Table of ContentsPrelude"The Youth Ministry Symphony": An Explanation and IntroductionSelahFirst Movement: Renewing Your Self1 "I Am Desperate": An Embracing of Brokenness2 "I Am Ruined": A Call to Consecration3 "I Am Wounded": A Place for HealingSelah4 "Interlude": A Gift of Mercy Second Movement: Rethinking Your Approach5 "I Am Safe": A Stronghold for Protection6 "I Am at Rest": A Blessing of Sabbath7 "I Am Here": A Posture for Hearing8 "I Am a Warrior": A Briefing on the Battle (I)9 "I Am Not Alone": A Briefing on the Battle (II) Selah10 "Interlude": A Challenge to Perseverance Third Movement: Restoring Our Unity11 "We Are One": The Mandate of Love and Unity12 "We Are Asking": The Power of United Prayer13 "We Are Listening": The Importance of Discernment Selah14 "Interlude": Patient, Expectant Hope Finale15 "For an Audience of One": The Heart of Youth Ministry16 "Courageous Faith": The Risk of Inside-Out Youth MinistrySelah"Coda": Notes

Book Description Flash! Ping! Whiz! Pop! Boom! Bang! Such are the sights and sounds of modern youth ministry. We look for the bigger, the louder, the brighter, and we work long and hard to make our ministry the biggest, the loudest, the brightest. But look out and listen up: God has no desire to see young people caught up in sound and fury. Nor does he want to see youth workers burn out and fade away. All the momentum surrounding youth ministry signifies nothing once youth workers disengage, letting the momentum define their purpose. Mike Higgs, reflecting on over two decades of work with youth, thinks the greatest need among youth workers is a reminder of who we are. We need to set aside the distractions of an emphasis on performance and focus instead on following God in his work in us, our students and other youth workers. When a renewed vision and mission shapes our work with youth, our ministry will become less a cacophony of strategies and targets and more a symphony of purpose and practice.

Mike Higgs, a youth worker with over two decades of experience, expresses the great need for youth workers to stop focusing on performance and focus instead on following God in his work so that ministry will become less noise and more substance.