Toward a Prophetic Youth Ministry: Theory and Praxis in Urban Context

by Arzola, Fernando, Jr.

• ISBN13: 9780830828029
• ISBN10: 0830828028
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-03-30
• Publisher: Ivp Academic

Summary

Youth ministries in an urban context are too often left to their own devices.The resources available to them are overwhelmingly conceived, tested andproduced exclusively in the suburbs, and bring little to bear on the realities ofurban youth culture. As a consequence, youth ministries in large cities havetended to settle onto one of three paths--a traditional paradigm thatjealously guards the spiritual formation of its young people, a liberalparadigm that concentrates exclusively on personal growth, and an activistparadigm that galvanizes youth around the social concerns surroundingthem. While each of these emphases is important, too often they arepursued to the neglect of the others, and the urban church suffers.Fernando Arzola Jr. proposes a fourth way, a prophetic paradigm thatintegrates the three and cultivates young people who are spiritually rooted,emotionally mature and responsive to the needs of their community. In thispace-setting book he draws on various disciplines--from biology tosociology, from psychology to theology--to guide urban youth workers intoan effective and transformational ministry to youth.

Author Biography

Fernando Arzola, Jr. is deputy chair for the Department of Youth Ministry and Christian Education at Nyack College in New York City.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 9
Acknowledgments	p. 13
Prophetic Models and Perspectives
Urban Youth Ministry Archetypes: Beginning the Discussion	p. 17
Assumptions of a Prophetic Youth Ministry	p. 37
The Holistic Approach	p. 44
Leading Youth: A Reflection-Action Praxis	p. 54
Urban Perspective Shifts: From the Garden of Eden to the City of God	p. 72
Interdisciplinary Dimensions
Theory, Theology and Praxis	p. 97
The Psychology of Urban Youth	p. 105
The Biology of Urban Youth	p. 115
The Sociology and Anthropology of Urban Youth	p. 140
Defining Radical: Radical Education as Prophetic Ministry	p. 160
Urban Youth Workers
The Subway: Urban Youth Workers as Spiritual and Social Prophets	p. 179
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