Youth workers have always stressed the importance of their relationships with young people and their concern for the process of the work. This book asks what youth workers do, and if their role must be changed into something else.

Provides an introductory overview of the professional practice of youth work and youth development. This book captures the elements that make youth work a unique and powerful experience for those working with young people. Topics include adolescence as a life stage, historical perspectives, approaches and orientations to youth work, practical program and leadership strategies, ethics, multi-culturalism, policy formation, professional career development and more!

In this unique and passionate book, Doug Nicholls proposes a cultural revolution within youth work. He draws on the best of youth work's past to redesign the youth work map for today. He speaks with wit, wisdom and warmth to youth workers about their craft. Yet he takes no intellectual prisoners in proposing a new role for youth work in the struggle for social justice. No student or practitioner should miss it.

Some of the most energetic, effective, and passionate activists involved in grassroots politics are young people--but their voices are rarely heard in policy, research, or public debate. This book remedies that, giving young activists their due and showing the effects of passionate social service practitioners who build relationships with marginalized young people in the face of spending cuts and shifting governmental priorities. Written by an experienced youth worker, Grassroots Youth Work uses interviews, dialogue, and excerpts from research diaries to bring youth work to life in both theory and practice.

Not long ago, veteran Youth Minister Everett Fritz counted the number of his former Youth Group members who were still practicing the Faith. The result? Almost all of themhad left the Faith! Fritz learned that otherparishes reported similar staggering losses, pointing to a grim truth: today’s Youth Ministries simply do not form young people into lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. Not satisfied with these dismal results, Fritz devised a different way of forming young people in the Faith. It’s an approach that can truly transform the spiritual lives of young people by applying the same one-to-one personal method that Jesus Himself used to form his twelve original disciples . . . only one of whom was lost! Fritz has worked with countless parishes, helping them make the shift to a small-group discipleship structure. You’ll learn to avoid the many pitfalls and common mistakes parishes make, as well as ways you can easily build the volunteer base needed for a successful transition. He will help you create a comfortable environment that leads young people into self-reflection, as well as the critical role parents and the parish community play in youth formation. Finally, Fritz shares various resources that can help you accomplish your goal. But he warns: you’re not running a program that has been pre-developed. Relationships and mentoring make disciples; programs do not. If you’re troubled by the number of young people in your parish who leave the Faith year after year, then open these illuminating pages and learn the art of forming young disciples.

This is the book that youth workers who want to put into practice their desire to "meet youth where they're at" have been waiting for. Narrative Approaches to Youth Work provides hope-filled and fresh conversational practices anchored in a critical intersectional analysis of power and a relational ethic of care. These practices help youth workers answer the all-too-common question, what do I do when I do youth work? The concepts and skills presented in this book position youth workers to do youth work in ways that honor youth agency and resistance to oppression, invite a multiplicity of possibilities, and situate youth and youth workers alike within broader social contexts that influence their lives and their relationship together. Drawing on the author's 30-plus years of working alongside young people and training youth workers in contexts ranging from recreation centers to homeless shelters, this book provides a rich and deliberate mix of theoretical grounding, practical application, real-life vignettes, and questions for in-depth self-reflection. Throughout Narrative Approaches to Youth Work, readers hear from a wise and thoughtful squad of youth workers talking about how they strive to do socially just, accountable, critical youth work.

Catalog of an exhibition held at the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, N.Y., Oct. 28, 2011-Jan. 29, 2012; Dallas Museum of Art, Mar. 4-May 27, 2012; Cleveland Museum of Art, July 1-Sept. 16, 2012.

Are the young people in your church coming to faith in Christ? Are they following Him as disciples? The elders and leaders of every church should be able to answer "yes" to both questions. It's a crucial aspect of their role as shepherds. So how can a group of men confidently affirm that their young people are growing mature in Christ? This is the purpose of YOUthWORK. Featuring hard-won insights and proven strategies drawn from twenty-five years of working with thousands of students, this practical guide will equip parents, volunteers, and full-time youth workers to shepherd young people toward maturity in Christ. It provides church leaders with a framework for understanding the how's and why's of youth ministry and features dozens of hands-on ideas for ministry.