Faith Formation in a Secular Age (Ministry in a Secular Age Book #1)

Responding to the Church's Obsession with Youthfulness

Andrew Root Part of Ministry in a Secular Age Series Release Date: 10/3/17

Overview

The loss or disaffiliation of young adults is a much-discussed topic in churches today. Many faith-formation programs focus on keeping the young, believing the youthful spirit will save the church. But do these programs have more to do with an obsession with youthfulness than with helping young people encounter the living God?

Questioning the search for new or improved faith-formation programs, leading practical theologian Andrew Root offers an alternative take on the issue of youth drifting away from the church and articulates how faith can be formed in our secular age. He offers a theology of faith constructed from a rich cultural conversation, providing a deeper understanding of the phenomena of the "nones" and "moralistic therapeutic deism." Root helps readers understand why forming faith is so hard in our context and shows that what we have lost is not the ability to keep people connected to our churches but an imagination for how and where God could be present in their lives. He considers what faith is and what steps we can take to move into it, exploring a Pauline concept of faith as encounter with divine action.

Endorsements

"This is not a 'youth ministry' book. This is a book that holds up a mirror to the contemporary church to help us see how we've come to reflect the culture around us and how that has changed our approach to faith formation. While this shift has had significant impact on youth, none of us are immune. With his typical combination of careful scholarship, pastoral wisdom, and lively prose, Andrew Root not only diagnoses the problem but also constructively charts a way forward. If we care about the future of faith formation, every seminarian should be reading this book."

James K. A. Smith, Calvin University; author of You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit

"Andrew Root has become an iconic figure in youth ministry globally. In him, youth ministry has reached a pinnacle of scholarship, finding its sociocultural identity and theological hope. In this book, he leads readers into the thorny brambles of Charles Taylor's ponderous philosophical account of secularity, through which youth ministry may be viewed as a fetishized site of authenticity, a front for the modern self--a construction of Deism and Freudian libidinal liberation. With a little help from Taylor's notion of transcendence, Root offers a corrective to mere 'authenticity' in a kenotic theology that views Christian formation not as affiliation but as union 'in Christ' in ministry. More than any living writer, Root has sparked the theological imagination of a generation of youth ministers. In a field of practice notorious for 'tips, tricks, and techniques,' this book promises not an easy way forward but one that is faithful nonetheless."

David F. White, C. Ellis Nelson Professor of Christian Education, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

"Root uses the current lament over the loss of the 'nones' to lay bare the ultimately secular understandings of faith that these concerns are grounded on. In exchange, he offers a more biblical, theological, and philosophically coherent vision of faith formation that is grounded in transcendence through participation in Christ. This is a volume worthy of careful study and consideration for the contemporary American church as a whole."

Dave Scott, assistant professor of intercultural studies and children at risk, School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary

"Root's book is the perfect response to anyone looking at Moralistic Therapeutic Deism and wondering how in the world we got here. If MTD is the diagnosis, then Faith Formation in a Secular Age is the pathology report. Andy's book is a masterful weaving together of history, the social sciences, and theological disciplines. Simply put, this book epitomizes what it means to be a practical theologian and ultimately leaves the reader knowing and loving God more."

Amanda J. Drury, associate professor of practical theology, examen director, Indiana Wesleyan University

"Since Root first challenged the church to 'revisit relational youth ministry,' his works have led readers on a pilgrimage into an ever deeper understanding of incarnational ministry. This volume brings the rich fruits of that pilgrimage into sharp and accessible focus. Working from a deep engagement with Charles Taylor's diagnosis of how the secular age has yielded notions of faith without encounter, transcendence, or transformation, Root offers the church a glittering vista of faith and ministry recentered on the transcendent encounter with Christ who comes to transform. If you are in seminary, you will want to add this to your canon of must-reads. If you are a youth worker, this volume offers you both fresh inspiration and a prescriptive way forward to a ministry that truly transforms."

Skip Masback, director, Yale Youth Ministry Institute, Yale Divinity School

"Andy Root takes another 'theological turn' by identifying philosopher Charles Taylor as a yet unheard prophetic voice for the church. This book is sure to exercise our imaginations and reframe our perpetual quests for a 'saving' faith formation paradigm by advocating for our only hope--the divine encounter."

Sharon Galgay Ketcham, associate professor of theology and Christian ministries, Gordon College

"Andy Root expands youth ministry's view and refocuses the conversation where it needs to be--on divine action, justification, faith, faith formation, and personhood. If you are a ministry leader, here is vision and language for youth ministry you must consider. If you are a seasoned youth worker with a sneaking suspicion that there's more to your work, read this. If you are an aspiring youth worker, put this on your core reading list."

Steven Argue, assistant professor of youth, family, and culture; applied research strategist, Fuller Youth Institute, Fuller Theological Seminary

Author

Andrew Root

Andrew Root (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the author of numerous books, including Faith Formation in a Secular Age, The Pastor in a Secular Age, The Congregation in a Secular Age, and The End of Youth Ministry? Root is also the coauthor (with Kenda Creasy Dean) of The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry.