Resilient: Child Discipleship and the Fearless Future of the Church

by Valerie Bell, Chris Marchand, Matt Markins

As new research continues to show, the cultural gap between secularism and the convictional Church continues to widen. KidMin and youth leaders are asking, "Are we adequately discipling today's kids to lead the future of the church in a culture that's becoming increasingly hostile to the gospel?" For many, the answer is "no," and a new conversation around making Resilient disciples is emerging. Resilient is an honest calling to ask robust questions about the future; it is a timely conversation in the midst of changing cultural landscapes; and it's a love letter to KidMin leaders and disciple makers to walk this road of child discipleship together. Resilient Child Discipleship focuses on three key areas, essential for shaping long-term faith: Belonging - Highly relational ministry led by a loving and caring adult Believing - Deeply Scriptural ministry rooted in the truth of God's Word and the power of the gospel Becoming - Truly experiential ministry, designed to move kids from simulation to real-world application of faith-based living Resilient equips you with an innovative, biblical and proven child discipleship philosophy to build your ministry around - plus practical questions to equip you and your team! Inspires and facilitates the crucial conversation of our time that will shape the future of the church Loaded with content to help your pastor cast vision and elevate the importance of children's ministry Helps cut through the clutter of the many responsibilities of KidMin to get to the most essential and effective aspects of children's ministry that most influence long-term discipleship into adulthood Child discipleship is the leading factor when shaping the future of your church The culture is changing so rapidly and radically that the future is likely to look far different than the world we know today. The children's ministry community has new conversations to explore as we prepare today's kids to lead the fearless future of the church.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction

223 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Chris Delany · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. Read the first half of so since it was reading for a group, and skimmed the rest. Lots of fluff. The takeaways could probably be pulled out into 1 page -- basically, thinking ahead to what the church will look like in 2050, the children are the future church leaders, and kids ministry should be a place where kids Belong (being known and loved), Believe (the gospel, Scripturally based) and Become (discipleship, living out / applying their faith).

[James Gómez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Research early in the book is helpful and there are some nuggets throughout. It relies heavily on churches maintaining a program driven model. There are also a lot of assumptions that churches are primarily suburban, have a building, and use some form of Awana curriculum. The other disappointment that others have mentioned is that book can read like a long advertisement for Awana’s.

[Amanda Holt · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are nuggets of wisdom you can pull from, but you’ll struggle through cringy, sometimes irrelevant examples and authors claiming their not trying to sell you on the Awana brand while mentioning it...every other page.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5. Great on Vision, Good on Strategy, Just OK on Scriptural support.

[Daniel Harding · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bits and pieces are helpful. An emphasis on programmatic morality is the ultimate answer - and that ain’t good.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book on child discipleship that offered some good stuff! I like this quote—“These children we love will be the church of 2050. They will need to be disciples as few modern generations before them had to be. They will need to have spine and heart—spine to stand firm for Christian beliefs in an increasingly hostile secular world and heart to embrace that same intolerant of faith world with a love that can’t be ignored.”

The book stressed often the power of one adult in a child’s life and the 3B’s for kids becoming lifelong followers of Christ—belong, believe, become.

They need to find belonging.
Believe in God’s word and Christ as their savior.
Become disciples who reproduce their faith to a third generation.

This book helped to encourage me in my role as an Awana Ministry Director.

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Belonging, believing, becoming. This book seeks to answer the question of "What will the church be in 2050?". Moreso, what can we do NOW in KidMin to enable our future church leaders. This book entwines research, ancedotal experiences, and scripture to address the fact that people are leaving the church and your children's ministry can solve this. A worthwhile read to anyone involved in KidMin or with children in the church.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The children in our churches today are the leaders of the church of 2050.”

I cannot recommend this book highly enough! Everyone in ministry, whether they serve with children/youth or not, needs to read this book. We must fight for them and make them as valuable to us as they are to Jesus. We must help pave the way of the future for them. This is where we’ll see real change. This is where the Church will thrive.

[Jessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Renewed passion and understanding for the importance of children’s ministries. I pray for every individual who reads this book as they seek to love children well. May they disciple the children in their care to believe in, belong to and become more like Christ by walking in the Spirit in obedience to the Word.

[Nicki Ann Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If reading a lot of statistics and citations isn't your thing, this one may not be a binge read for you. HOWEVER, if you are serious about kid's ministry and child discipleship for the future of the church [and especially if your existing ministry uses Brite curriculum and hosts Awana] then this book is an ABSOLUTE MUST READ.

[Ray Bremer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vital reading for anyone in children or youth ministry

My daughter recommended this to me.
If you have any involvement with children or youth ministry then I would recommend this book.

[Jodie Slongo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book! This book will change how you do ministry for todays generation of kids. Resilient helps the reader see the importance and impact of adults in a kids life. Be ready to be challenged and pumped!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. No offense to the authors, but I picked up this book for ideas on how to better play my part in child discipleship. To my disappointment, only 3 of the book's 12 chapters were on point. The other information was fine, but not unknown to me and not instructive or inspiring in the least.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book giving perspective and vision for reaching kids for the kingdom. Belong, believe, become are the 3 goals that are outlined for discipling resilient Christians.

[Catherine Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book, I found it very encouraging and I cannot wait to apply some of the things that I learned from it it AWANA and KidMin.

[Jody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

I found so much dismay and hope in this book. I felt awakened by the words in this book. It's driven my passion for AWANA even greater.

[Kristen Cowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

shaped my ministry and what really matters. I have it to my volunteers!!!!! Highly recomnend.

[Shanna Klutts · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing look at how we should be shaping our KidsMin. Took a long time so I could process and adapt. Still working on this. So thankful for the thoughts in this book.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate Awana's commitment to research based approaches to discipleship.

[Shandra Hathaway · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking forward to a KidMin retreat to do some vision casting for now through 2050! A great book to get us thinking!

[Stephen McMurtrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book offers great content and engaging stories when it gets to the point, but it’s weighed down by too much filler and repetitive points.