Welcome to Rooted’s Top Ten, a curated reading list for youth ministers. Each month we find ten articles, and sometimes videos or podcasts, from various sources that we believe will encourage you in your ministry to teenagers and their families. Some give explicit instruction on gospel-centered ministry, while others contain a message of common grace that is helpful to youth workers. (The opinions presented in these articles do not necessarily reflect the position of Rooted.) For more articles to share with the parents in your ministry, make sure to check out our Parent Top Ten, which runs every-other month.
If you find an article that could educate, equip, or encourage the Rooted community, please email the editor at chelsea@rootedministry.com.
Gospel-Centered
A Theological Vision for Discipling the Next Generation By Bob Thune (TGC)
What matters most is not the skill of the Sunday morning storyteller or a student ministry leader, but the reality that God is present with us. We lean into his nearness, trusting he’s at work in the hearts of those we serve. This truth alleviates pressure from parents and volunteers, reminding us that God’s presence is the ultimate source of transformation in discipleship.
What YouTube Can’t Teach Students About Jesus By Dylan Musser (Christianity Today)
We shouldn’t view physical presence in our discipleship as a hurdle to overcome. It’s a God-given blessing. The friction that comes from embodied relationships meets a need that ChatGPT cannot. We cannot expect to begin looking more like Jesus without the physical presence of his body in our lives.
7 Lessons from a Former Youth Pastor By Yuta Seki (Youth Pastor Theologian)
If I were to guess what a parent is concerned about with respect to youth ministry, it would be three things: 1. the safety of their children; 2. the spiritual input their child is receiving; and 3. the organized and competent administration of the youth ministry. If administration is not your strong suit, then get others to help you in this area.
Partnering with Parents
The Gospel According to Youth Sports by Jonathan Carone (Mockingbird)
The sneaky piece of youth sports no one warns you about is that watching those little kids run around a field or a court holds a mirror up to all the little pieces of us we haven’t fully processed or healed. They shine a light on the dark recesses deep within us and, before we even realize it, we begin projecting those insecurities onto our kids.
Smartphone Gambling is a Disaster by Jonathan D. Cohen, Isaac Rose-Berman (American Institute for Boys and Men)
Teachers and principals we’ve spoken to report that almost all of their male students seem to be gambling. One suburban Massachusetts public school teacher told Jonathan that his tenth-grade students “are always talking about their bets … betting lines and odds and all kinds of stuff. 15 year olds.” Some kids told the teacher that their parents made it possible for them to bet. Others — including the class’s “unofficial bookie” — were doing it behind their parents’ backs. The National Council on Problem Gambling estimates that 5 percent of high schoolers show signs of a gambling problem.
Youth Culture
How the Attention Economy Is Devouring Gen Z — and the Rest of Us (The Ezra Klein Show, NYT)
Essentially, there are two ways that people seem to be responding to the uncertainty in the economy and the lack of a path of predictable progress. One path is tool-belt pragmatism, which is people going back to the trees, becoming a plumber or electrician — taking a path that isn’t as speculative and uncertain as getting a bunch of debt and going to college. Other people are going a memecoin gambling or sports-betting type of route.
IYKYK: Here Are the Popular Teen ‘Texting Codes’ Every Parent Should Know by Liz Regalia (Parents)
While an acronym is the first letter of each word in a phrase, Titania Jordan, Chief Parent Officer of online safety company Bark Technologies, explains texting codes as a combination of acronyms, characters, words, and even emojis that represent hidden meanings.
Ministry Skills
Jesus People and the Vibe Shift by Jordan K. Monsoon (Christianity Today)
When a revival movement skews male, then, that’s noteworthy. And though the dust hasn’t settled yet, this vibe shift looks like a change substantially among young men—with wide social and political implications. In the past four years, Democratic pollster David Shor said in March, “young people have gone from being the most progressive generation since the baby boomers, and maybe even in some ways more so, to becoming potentially the most conservative generation that we’ve experienced maybe in 50 to 60 years.”
How to Adapt Our Children’s Ministries to Reach Every Kind of Learner By Sandra Peoples (Crossway)
Jesus’s message was so important that he wanted everyone to understand and apply what they learned. Jesus intentionally adapted his teaching, the environment, and how he asked people to respond because he knew that every person had different needs and he wanted to meet people where they were.
The Brilliant Apologetic Strategy of the Ancient Church by Micahel J. Kruger (Canon Fodder)
If we just focus on the latest modern attacks on the Christian faith, we might be convinced that we are experiencing something the church has never experienced. But a quick look into church history, particularly the second century, says otherwise.
Rooted’s Two Most-Read of July
A Word of Encouragement to Weary Children’s Ministers by Allyn Bock
When there’s spit-up on your favorite shirt, volunteers cancel, the budget is cut, and the schemes of the Enemy come against you, take heart: the battle is won.
Psalm 122: A Psalm For the Teenager Who Doesn’t Want to Go to Church by Jacob Bier
Worship isn’t a solo hike—it’s a shared pilgrimage, shaped by the voices and presence of others who are walking with God.
In Case You Missed It (Rooted’s July Honorable Mention)
“Earn the Right” with Parents (and Teenagers) by Danny Kwon
Building deep relationships with teenagers is always best done by understanding, including, and partnering with their parents.
