Teenagers are tired of vague or nonexistent answers to their tough questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity. Just when they're capable of diving into the deep end of their faith, all too often the church keeps them splashing around in shallow waters. As eight years of Sticky Faith research on teenagers has shown, it's not doubt or hard questions that are toxic to faith. It's silence. The trusted voice of the Fuller Youth Institute and proven best practices from churches around the country converge to provide you with tools both to start conversations about hard questions, as well as to lead students toward discovering their own faith convictions.

Unleashing the Passion of Young People in Your Church Is Possible! Churches are losing both members and vitality as increasing numbers of young people disengage. Based on groundbreaking research with over 250 of the nation's leading congregations, Growing Young provides a strategy any church can use to involve and retain teenagers and young adults. It profiles innovative churches that are engaging 15- to 29-year-olds and as a result are growing--spiritually, emotionally, missionally, and numerically. Packed with both research and practical ideas, Growing Young shows pastors and ministry leaders how to position their churches to engage younger generations in a way that breathes vitality, life, and energy into the whole church. Visit www.churchesgrowingyoung.org for more information.

Anyone who serves teenagers today knows that more and more young people are eager to make a difference in the world. When students participate in short-term missions, service, and justice causes, parents and youth leaders hope these experiences will lead to real transformation. But research shows that our efforts don’t always stick. If we truly want short-term work to translate into long-term change, leaders and students must spend more time before, during, and after service projects preparing for and processing their experiences. The sessions in this leader’s guide will help you create experiences that stick—both for the students you take and the communities you serve. This guidebook offers a host of practical and field-tested exercises for each phase of your experience, whether it’s a half-day local service project or a two-week trip overseas. Participants will engage in hands-on experiences to gain new insights about themselves, their relationship with God, their teammates, and the world we’re called to love and serve. Each of these steps is a catalyst in helping students apply what they have learned in the field to their own lives back at home. Also included are ideas to help get parents and the whole church engaged in service together. A companion student journal is also available to boost the potential for personal application throughout the journey.

A further title in the popular and attractive Learn series, this is written for youth leaders, children’s workers, ministers, elders, Sunday school teachers, leaders of uniformed organisations and lay volunteers. It aims to help them explore ways in which they can develop ministry with children and young people in their churches and communities. Experienced youth and children’s workers from a wide variety of contexts offer insight and practical guidelines across an wide variety of topics: Part One: Being Church Together focuses on children and young people and the church community, the Bible, baptism and communion, inter-generational ministry Part Two: Leadership Explores pastoral care, family issues, mental health problems, being an effective leader, reaching and keeping volunteers, developing leadership in children and young people Part Three: Mission and Discipleship looks at faith formation in children and young people, chaplaincy, Fresh Expressions of children’s and youth work, children and young people in social action and in world mission. Learn: Children and Young People has three key emphases: • the importance of thinking theologically • the importance of including children and young people in the community of faith • the importance of skilled and effective leadership Attractively illustrated throughout and enlivened by actual stories of local projects, this is an essential volume for all involved in working with children and young people.