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Resource Reviews
group magazine: July-August, 2007
ready-to-go fundraisers WHAT IT IS: A treasury of creative fundraising ideas for youth leaders who feel they’re squeezing blood from a turnip. Here’s hope! THE SCOOP: Ready-to-Go Fundraisers is a collection of creative, interactive, field-tested fundraising ideas—75 fun and engaging strategies to help youth groups build dreams, budgets, and integrity with the congregations they serve. There’s something here for everyone: from the familiar bake sales and banquets to the truly unique “Fat Tuesday Pancake Supper” and “Celebrity Look-Alike Contest.” Worth the price of the book is the chapter on writing grants and finding partners, which outlines six clear steps for establishing financial relationships with donors. The bonus CD-Rom is filled with recipes, forms, and instructions for hosting great fundraisers. The only missing piece is the deeper biblical connection between chili suppers, Easter breakfasts, and stewardship. We can do all kinds of fundraising, but until people learn biblical stewardship, we’ll always have a need for raising extra funds. Ready-to-Go Fundraisers will have you rolling in ideas! COST: $18.00 AVAILABLE FROM: Abingdon Press, 800-251-3320. Reviewer PAUL GAUCHE has 25 years of youth ministry experience. a new kind of youth ministry WHAT IT IS: Chris Folmsbee’s new book challenges youth workers to examine their ministry style: Is it effective and forward-thinking or stuck in the past? THE SCOOP: I have to admit, my first thought when I read the title was, Not another “old-school vs. new school” book! I was wrong; this book is different. It’s like someone’s been listening to the pondering voices in my head. The author comes across as an average Joe, in-the-trenches youth leader who knows nothing’s the same and something needs to move on. Not just a change-for-change’s-sake book, Chris’ captivating phrase “reculturing our ministries” challenges us to create a ministry culture of life-change. His combination of strategic insight and practical application forced me to rethink the effectiveness of my own ministry. This “new lens” looks at improving the productivity of how we’ve always done youth ministry: Maybe its time to think differently. The inclusion of a few practical programming examples of what to do and not do would have been helpful. But overall, this is a book youth leaders and senior pastors alike should read. It’s an “I dare you to read it and then do something about it in your church” book. COST: $15.99 AVAILABLE FROM: Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 800-776-8008, (610) 532-1249. Reviewer STEPHANIE CARO has 27 years of youth ministry experience. they like Jesus but not the church WHAT IT IS: A thought-provoking resource that encourages and challenges Christians to look at Jesus and the organized church through the eyes of the emerging generation. THE SCOOP: Through the use of extensive interviews and dialogues with individuals in the emerging generation, author Dan Kimball crafts his book into three key sections. The first section focuses on how emerging generations are changing their views and experiences within the church, especially in regards to Jesus. The next section of the book paints six different pictures of how the emerging generation thinks about the church, including thoughts on the church having a political agenda. The thoughts in these chapters will cause you to question how you do church and the image your church intentionally or unintentionally promotes. Kimball wraps up with a section on how the church can respond. At the end of each chapter there are several questions for discussion and dialogue within your group. I believe it would be even more helpful if Kimball had provided specific examples of churches in different areas of the country effectively meeting the needs of those in the emerging generation. This book is a must-read for all Christians and church leaders who seek ways to share Jesus with the up-and-coming generation. COST: $18.99 AVAILABLE FROM: Zondervan, 800-776-8008, (610) 532-1249. Reviewer CHAD KIMBERLEY has 11 years of youth ministry experience. what matters most WHAT IT IS: A short primer on how and why to say “no” in youth ministry. THE SCOOP: There’s an iceberg lurking just below the surface in most churches—it’s ripped through the hulls of countless youth ministries, and the church’s sea-bottom is littered with their sunken skeletons. This berg’s name is “yes.” So many youth pastors have yes-ed their way into burnout, conflict, sin, and...shipwreck. Is there any word harder for youth pastors to say than “no”? I don’t think so. Thank God Doug Fields sees so well—he’s not only a treasure chest of great youth ministry advice, he’s also studied and learned from his own shipwrecks. And in the quick-read little gem What Matters Most he shines a big spotlight on the yes-berg in youth ministry, then offers his down-and-dirty strategies for learning how to say no. The book’s strength is also its weakness—it’s a fast journey through a complicated world of competing demands. But if your dream is to make it long term in youth ministry, read this book. COST: $12.99 AVAILABLE FROM: Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 800-776-8008, (610) 532-1249. Reviewer RICK LAWRENCE has been editor of group Magazine for 19 years. Quick picks What I Wish I Had Known About Becoming a Teenager—This book is filled with true experiences and observations from high schoolers, writing to young teenagers and preteens. Cost is $11.95. Available from Saint Mary’s Press, 800-533-8095, (507) 457-7990. You’re Next—Dare 2 Share’s Greg Stier uses real-life stories from his life to communicate the 30 core truths of the Christian faith. Cost is $13.99. Available from Dare 2 Share, 800-462-8355. Soul Tending—Now out in a new gift edition, this book teaches young people to develop spiritual habits and make Christian practices a part of their daily lives. Cost is $15. Available from Abingdon Press, 800-251-3320. With Friends Like These—ReShonda Tate Billingsley offers the third in her series of teen fiction titles that has one of the Ten Commandments as its theme. Cost is $9.95. Available from Pocket Books. scott’s picks group’s associate editor Scott Firestone IV weighs in with his best-of-the-best list of recently released and newly discovered music. ANBERLIN Cities (Tooth & Nail) This talented band’s third album is a fantastic example of alt-rock done well. It rushes along like a runaway train. These guys should be all over the radio. RODRIGO Y GABRIELA Self-titled (ATO Records) I’m late to the party here, but this amazing acoustic album is full of toe-tapping tremendousness. RON BLOCK DoorWay (Rounder Records) Block, a member of Alison Krauss’ Union Station, releases a fine bluegrass collection of songs about his faith. MODEST MOUSE We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Sony) Stepping away from the mainstream friendliness of the last release, Mouse has put out a dense album that’s a jumble of styles, but hypnotic in its delivery. |
