Deep Ministry in a Shallow World

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“Backed by solid theological reflection and heartfelt experience, Chap Clark and Kara Powell invite all of us who care about kids to discover creative, natural, and inspired forms of youth ministry that have the power to cultivate a lasting faith.”
Mark Yaconelli, author of Contemplative Youth Ministry

“Deep Ministry in a Shallow World combines the best of careful theological reflection, serious academic research, and practical youth ministry know-how. If you’re an in-the-trenches youth worker willing to think deeply about what God wants to do in your students, the Deep Design model suggested in these pages will give you the kinds of tools that can influence every facet of your ministry.”
Duffy Robbins, professor of youth ministry, Eastern University

The world of academic research is a vast one, and most youth workers don’t have the time (or the patience) to sift through all the data in order to find what might apply to their ministry setting. In their newly-released book Deep Ministry in a Shallow World: Not So Secret Findings About Youth Ministry, CYFM Executive Director Kara Powell and CYFM Executive Committee Member Chap Clark bring together significant research findings that may help shift your ministry paradigm.

For instance, did you know that:

• recent research about effective mentoring can help your kids learn to fall in love with Jesus and live knowing that they are His beloved?
• the typical things we do to build relationships with kids might actually cause them to trust us less because of what this generation has had to endure?
• recent research on communication could help us move past the “witty talks” and “funny stories” we work so hard to develop and instead actually connect the Bible to kids’ lives?
• studies show that offering kids “just Jesus” and not helping them at home, school, and in their neighborhood might not help them very much at all?

Deep Ministry in a Shallow World will help you consider what it means to prayerfully reflect on the questions you’re facing in your ministry and find new answers to help take your ministry out of the shallow end.
The book is now available for order from Youth Specialties/Zondervan, and below you will find FREE related supplemental resources and articles to help your ministry grow deeper.

To listen to a free podcast of an interview with Kara Powell on Deep Ministry in a Shallow World, visit the Youth Specialties Podcast page and download the April 2007 edition.

Extra Resources for Those Who Want to Dig Deeper...

Why Don't Good Ideas Fly? What Youth Ministry Can Learn from Innovation Research Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 3: DEEP CHANGE - Ever had a great idea completely bomb? Ever scratch your head and wonder why it happened? The field of innovation theory reveals several insights for youth workers that just might make a difference in your next idea’s take-off rate. PLUS: Download this new hand-out on innovation to use as a discussion tool with your leaders: Making New Ideas a Reality in Your Ministry.

Youth Ministry in an Age of Delayed Adulthood Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 4: DEEP DISCIPLESHIP - You've probably commented before that adolescence isn't the same it used to be. Chap Clark helps identify the cultural changes, and reframes youth ministry in terms of thinking through a three-tiered adolescent journey.

ALL-NEW RESOURCE: Youth Inventory Assessment and Goal Worksheet Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 5: DEEP ASSETS - A pdf download that can be adapted to assess the number of assets present in a student's life as well as the number of risk factors. Shared courtesy of Curt Gibson from the Lake Avenue Community Foundation.

ALL-NEW RESOURCE: Personal Mission Statement Worksheet Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 5: DEEP ASSETS - A pdf download you can use to help mentors and students think together about their futures. Shared courtesy of Curt Gibson from the Lake Avenue Community Foundation.

Getting the Mentoring You Need Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 6: DEEP MENTORS - Wouldn’t it be great to have the kind of mentoring that Luke Skywalker had in the “Star Wars” trilogy? Maybe you can have your own Yoda or Obi-Wan!

The Art and Science of Persuading Teenagers: Chap Clark's Perspective on Communication Theory and Youth Ministry Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 8: DEEP COMMUNICATION - What does it mean to persuade students with the Gospel? When do we cross the line to manipulation? What can we learn from persuasion research to help sharpen our communication practices with students? Mark Maines utilizes some of Chap Clark's work from Deep Ministry to offer a new look at our persuasion.

Learning from the Experts: Insights from Youth Workers Effectively Engaging Students in Service and World Issues Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 9: DEEP MISSIONS - How do you get - and keep - students involved in and caring about world concerns, serving others, and engaging in social justice? Take a look at what we've been hearing from youth workers around the country, as well as some suggestions on ways to engage the students in your ministry.

Tough Questions to Ask Before Your Next Missions Trip Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 9: DEEP MISSIONS - What value do our typical short term missions trips add to the communities we serve? What real transformation happens in our students? Does our short-term work help or hinder the work of long-term missionaries? These are the tough questions being asked by researchers and youth workers across the country, and questions worth asking of our own ministries!

Beyond "Either-Or" to "Both-And": Going Deeper With Our Social Justice Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 9: DEEP MISSIONS - In this Journal of Student Ministries Article (pdf, 1.92 MB), Kara Powell and Brad Griffin explore some of the complexities of facing service and social justice with Kingdom of God lenses.

Through the Zone: Creating Rites of Passage in Your Church Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 10: DEEP WORSHIP - How do the kids in your church know when they have become adolescents? How do they know when they have become adults? As we re-think the value and necessity of rites of passage in our ministries, we may help bring clarity to these life stages and help students through the zones of identity confusion.

In the Aftermath: Processing Trauma Through the Lens of Lament Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 10: DEEP WORSHIP - Wondering what the long-term needs of adolescents are following traumatic events? Youth workers have the opportunity to integrate insights from both psychology and theology to address what may be happening in students’ lives. Includes a free downloadable resource to use with your team. See also an expansion of this article by Kara Powell and Brad Griffin that appeared in the May/June 2006 issue of the Journal of Student Ministries: In the Aftermath: Processing Trauma Through the Lens of Lament

R-E-S-T: The Four-Letter Word of Youth Workers Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 11: DEEP EXPECTATIONS - When you think of the Sabbath, what comes to mind? If the answer is, “A work day,” then you may want to consider these thoughts about rest and its critical role in your ministry.

Giving the Gift of Evaluation to Your Ministry Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 11: DEEP EXPECTATIONS - Do you evaluate your ministry practices? Should you? How do you go about it? What kind of difference might these discoveries make to the way you’re doing ministry, or the way you will do ministry in the coming year? Mark Maines walks us through an analysis of ministry Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, and teaches us how to use this model in our own church or organization.Includes a bonus resource: Downloadable SWOT Analysis template!!!

Planning the Work and Working the P.L.A.N. Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 11: DEEP EXPECTATIONS - What’s your plan? Part II in our series on assessment, Mark Maines walks us through a helpful process for the important work we often fail to do first: plan.

Getting the Job Done: Evaluation Part III Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 11: DEEP EXPECTATIONS - When you make plans in ministry, do you tend to follow through well, or let the ball drop? How does your level of follow through impact your kids, your community, and your ministry? In this last of a three-part series on ministry evaluation, Mark Maines helps us think more critically about the role of execution in youth ministry.

ALL-NEW RESOURCE: Leader Coaching Worksheet Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 11: DEEP EXPECTATIONS - This coaching worksheet provided by Mark Maines offers a format for regularly checking in with your volunteers or other staff members to allow them to "coach" you to be a better leader. For futher details, see Chapter 11 in Deep Ministry. Available in either pdf or Word format.

ALL-NEW ARTICLE: Reading Between the Lines Deep Ministry
CHAPTER 12: DEEP FOCUS GROUPS - Ever wonder what your students, parents, and volunteers are thinking about your ministry? Why not ask? Check out these lists of helpful questions for focus group assessments to help solve the mysteries.

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