here - The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

displays God’s truth in the “natural daily flow of life”
(Deut 6:4-9; 192-–95). The goal is to “give children a
foundation that is based on knowing God, believing
his word, and having a relationship with him through
Christ. These are essentials for faith, and they all begin
with knowing God” (197).
I recommend Anthony’s book, and I am thankful
for it. Like Kavanaugh before her, Anthony’s book contains
grace-filled encouragements for creating and nurturing
environments for spiritual growth in our homes.
She has good things to say, and she says them well.
Jared Kennedy, Th.M.
Pastor for Children’s and Family Ministry
Sojourn Community Church, Louisville, KY
I received a complimentary copy of the book, Spiritual
Parenting, from David C. Cook for review purposes.
Together: Adults and Teenagers Transforming the
Church. By Jeff Baxter. Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2010, 192 pp., $16.99.
Youth ministry is in trouble. Not only are most teenagers
indifferent about Christ and the gospel, but youth
ministers, by and large, have found themselves on the
brink of exhaustion, toiling under the weight of unrealistic
expectations, acute disappointment, and the
perpetual onslaught of daily responsibilities. Add to
these discouraging factors the crushing reality of broken
homes, one’s regular exposure to unsavory features
of youth culture, and the confusion caused by the current
lengthening of adolescent development, and it is
not difficult to see why Jeff Baxter, author of Together:
Adults and Teenagers Transforming the Church, has
raised the alarm.
Baxter is not just about sounding a warning ; he
desires to provide a solution to ailing youth ministries
and youth ministers. He hopes to encourage youth pastors—and
the church at large—to reconsider the goals
and priorities of their current youth ministry and to
recalibrate their efforts according to the biblical schematic.
Specifically, Baxter wants to see students grow
in genuine spiritual maturity, to be firmly integrated
into the life of the church, and to have parents actively
involved in the discipleship process of their teenagers.
Accordingly, Baxter develops his book by examining
several important aspects of youth ministry. First,
Baxter addresses the issue of adolescence and adolescent
brain development (chapter 2). Next, he confronts
issues related to age-segregation and parental involvement
in the spiritual lives of their students (chapter 3).
Baxter then surveys the cultural landscape, noting some
of the central contours of our current age and how such
realities impact students (chapter 4). In the latter half of
the book, Baxter gives attention to the subject of leadership
within youth ministry (chapter 5), evangelism in
a changing culture (chapter 6) and the importance of
simple discipleship (chapter 7). Baxter concludes the
book with a brief parable, closing remarks, and collection
of appendices for further evaluation and reflection.
Much of Baxter’s work is to be commended. He
approaches the crisis of contemporary youth ministry
with compassion for youth ministers and a desire to see
students follow Jesus Christ in sincerity and growing
maturity. Throughout Together, Baxter offers helpful
observations into the nature of modern youth culture
and its effect on students, while providing practical
insights for effective and godly leadership. Baxter also
exhorts pastors to integrate youth into the greater
church body so that students might learn and grow
from their interaction with older and wiser Christians.
Youth ministers are also admonished to prefer intentional
discipleship over mere friendly, informal contact
with students and to cultivate a healthy partnership
with parents.
Despite these strengths, however, Baxter’s book falls
short of delivering a robust theology of youth ministry
due to his heavy reliance on the psychosocial category
of “adolescence.” Adolescence is defined as “those in the
period between puberty and adulthood, [and] the time
when a child is growing up into a mature adult” (39).
Baxter recognizes that the category of “adolescence” is
a recent classification and attributes the emergence of
this developmental phase to “biological and cultural
influences” (40), and he believes that many teenagers
are experiencing undue stress, loneliness, and suffering
a lack of identity due to pressure to grow up too fast
(42-44, 78, 79). As such, youth pastors must “take this
68