader finds him/herself asking. Root’s book does none of these things.

The End of Youth Ministry? is not a practical youth ministry book. It is a philosophy of youth ministry book. This can be seen in both the title of the book as well as in the bibliography. Root seldom makes reference to other youth ministry texts or theology texts. He typically draws from philosophical and sociological works, primarily those of Charles Taylor. Why does Root’s book take on such a different form than other youth ministry texts?

The answer lies in Root’s goal with this book. He never intended to address the everyday practical matters of youth ministry. This book pulls back the curtain on all of that and forces youth leaders to ask themselves, “Why am I even doing youth ministry in the first place?”

The End of Youth Ministry? is unlike any other youth ministry book I have read, and I think that is a really good thing. To be honest, youth ministry texts can tend to be repetitive, and, while independently written, often have significant overlap with one another. However, Root shares little to no overlap with any other youth ministry text I have read.

While reading this book, I found myself facing questions I have never asked while reading a youth ministry book. Typically I seek out these texts to help me answer the questions I have about my duties as a youth minister. However, this book flipped the script. Rather than offering answers to my youth ministry questions, this book gave me a whole new set of questions for which I am seeking answers.

Root asks the often-overlooked question, “What is youth ministry actually for?” After exploring several responses to this question, Root concludes that youth ministry is for joy. Root himself says, “joy in friendship and rejoicing in the summum bonum of Jesus Christ are what youth ministry is for” (Root 225).

Rather than youth ministry being for fun events, goofy games, kitschy lessons, and seasonal retreats, Root asserts that youth ministry is for facilitating a Christ-centered joy in those being ministered to. Root sees this as a long-term, transformational impact that youth ministry can have on students, and I agree. If youth ministry can foster a godly joy in its students, then significant work has been done for the spiritual benefit of students.

Do I agree with Root’s conclusion that the ultimate purpose of youth ministry is joy? I am not so sure. However, I do think that students’ joy can certainly fit into the youth ministry objectives of any youth leader. And it is certainly a better goal than simply putting on great events and facilitating fun.

The End of Youth Ministry? is a book that pushed me outside of my comfort zone, and I am thankful to have read it. While I am not certain that I agree with Root in his conclusions, I believe that my youth ministry practices will be strengthened by my reading of this book, and my own meditations on its themes and points. This is a good book. If you are involved in youth ministry, give it a read. If nothing else, it will make you think and address questions you have never have before!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Baker Academic for the purpose of this honest review. These are my genuine thoughts of the book, and they have not been affected by my reception of this copy. This is a good book!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Root presents a really good case for why youth ministry does not rank highly with parents as the highest good they seek for their kids. The book begins with a story told to him by a youth worker who was, by her own admission, and entertainment centric youth pastor. The story revolves around an incident where she had to make a choice between keeping an event to entertain the troops or cancelling it for to fulfill a deeper need of one student.

The key question that drive the book is "What is youth ministry for?" I'll let the book answer that as it what drives the book but the answer may be too esoteric for today's youth workers to grasp.

Root interviews parents about youth ministry and what they want for their kids and as a 30+ year youth ministry veteran, all their answers rang true. I wish this book was available when I was 22 but, even then, I would not have grasped it as I do now.

The only issue I have with the book is that I felt like I was reading two books, the book by Andrew Root and the footnotes. There are a ton of footnotes referencing and quoting Charles Taylor among other authors.

In the end, the book is insightful and youth workers would take heed to Andrew Roots insights on what he calls the The Good of youth ministry and the goods of youth ministry. This kind of book requires your attention has no quick or easy answer on how to grow your ministry or even win parents over to love your youth ministry, but that is not the books intent.

You may benefit from just asking the books protagonist question and even personalizing it: What is (my) youth ministry for?

[Marika Gillis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I serve on the youth ministry team at my church, and our youth pastor has us read a book centered around ministry each year. The End of Youth Ministry? by Andrew Root was our most recent read.

For me, this book had some pretty profound and interesting ideas. My biggest takeaways were ones that have really had me thinking a lot about the motivations of parents. According to Root, parents (understandably so) have this innate desire for their children to be happy. This desire leads them into a misguided attempt to help their kid find their 'thing,' thinking that 'thing' will help their child figure out who they are, giving them a sense of identity. Their 'thing' might be music, or a sport, or theater (it doesn't really matter) but having that sense of identity through a 'thing' will lead to lifelong happiness for their kids. (And, really, what parents don't want their kids to be happy?) So, youth groups are in a losing battle with all these other activities, in the pursuit of a 'thing' for their child. As I read these ideas, I could see myself and my own parental desires reflected in Root's ideas. I think he might be onto something.

Root believes that "youth ministry should forget about competing in the battle of 'things' and instead profoundly concern ourselves with 'stories'." (p165) Because humans are "language animals," identities are constructed only within narratives, he claims. This, too, rings true to me. If we are to build a faith in our children that they can take into this world, that faith will be carried with them into relationships with others. "There really is no such thing as 'you do you' without your doing affecting my 'doing me'. The moral horizon of happiness seems to assume that you can forge your own meaning through your identity alone inside some bubble. But this is not how the human spirit is constituted." (p138)

And, happiness is not a natural steady state. Root had some interesting ideas about how the pursuit of happiness can actually lead us to unhappiness. So, we might be doing our children a huge disservice as we push and prod them to find their 'thing' rather than reinforcing their exposure to stories and lives and people through a ministry. Again, as a person who belives in the incredible power of stories, I can buy all that.

I have marked up many passages in my copy of The End of Youth Ministry? and have taken away a lot of ideas that are still bubbling and brewing inside! That said, this book could have shared those ideas in about half the words, so if you decide to take this book on, be prepared for dense and repetitive.

And then hit me up afterward, because I could talk about some of these ideas for hours!

[Joel Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the most seminal work recently released regarding youth ministry. It is certainly one of the top writings from the pen of Andrew Root. "The End of Youth Ministry?" verbalizes so much of what I feel youth ministry should be about. As a long time youth pastor and parent, this is what I want for my children and students. I want them to discover joy in Christ.
Taking the atypical route of sharing a parable regarding the journey toward enlightenment, Root guides readers toward enlightenment. Root encourages us to think counter-culturally about youth ministry. Rather than seeking to please the parents who want a place of entertainment that helps their children be happy, youth ministry should guide youth in discovering the joy of Christ. To do this, we must share in one another's life narratives, particularly the moments of death. When communities do this, Christ enters in, providing grace and resurrection. This book is revolutionary and should be on the top of every youth pastor's , parent's, elder's and pastor's list of current must reads! Youth ministry is for discovering the joy of the Lord within His community. Let the church discover this!

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book. Some pretty helpful thoughts. The formatting was easily the worst part. Footnotes should have been endnotes. It was utterly distracting and difficult to read the first half. It was like he was trying to write in an engaging narrative form, but then the bottom half of nearly every page was a textbook of his research. The notes had lots of great stuff, but it was almost like reading two different books.

I did like the argument for joy being central to the purpose for youth ministry. It takes a bit of effort define what he means by joy, but that's ok. I do however think the main point of infusing storytelling into youth ministry is very important. I have seen kids light up and really engage when we've had adults and couples come in a share about their lives.

Worth reading, but if I read it again, I'd try to read through without paying any attention to footnotes and then maybe go back and explore his research afterwards.

[Johann Xie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Root's writing style can be unclear, though he did state it from the beginning that he approaches the book from an existentialist perspective. Perhaps the reader has a higher expectation with the book, but the reader found it lacking in exegetical basis which may not be the purpose of the book.

In dealing with the purpose of youth ministry, Root did not address the centrality and purpose of the gospel which the foundation and purpose of ministering to people, in this context the youth.

The author did not make a distinction between joy and happiness or derive biblical support. The author does state that he writes it from the experience, which is essentially existential, which he gained hands on. So for having a hands on experience and able to tie everything together, it was good.

By the end of the book, readers will get a sense what he is doing, but this is after 12 chapters out of fifteen.

[Seán · Rating 5 out of 5]

Root's "The End of Youth Ministry" does a superb job describing how secularization has changed the shape of gospel ministry, and specifically ministry to youth. Root's insights into youth ministry (that it is for joy), cultural critique, and identity formation make this a must-read, not just for those working in youth ministry but everyone working in ministry, as the undercurrents of Root describes will eventually surface in broader ministry contexts. In this sense, this book as a prophetic edge to it that ought to be carefully listened to. In terms of methodology, the book's autoethnographic structure is one of the better examples of this method in contemporary practical theology literature. I highly recommended this book.

[Alex Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good!
As a frequent youth group volunteer leader whose life was indelibly shaped by going to youth group as a kid, I really appreciated seeing Root connect the dots between current consumer trends, youth culture, and parenting philosophies.
It could have been edited a bit better, many of the passages felt repetitive and much of the final 1/4th was unnecessary. But I think the intended audience for this book are academics with graduate degrees who probably appreciate a lot of the material I don't.

[Evan Lehman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is phenomenal, but it is not going to leave you with any practical youth ministry programming answers and I think that is the point. If you are looking for a "Doug-fields -esk" youth ministry book that outlines processes that can be emulated with 5 steps, this book is not for that. Andrew Root helps draw you into a space where you have to think and learn within your own context in order to have your youth program introducing your students to Jesus. I would give this book 10/10 stars if possible. Very good

[Derek Klumpenhouwer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have ever read in the Youth Ministry world. Root and Ken Moser live on the same planet and in a North American youth ministry world that can make you feel isolated for wanting real discipleship, this book was refreshing.

The downside of the book is that Root tends to be repetitive and left me wondering if it could have been done in half the pages.

The upside still makes this a must read book. When youth pastors start living into this mentality, it will not only be transformational, it will give new hope and purpose to their ministry.

[Dave Pettengill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely Important Book For Today

If you are wanting a book to walk you through all the "How to's" of youth ministry this is not it, but if you are wanting a youth ministry book that hits at the core issues we are encountering today and guidance and leading a youth ministry that truly makes a difference then check out this book. It is definitely in my top 5 youth ministry books I have ever read. Highly recommend!

[Adam Metz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really compelling and insightful consideration for the current plight of youth ministry and, derivatively, broader congregational life. More and more youth ministry is faced with the question - what are we here for - and in engaging broadly through the moral philosophy of virtue of Charles Taylor Root offers a helpful way forward for ministry to adolescents. Perhaps the most helpful guide in a decade, Root provides a roadmap for getting youth ministry beyond it's current identity crisis.

[Dustin G. Longmire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was positively the best book on youth ministry I’ve read in quite a while. While really digging deep into Lutheran theology mixed with personal narrative and more, the only reason is doesn’t get five stars is that I wish some of the theological portions could have been written a bit more with a lay audience in mind. It on occasion comes off as too academic to read along with the parents in my parish for example.

[Josh Trice · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most beautiful and deep reads I have ever encountered. Root has his philosophical/theological finger directly on the pulse of culture. We live in a time of identity crisis, overly busy schedules and a decline in church attendance. And yet, Root reminds us, the point of youth ministry remains deeply centered on the person of Christ. As well, the purpose of Youth ministry can be found in the various relationships therein.

If you work in youth ministry, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK.

[Griffin Swihart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, and felt both challenged and justified in some of my own frustrations around youth ministry. There are lots of great ideas and conversations that came from this books, but man…it was a slog to get through at times because I just might not be smart enough to keep up with Andrew Root 😅

[Bruno Morato · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some phenomenal 5-star insights, especially on the history and evolution of youth ministry as a response to societal movements.

However, I struggle with some of its recommendations. Its style also has some really annoying issues, like the super long, way too frequent and not that useful footnotes, and the slow, repetitive, and too story- and introspection-oriented narration format.

[Matthew Richey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important, insightful, and very very helpful. Root brings Charles Taylor to Youth Ministry and explores the implications. Highly recommended for anyone involved in Church ministry and not only (but definitely including) Youth Ministry.

[Kenji · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good read!! I’ll be working through the ideas presented in it for a long time. Thinking about how to take it from a great book with great ideas to what it looks like practically. Youth ministry is for joy.

[Andrew Alkema · Rating 4 out of 5]

I help teach youth at church, and really resonated with the title of this book. I got some great ideas on what youth ministry is and some ideas on what to do with the youth. I also enjoyed the way this book was written.

[Kyle Groters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Root helped me connect so many dots that I've been struggling to connect regarding youth ministry today. His moral philosophical perspective gives way to a proclamation of joy via the way of the Cross applied to youth ministry.

[Ann Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important and necessary book. Root offers us a way of doing youth ministry that is counter to the way it has been done for years. A different way of doing youth ministry is essential as we move into a ‘post COVID’ church. But he uses too many words.

[Ryan Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible book that explores what youth ministry is ultimately for. While this is directed toward youth ministry, his thoughts on story, joy, and identity cast a net far beyond adolescence. I believe this book would be significantly helpful for any ministry leader.