Faith Beyond Youth Group, by Jen Bradbury

Author's Corner

Today, Roberta talks to Jen Bradbury about her new book Faith Beyond Youth Group: Five Ways to Form Character and Cultivate Lifelong Discipleship, available from Baker Books publishers.

Most typical youth ministries today produce nice, obedient kids who behave themselves--and then leave the church and the faith. Even those who remain struggle to extend their own faith beyond youth group. They seem like "good kids," but their lives and decisions outside youth group aren't oriented towards Jesus. Clearly that is not our goal. So what are we doing wrong? And how can we better serve the unique needs of the most anxious, adaptive, and diverse generation in history?

If you're tired of youth ministry that fails to change lives, it's time to change youth ministry. Building on two decades of the Fuller Youth Institute's work and incorporating extensive new research and interviews, Faith Beyond Youth Group identifies the reasons youth ministry often fails both short-term and long-term, and offers five ways adult youth leaders can cultivate character for a lifetime of growing closer to Jesus rather than drifting away. It shows leaders how to cultivate trust, model growth, teach for transformation, practice together, and make meaning so that the teenagers can become adults who hold fast to the truth 24/7 and boldly live out a robust faith in a watching world.

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