What We’re Reading

Sticky Faith is geared to spark a movement that empowers adults to develop robust and long-term faith in kids of all ages. This easy-to-read guide presents both a compelling rationale and a powerful strategy to show parents how to encourage their children’s spiritual growth so that it will stick with them into adulthood and empower them to develop a living, lasting faith.

You’re looking for a youth pastor. Again. What goes wrong? Why do youth ministries crumble? And what is the cost to students, parents, volunteers and church staff? Is a sustainable youth ministry possible, even after a youth pastor leaves? Youth ministry expert Mark DeVries knows the answer is yes, because he helps build sustainable youth ministries through his coaching service called Youth Ministry Architects.

Reimagining Faith Formation is a proposal for what twenty-first century faith formation can look like. Lifelong Faith Associates is committed to helping congregations develop lifelong Christian faith formation for all ages and generations, increasing the capacity of leaders and communities to nurture faith growth in everyone.

The Seasons of Adult Faith Formation provides leaders with a deeper understanding of adulthood today, a vision of twenty-first century adult faith formation, and the tools and processes for designing faith formation for all the seasons of adulthood.

In a culture that has lost touch with love, compassion, and meaning, how can parents be intentional about building a spiritual foundation for their children’s development? In looking to their own upbringing for guidance, parents often feel even more at a loss—they don’t want to make the same mistakes their parents did, so they either become too strict, or they take a completely hands-off approach. A pastor, a teacher, and a mother, Karen Marie Yust offers a refreshing array of resources and provisions to guide and sustain parents and children on their mutual journey.

College is a time to learn, explore, and grow, but what does faith have to do with it? In this collection of essays, gifted writers in their twenties and early thirties reflect on their college years by telling stories—some hilarious, some heart-wrenching—on the intersection of faith and college.

Each of us exists in three-dimensional, physical space. But, as a constellation of everyday digital phenomena rewires our lives, we are increasingly coaxed from the containment of our predigital selves into a wonderful and eerie fourth dimension, a world of ceaseless communication, instant information, and global connection.

Miller makes a compelling case for the importance of nurturing faith formation in children. The author shares personal observations and new scientific information about the connection of spirituality to physical health, mental health, social awareness and happiness. The book offers many anecdotes that lead to the health, social awareness and happiness. The book offers many anecdotes that lead to the understanding that a child’s innate natural spirituality is a powerful lifelong strength and compass. Miller, an educational psychologist on the factually at Columbia University, writes to a broad audience — those who are religious and those who do not consider themselves religious will find her book to be a valuable read. It’s excellent information for families as well as faith educators.

The Importance of Being Little offers insight into the unique learning world of children ages three  to six. Current research is shared, along with the personal experiences of author Erika Christakis, whose credentials include being a mother, preschool director and instructor of early childhood education at Yale. With dry wit and humor, Christakis reminds us to honor the unique strengths and vulnerabilities of young children. She urges us to make time to listen respectfully and guide children in ways that balance assistance and freedom. She observes that many times we miss the mark and offers ideas for improvement. It should be noted that the book comes from an educational rather than a theological perspective, but with that understanding, those who work with young children in the church will benefit from this author’s recommendations for education and nurture of  young children.

Internationally known clinical psychologist Wendy Mogel’s sage reflections on parenting in a world where entitlement and competition abound have struck a chord with readers across the globe. The Blessing of a Skinned Knee points the way to raising self–reliant, exuberant and compassionate children. With warmth and humor, Mogel distills the wisdom of the Torah, the Talmud, and important Jewish teachings, as well as contemporary psychological insights, into nine “blessings” that address key parenting issues.

In the follow-up to her bestselling book, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee, Dr. Wendy Mogel shows parents how to navigate the teenage years, when a child’s sense of entitlement and independence grows, the pressure to compete skyrockets, and communication becomes fraught with obstacles. Mogel emphasizes empathy and guidance over micromanaging teens’ lives and overreacting to missteps. She reveals that emotional outbursts, rudeness, rule-breaking, staying up late, and other worrisome teen behaviors are in fact normal and necessary steps in psychological growth and character development to be met with thoughtful care, not anxiety.

Drawing from his extensive experience as a pastor and consultant, Tod Bolsinger brings decades of expertise in guiding churches and organizations through uncharted territory. He offers a combination of illuminating insights and practical tools to help you reimagine what effective leadership looks like in our rapidly changing world.

Rowboat churches depend largely on human effort. When church budgets shrink and membership declines, rowboat churches frantically row harder against a current, often frustrated and disappointed at their efforts. Sailboat churches, on the other hand, take up the oars, hoist sails, and rely on the Holy Spirit to guide them.

With lively prose (“a fresh voice and energy” -Publishers Weekly), Dana documents the Sabbath experiment as a guide for families of all shapes  and sizes. Each chapter includes tips to help you claim Sabbath moments—to see time not as an enemy to subdue, but as a friend to savor.

In Falling Upward, Fr. Richard Rohr seeks to help readers understand the tasks of the two halves of life and to show them that those who have fallen, failed, or “gone down” are the only ones who understand “up.” Most of us tend to think of the second half of life as largely about getting old, dealing with health issues, and letting go of life, but the whole thesis of this book is exactly the opposite.  What looks like falling down can largely be experienced as “falling upward.”  In fact, it is not a loss but somehow actually a gain, as we have all seen with elders who have come to their fullness.

For nearly two decades, this classic collection of tough, beautiful, and earthy prayers has lightened hearts and dared spirits to soar.

Interrupted follows the author’s messy journey through life and church and into living on mission. Snatching Jen from the grip of her consumer life, God began asking her questions like, “What is really the point of My Church? What have I really asked of you?” She was far too busy doing church than being church, even as a pastor’s wife, an author of five Christian books, and a committed believer for 26 years. She discovered she had missed the point.

Christ brought Jen and her family to a place of living on mission by asking them tough questions, leading them through Scripture, and walking together with them on the path. Interrupted invites readers to take a similar journey.

Immortal Diamond explores the deepest questions of identity, spirituality, and meaning in Richard Rohr’s inimitable style. This book likens True Self to a diamond, buried deep within us, formed under the intense pressure of our lives, that must be searched for, uncovered, separated from all the debris of ego that surrounds it. In a sense True Self must, like Jesus, be resurrected, and that process is not resuscitation but transformation.