Ward combines theologically-based theory and practical application to encourage youthworkers to meet kids where they re at, befriend them, and then begin to introduce them to Christ. Helpful discussion questions follow each chapter. Ward s passion for God s word and youth is evident. He has a unique uncompromising ability to maintain an integrity and consistency in theology while making ministry to teenagers practical and culturally relevant." " Steve Gerali, Judson College . . . A fresh perspective. . . . [Ward] integrates the theology, sociology, and missiology of youthwork in a way that will force church leaders to rethink youth ministry and youthworkers to rethink the church. " Paul Borthwick, Director, World Evangelical Fellowship Commission "Too much of today's youth ministry is shaped by a thin brew of pragmatism and panic that talks about 'how' without ever talking about 'why.' The end result is a generation of youthworkers who have been well trained in general to do nothing in particular. In "God at the Mall," Pete Ward's keen mind and warm heart offer us that rare combination of thoughtfulness and passion that asks not only 'how do we get there?' but also 'where are we going?' and 'what kind of cultural landscape are we passing through to get there?' I don't know of any youth ministry thinker who has done more to translate in-depth sociological research into the world of everyday, real-life youthwork. Don't read this book unless you're ready to think, and pray, and rethink the way you do youth ministry." " Duffy Robbins, Chair, Department of Youth Ministry, Eastern College "Pete Ward is uniquely gifted as a cultural observer, . . . as one who can relateespecially to rebellious young people, and as a leader of leaders as well as of youth." " Dean Borgman, Charles E. Culpeper Professor of Youth Ministries, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (from the foreword)

Popular music in the twenty-first century is increasingly divided into niche markets. How do fans, musicians, and music industry executives define their markets’ boundaries? What happens when musicians cross those boundaries? What can Christian music teach us about commercial popular music? In God Rock, Inc., Andrew Mall considers the aesthetic, commercial, ethical, and social boundaries of Christian popular music, from the late 1960s, when it emerged, through the 2010s. Drawing on ethnographic research, historical archives, interviews with music industry executives, and critical analyses of recordings, concerts, and music festival performances, Mall explores the tensions that have shaped this evolving market and frames broader questions about commerce, ethics, resistance, and crossover in music that defines itself as outside the mainstream.

Christian historian Sidney Mead has observed: In America space has played the part that time has played in older cultures of the world. In Shopping Malls and Other Sacred Spaces, Jon Pahl examines this provocative statement in conversation with what he calls the spatial character of American theology. He argues that places are always imaginatively constructed by the human beings who inhabit them. Sometimes this spatial theology works to our benefit; other times it poses spiritual risks. What happens when our banal clothing of the sacred violates our genuine need for comfort and intimacy? Or when we remember that the fleeting pleasures of a shopping trip or a Disneyland escape are designed to fill someone else's pocket rather than the spiritual emptiness in our own hearts? Pahl develops several ways to clothe the divine from within the Christian tradition. He introduces a theology of place that reveals aspects of God's character through biblical metaphors drawn from physical spaces, such as the true vine, the rock, and the living water. Accessible and thought provoking, this enlightening book provides a better grasp of our particularly American way of lending religious significance to spaces of all kinds.

Religion today is in competition with the leisure and entertainment industries. Gen Y, the postmodern generation, is open to spirituality; but most of todays young adults have not been born into faith communities where they feel any lasting allegiance. Studies suggest that for the young, belief in God is an optional matter, a virtual consumer choice. As a result, different trends in worship and worship styles are offered by different churches to suit lifestyles, attitudes, and personal taste.

Religion today is in competition with the leisure and entertainment industries. Gen Y, the postmodern generation, is open to spirituality; but most of todays young adults have not been born into faith communities where they feel any lasting allegiance. Studies suggest that for the young, belief in God is an optional matter, a virtual consumer choice. As a result, different trends in worship and worship styles are offered by different churches to suit lifestyles, attitudes, and personal taste.

For more than a decade the author has been writing a "Saturday religion column," syndicated in ten newspapers in the 14 counties of Pennsylvania that comprise the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem. The "600 words or less" in the title comes from the rigorous discipline of writing to strict space requirements. The intent of the columns is to engage the secular culture and to bring the church's message to it by commenting on the realities of the human condition and on issues of general interest. This book is a compilation of many of the columns, organized along thematic lines. This book will be an ideal cross-denominational trade book for individual reading or group use. The short-take format lends itself to episodic reading and will appeal to the individualdaily-prayer market. Clergy will find the book an excellent source for sermon ideas.

A phenomenology of the mall: If the mall makes us feel bad, why do we keep going back? In a world poisoned by capitalism, what makes life worth living? Kate Black grew up in West Edmonton Mall – a mall on steroids, notorious for its indoor waterpark, deadly roller coaster, and controversial dolphin shows. But everyone has a favourite mall, or a mall that is their own personal memory palace. It's a place people love to hate and hate to love – a site of pleasure and pain, of death and violence, of (sub)urban legend. Blending a history of shopping with a story of coming of age in North America's largest and strangest mall, Big Mall investigates how these structures have become the ultimate symbol of late-capitalist dread – and, surprisingly, a subversive site of hope. "Speaking as a child of PacSun and Hot Topic myself, Big Mall is like a madeleine dipped in Orange Julius. Like a mall, the book itself has a lot of everything, a sublime mix of memoir, history, and cultural criticism. Kate Black is a learned Virgil in the consumerist Inferno, always avoiding the obvious and leading us to surprising connections—oil, suicide, Reddit, squatters, dolphins. Whether malls fill you with nostalgia or horror, this book will change your relationship to the world we've constructed around us.” – Tony Tulathimutte, author of Private Citizens "Before there was Instagram, there was the mall. But what happens when a seasonless, tacky, fantasyland is all you knew growing up? How does one embrace a genuinely fake experience? Or to be more precise, a fake but genuine experience? Kate Black’s Big Mall is a smart, sentimental, and perspective-shifting look at the outsized role that big malls play in modern life. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, one thing’s for sure: after reading this book, you’ll never look at a mall in the same way again." – Ziya Tong, Science broadcaster & author of The Reality Bubble

Since the construction of the first fully enclosed shopping center in 1952, the shopping mall has evolved into the heart of many suburban areas across the United States. More than simply a place to purchase goods, this veritable "temple of consumerism" has become a primary place for community and social interaction and an essential element in many citizens' day-to-day lives. This study explores the spiritual, emotional and physical effects of the enclosed shopping mall on the public, chronicling the growth of the mall, its role in shaping urban and suburban life, its positive and negative impacts on society and the environment, and its future viability. As this work shows, the mall remains rich in symbolic influence, and in many ways mirrors the American condition.