Here is the summer reading plan for ThinkYouthMinistry. As youth ministry in Canada transition into a different schedule or even a slow down we would suggest that you take this time to strategically read through some books that will challenge you in areas of faith, ministry and theology.
Jesus Wants To Save Christians by Rob Bell
There is a church in our area that recently added an addition to their building which cost more than $20 million. Our local newspaper ran a front-page story not too long ago revealing that one in five people in our city lives in poverty.
This is a book about those two numbers. It's a book about faith and fear, wealth and war, poverty, power, safety, terror, Bibles, bombs, and homeland insecurity; it's about empty empires and the truth that everybody's a priest; it's about oppression, occupation, and what happens when Christians support, animate, and participate in the very things Jesus came to set people free from. It's about what it means to be a part of the church of Jesus in a world where some people fly planes into buildings while others pick up groceries in Hummers.
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The Core Realities of Youth Ministry by Mike Yaconelli
You mentor. You sweat. You pray...a lot. You speak about the Bible, lead discussions, and play the occasional crazy game. And you spend countless hours with students and some with their parents. But what drives you to do what you do? With characteristic passion and real-world grittiness, Mike Yaconelli lays out a blueprint to explain, drive, and define healthy youth ministry as he unpacks nine core realities.
Essential Leadership (Participants Guide/Leader’s Guide) by Kara Powell 
You're in youth ministry for a reason. Most likely you have a deep passion for both teenagers and the ministry. But at times, you may feel ill equipped to lead, or you may not even be sure of the direction the ministry is headed. Chances are, your youth pastor has a great vision for the ministry. But too often the staff meetings you attend end up more like a list of announcements about upcoming events than a time of real growth and sharpening. This unique, research-based training resource addresses the needs of you and every other adult on your youth ministry team. As you engage in a different discussion each month, you'll discover how to take both the ministry and students deeper by exploring:
* Your ministry's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
* Integrating students into the life of the church
* Effective family ministry
* Holistic ministry
* Giving and receiving mentoring
* Getting the rest you need
* Deep justice
* Helping kids who are hurting
* Giving your kids a faith that lasts
Essential Leadership will strengthen your youth ministry team and make a deeper impact on the lives of teenagers.
Middle School Ministry by Mark Oestreicher & Scott Rubin 
Many people run scared from the middle school youth room. But (thankfully!) there are people out there who are actually drawn to those young teens. Although often times they're not equipped to deal with the unique challenges that middle school ministry presents, or they're just not sure what to do when a room full of young teens (who are "part child, but not quite adult") are running around the youth room.
Finally, there's a comprehensive guide to middle school ministry, from two veterans of this unchartered territory. Mark Oestreicher and Scott Rubin help youth workers understand the importance of middle school ministry, the development process for young teens and their implications for ministry, and how to best minister to these sometimes misunderstood students. They share their experiences (as middle school pastors and parents of middle schoolers), giving youth workers he encouragement, hope, and training they need to succeed in middle school ministry.
True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In by James Choung 
Caleb has been a Christian for a long time. But he realizes that he can't bring himself to share his faith with anyone because it doesn't sound like good news anymore. Christianity's truth claims come across as hollow, arrogant and intolerant. Christians have a bad track record of hating and condemning those they disagree with. Worst of all, it feels like Christianity is just about "saving souls," giving people an escape ticket to heaven while the world falls apart. Is it only about Jesus forgiving our sins? There must be more to it than that...
In this engaging narrative, James Choung weaves the tale of a search for a Christianity worth believing in. Disillusioned believer Caleb and hostile skeptic Anna wrestle with the plausibility of the Christian story in a world of pain and suffering. They ask each other tough questions about what Jesus really came to do and what Christianity is supposed to be about. Along the way, they discover that real Christianity is far bigger than anything they ever heard about in church. And the conversion that comes is not one that either of them expects.
Join Caleb and Anna on their spiritual journeys as they probe Christianity from inside and out. Get past the old clichés and simplistic formulas. And discover a new way of understanding and presenting the Christian faith that really matters in a broken world.
The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why by Phillis Tickle 
North American Christianity is presently undergoing a change every bit as radical as the Protestant Reformation, possibly even as monumental as its natal break with Judaism. And it's right on schedule. Tickle, author of God-Talk in America and PW's founding religion editor, observes that Christianity is holding its semimillennial rummage sale of ideas. With an elegance of argument and economy of description, Tickle escorts readers through the centuries of church history leading to this moment and persuasively charts the character of and possibilities for the emerging church. Don't let this book's brevity fool you. It is packed with keen insights about what this great emergence is, how it came to be and where it may be headed. Tickle issues a clear call to acknowledge the inevitability of change, discern the church's new shape and participate responsibly in the transformation. Although Tickle's particular focus excludes the dynamic forces of Asian, African and Central/South American Christianity, this is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the face and future of Christianity.
The Shaping of Thing To Come by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch 
Christendom is dying and needs to be removed from its life-support system. Starting with this frank assessment of the current church, Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch present an alternative model for ministry in today s postmodern world. Instead of mourning the demise of the Western church as the center of society, the authors explain how the church can be reborn through incarnational mission, messianic spirituality, and apostolic structure. Church leaders who heed the authors call will see death turned into new life through the creation of a vital, missional church.
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