Ministry with Youth in Crisis is a comprehensive treatment of major adolescent crises related to life themes including self-identity, faith formation, family life, social relationships, sexuality, suicide, substance abuse, and eating disorders. The distinctiveness of this book is that it offers a fine blend of solid research, workable theory, and specific strategies for successfully ministering to and with youth in crisis. Furthermore, it emphasizes the caring and sensitive side of working effectively with adolescents experiencing both normal and extreme crisis situations. This volume, therefore, is both descriptive and prescriptive in nature, in that it describes the world teens live in and offers biblical responses for ministry. This book avoids no tough topic associated with the increasingly turbulent nature of adolescent angst in a postmodern environment, and cements its authoritative grasp of these complex topics by grounding its content in solid developmental and sociological research. The chapters on identity and faith development alone are worth the price of the book. --Mark A. Lamport, graduate professor at theological schools in the United States and Europe; coeditor of the Encyclopedia of Christian Education (3 vols., 2015; winner, Booklist Editors' Choice: Adult Books, 2016). Anyone serving in youth ministry is quickly reminded of just how difficult life can be for youth today. Things have changed from when the first edition of this book came out in 1997, and not for the better. Some challenges are the same, and new ones have emerged to make growing up safe and healthy even more difficult. Atkinson, Barnett, and Severe will help you understand how to come alongside your youth and, by God's grace, help them through the crises they face. Thanks--we needed this! --Kevin E. Lawson, Director, PhD and EdD programs in Educational Studies, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University; Editor, Christian Education Journal Harley Atkinson taught youth ministry, Christian education, and ministry leadership for twenty-six years at Toccoa Falls College. He is the editor of the Handbook of Young Adult Religious Education (1995) and author of Teaching Youth with Confidence (2001) and The Power of Small Groups in Christian Education (2002). His articles have appeared in Christian Education Journal. W. Lee Barnett is the president of Legacy Christian University and Professor of Christian Education. A twenty-year youth ministry veteran, he is also the founder of Rocket City Student Ministries, an organization whose focus is to coach, train, and support youth ministers. Mike Severe oversees the youth ministry degree program and other ministry degrees at Taylor University. He has done youth ministry training on three continents and has served as the vice president of the Association of Youth Ministry Educators and on the editorial board of the Journal of Youth Ministry.
