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 are included because there is 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 Ministry
Gen Z Is Looking for Friends by Kristen Franze
If merely showing up daily and greeting my student was important, what would have happened if I got to be part of her life and was in a setting where I could share the gospel with her? What if the way to reach hearts begins with simply showing up day after day and taking an interest in someone’s life?
Building an Advent/Christmas Series for Youth Group with Simplicity and Depth by Joseph Bradley (Youth Pastor Theologian)
It can be very easy to get excited about a “groundbreaking” idea that no one has tried before, but it can also run away from you very quickly. Regardless of how you teach, how you brand the series, or how different you think your approach is, your main point MUST be the same: to proclaim Immanuel, God with us.
How to Lead Teens Deeper Into Their Bibles Interview with John Piper (Desiring God)
That requires huge effort on the part of the preacher because he’s now working at two levels. There’s the level of words, grammar, and logic — we call that the text — and the effort to explain how the parts of the text fit together. On the other level, we ask, What realities is this author, with these words and this grammar and this logic, trying to communicate to my mind and my heart and my hands?
Partnering with Parents
One Thing My Parents Did Right: Ask for Forgiveness by Ashley Kim (TGC)
My mom didn’t have to share with me her vulnerabilities. She’d offered a perfectly adequate apology the first time. Yet she moved toward me with more than a desire to settle accounts or to do her part in making amends. She sought to reconcile our fractured relationship. She apologized and asked for my forgiveness not because she simply wanted absolution―a clean conscience―but because she wanted me.
I’ve Been a Prosperity Gospel Parent by Gretchen Ronnevik (Christianity Today)
We’ve learned painful lessons with God, and we want to keep our children from having to learn them too. Except that’s not how it works. We can’t keep our children from struggling—and if we try, we risk instead keeping them from the full truth and beauty of the gospel.
Youth Culture
The Impact of Social Media on Youth Mental Health (Reformed Youth Ministries)
A Summary of the 2023 US Surgeon Report
Associations of Religious Upbringing With Subsequent Health and Well-Being From Adolescence to Young Adulthood by Ying Chen and Tyler J VanderWeele (American Journal of Epidemiology)
Intergenerational transmission of religious values and practices occurs largely through parental modeling and is likely facilitated by close parent-child relationships (48). Although decisions about religion are not shaped principally by health, for adolescents who already hold religious beliefs, encouraging service attendance and private practices may be meaningful avenues of development and support, possibly leading to better health and well-being.
Ministry Skills
Training Up Biblical Carnivores by Walt Mueller (CPYU)
Just check the growing body of research. . . or better yet, just look at our churches and our kids. . . and even the fact that those who were once kids aren’t in the church anymore.
The Volunteer’s Guide to Cultivating Faith Beyond Youth Group by Zack Ellis (Fuller Youth Institue)
I needed to focus on what’s most important so that young people in my community might develop faith beyond youth group.
This is why I’m so excited about Faith Beyond Youth Group’s 5-point compass. It provides a way for volunteers like me to maximize our roles in youth ministry. Instead of trying to do it all, we can focus our efforts on what matters most for passing on our faith to teenagers today.
Cultivating Biblical Literacy in Student Ministry by Keegan Shoemaker (YM360)
Students can tell when a leader loves the Word of God. Their lessons are not just content to complete but heartfelt meditations on God’s teachings. They can regularly talk about what God is teaching them, not just what God wants to teach the students.
Rooted’s Two Most-Read of November
- Ministering to the Hearts of Skeptical Teenagers by Arek O’Connel
The only thing that will bring a skeptical teenager to saving faith in Jesus is God’s own resurrecting power and his gospel.
- Tips for Gospel-Centered Games in Youth Ministry (From Someone Who Stinks at Games) by Chelsea Kingston Erickson
Games help to create a culture of welcome that draws teenagers into gospel community.
In Case You Missed It (Rooted’s November Honorable Mention)
Responding to That Critical Email from a Youth Ministry Parent by Ryan Oakes
Whether the email is about summer camp costs, small group leaders, or overall church complaints, our response can set the tone for believing the best in one another.
