Last Friday, we brought you some reviews of our own youth work books; this week we’re doing our first review of someone else’s book .
We’ll be doing more reviews over the coming year(s), so let us know if there are any books you think we should check out.
Steve Case – The Youth Cartel’s Unauthorized Dictionary Of Youth Ministry
4/5
This is the first book that’s just been published by the Youth Cartel (congrats Adam & Marko!), and is written by Steve Case – a youth pastor from Florida. Marko had recently published excerpts of the book on his blog and it seemed quite entertaining, so I bought it as soon as it came out.
I’m glad to say I wasn’t disappointed! The dictionary is a tongue-in-cheek, slightly cynical, slightly sarky, slightly snarky but very funny look at different aspects of youth ministry. Being a Brit, this is just the type of humor that appeals to me.
Quite a few of the punchlines are dealt with by using hashtags – even if you haven’t ever used Twitter, hopefully you’ll understand the concept by now. There are also some great illustrations that are included in the dictionary which add nicely to it – perfect for if you’ve ever wondered what “Germs” in youth ministry looks like.
At approx 75 pages long, the book itself is fairly small – I therefore read it all in one evening. This is reflected in the price though – it’s only $6.99 on the Kindle and $8.99 in paperback, so it offers good value. It would therefore make a great stocking stuffer for any youth pastor or youth group volunteers (or even just a great anytime gift!)
Here are a few of my favorite excerpts:
B is for Backsliders – Those people whose behavior indicates they’re having more fun than you are
C is for Conformity – Teach your kids not to “conform to the ways of the world” – as long as they all dress the same, think the same and talk the same when they’re in church
D is for Death – Sometimes it happens. Don’t let it worry you, Did you get the permission form signed? You’re covered. With all the retreats and mission trips most youth workers take, you’re bound to lose one or two along the way. Give a quick call to the parents and let them know Johnny isn’t coming home and get back to spreading the love of Jesus with those kids, you crazy youth worker, you. #90percentisanA
E is for Empowerment – The pep talk you give your students when you assign them all the tasks you don’t want to do. See: Delegation
G is for Anal-Retentive – Every church has one. Did you notice this entry was under G? Does it bother you? Does it bother you a lot? Guess what?
H is for Holy Spirit – AKA God’s wind. Did you just smirk? Yeah, you’re a youth worker
O is for Onan – A touchy subject. Let’s not go there
T is for Tradition – The reason you will never be able to do anything new. Even if the activity has only been done once before, it’s still a sin to mess with success (even if it wasn’t successful)
If those made you laugh, get your copy of The Youth Cartel’s Unauthorized Dictionary Of Youth Ministry now:
- From The Youth Cartel
- From Amazon
Question: Have you read this book yet – if so, what did you think? Also, are there any other youth work books you’d recommend? Let us know in the comments below.
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