The Best Books for Reading Over Christmas Break

Christmas Break is a good time to do some reading for nurture and stimulation. A few good books have been published this fall which would be particularly useful. Perhaps one of these would be a good way to spend some of your book allowance*.

You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving the Church...and Rethinking Faith. David Kinnaman, The Barna Group, Baker Books.  Emerging adults who are not involved in church, but who were active when they were 15, were surveyed. This should be required reading for every pastor, youth group leader, or college minister.

Worlds Apart: Understanding the Mindset and Values of 18-25 Year Olds. Chuck Bomar. Youth Specialties. Written to help parents, grandparents, and church leaders understand this generation.

Lost in Transition: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood. Christian Smith, Kari Christoffersen, Hilary Davidson and Patricia Snell Herzog. Oxford University Press. Smith and company look at the data which Souls in Transition pulled out for religion, and find that the culture of consumerism Emerging Adults have grown up in has repercussions in college behaviors.

College Ministry in a Post-Christian Culture. Stephen Lutz. The House Studio. Challenges evangelical campus ministries to be more missional, and along the way provides an introductory workbook for college ministers.


* Every collegiate ministry board or supervisory committee needs to be reminded that those doing ministry in an academic environment need to have continuing education, including some funds for professional books. (Even if those funds are meager and symbolic.)