Dr. Tim McKnight of the Anderson University College of Christian Studies’ is the editor of a new book, Navigating Student Ministry, which will be released March 1.
The message of the book is that teenagers are not a lost cause, but they need wise leaders to help them along in their faith journeys.
In his review of Navigating Student Ministry, Daniel L. Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Seminary, said, “Student ministry is one of the great untapped mission fields in North America, and for that matter, the world. Making disciples of this vast harvest field will be essential for the life and vitality of the church in the twenty-first century. Doing it well is what Navigating Student Ministry is all about. This is the book those who want to reach teenagers for Christ have long needed. Now it is here. Dive in and reap its fruit.”
Richard Ross, professor of student ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, strongly recommends Navigating Student Ministry and plans to make it required reading in his Student Ministry courses. Ross said that, as editor, McKnight “turned a blank canvas into a work of art,” sketched out on the canvas objects that are the concepts and content areas of student ministry.
“The table of contents in the new book reveals the artistic way all those elements are laid out. Then, (McKnight) picked up the pallet to choose the colors that would fill those objects. Those colors are the authors. The colors are vibrant and beautiful because they represent some of the most valuable thought leaders in student ministry today,” Ross said.
In Navigating Student Ministry, veteran student ministers with more than one hundred years of combined experience guide others through the often-challenging aspects of ministering to young people. Contributors to the book include Sam Totman of the Anderson University College of Christian Studies, Timothy Paul Jones of Southern Seminary, Scott Pace of Southeastern Seminary and Paul Kelly of Gateway Seminary. The foreword was written by Clayton King, co-founder and president of Clayton King Ministries.
Chapter topics in Navigating Student Ministry include Biblical and Theological Foundations for Student Ministry, The Call to Student Ministry, The Life of the Student Minister, Student Ministry and Leadership Development, The Student Ministry Team, Adolescent Development and Student Ministry and the Youth Culture.
This textbook was written for individuals who are either discerning a call to student ministry or those already invested in students. Navigating Student Ministry can serve as both a topical resource and a comprehensive manual for those in the fun, exhausting, and eternally rewarding realm of student ministry.
The book is available on Amazon.