Youth Pastor Books

Disciple: The Ordinary Person’s Guide To Discipling Teenagers, written by one of the leading voices in youth ministry, Dr. Allen Jackson, is a practical, down-to-earth guide for leading teenagers to pursue Christ.

Protect: A Youth Worker's Guide to Navigating Risk (Revised & Updated Edition) is an indispensable resource for churches, para-church organizations, and anyone serving in youth ministry. Whether you are a full-time, part-time, volunteer, bi-vocational, rookie, or veteran youth worker, this revised and updated edition ensures you’ll be equipped to navigate the contemporary challenges, unique opportunities, and inherent risks in youth ministry today.

The 7 Best Practices for Teaching Teenagers the Bible is a resource for youth workers that teaches seven meaningful practices they can use to help teach the Bible in a transformative and dynamic way.

In Youth Ministry For The Longer Haul: A Field Guide For Longevity, youth ministry veteran and author Chris Trent passes along over three decades of hard-earned advice, knowledgeable insights, and practical wisdom. Chris knows firsthand the value of ministry mentors. And throughout the pages of this book, he mentors you, the reader, so that you too can experience success in navigating the pathway to longevity in youth ministry.

Wake Up: Rediscovering A Passion for God and the Bible is a 31-day devotional experience designed to unlock the Bible for Christ-followers. Every day in Wake Up teaches you a different way of meeting with God in the Bible. Some feed your head. Some feed your heart. Some lead you to reflect. Some lead you to act. But every moment is designed to help you rediscover your joy for God and for meeting Him in His Word.

What do I do when a teenager comes out to me? How do I respond in a way that’s helpful rather than creating additional problems? 

Engaging and deeply relevant, 4 Views on Pastoring LGBTQ Teenagers is a frank and compassionate conversation with four in-the-trenches youth workers who have wrestled with these questions and strengthened their ministries as a result. In fact, it’s out of real-life experience with gay, bisexual, cisgender, transgender, queer, or questioning teens in their own youth groups that these youth workers are able to offer up their approaches—approaches which are then not theoretical at all, but practical and born of relational, everyday ministry. 

Will you find all the answers in this book? No. Look elsewhere for theological debate; look elsewhere for pat, one-size-fits-all methodologies. Youth ministry is often messy and complex, but it’s a divine calling to connect every youth with Jesus: straight, gay, bi, cisgender, trans, queer, or questioning.

4 Views on Talking to Teenagers About Sex reflects the thoughts, experiences, and practical advice of four in-the-trenches youth workers, who have spent years having these conversations with the teenagers in their ministries. Representing an array of viewpoints, these writers don’t agree on everything—but they all know that our conversations with teens about sex must speak to God’s design, avoid shame, and go far beyond any one instance of “the talk.

5 Views on Youth Ministry Short-Term Missions reflects the thoughts, personal stories, and real-life tips of five in-the-trenches youth workers who regularly lead short-term mission trips (STMs). Here you’ll find thoughtful but practical dialogue on the multiple views and approaches to STMs, from work camps to urban missions to long-term partnerships with Indigenous church leaders across the globe. Didn’t realize there were different views and approaches to STMs that thoughtful youth workers could disagree on? That’s part of the point of this book; to help youth workers have more insight into the issues and be more intentional in their responses. The five views of STMs found within this book are based on the contributors’ core commitments and worldviews (really, their missiology). Each of the contributors also offers a short response to one of the other views of STMs presented. Appendices tackle the important topics of junior high short-term missions and the incredible value of multigenerational trips.

99 Thoughts for Parents of Teenagers is a parent resource designed to help guide parents, encourage them, and give them insights on fulfilling God's great call to raise teenagers who pursue a Jesus-centered life.

99 Thoughts for Small Group Leaders delivers insights, tips, and veteran advice for anyone leading a small group. Youth leaders will be better equipped and more confident with these bite-sized pieces of wisdom.

99 Thoughts for Volunteers: Making an Impact Right Where You Are will encourage volunteers whose commitment, hard work, and dedication are essential to a healthy youth ministry. Volunteers are never "just a volunteer" — they're much more than that.

Marriage can be messy, and marriage while serving in ministry is extra messy. Whether your marriage needs just a little tuneup or a major overhaul, 99 Thoughts on Marriage & Ministry: Prioritizing the "Holy-mess" of Matrimony will encourage both you and your spouse and will empower you to pursue a strong, healthy marriage.

A Parent's Guide to Understanding Teenage Brains: Why They Act the Way They Do is a resource designed to help parents of teenagers understand and appreciate the amazing transformations students' brains undergo in adolescence to prepare for adulthood and its many responsibilities.

A Woman in Youth Ministry: Honest Insight and Leadership Wisdom for Real People provides encouragement and practical help for youth ministry leaders who sometimes feel like they're going it alone. This resource is full of stories and rants and blessings and cone-of-silence honesty from Gina Abbas, a storyteller, a listening ear, an honest coach—and a youth worker herself.

A Youth Worker's Field Guide to Parents: Understanding Parents of Teenagers is designed for youth workers who struggle to communicate with and relate to the moms and dads of the teenagers they want to reach the most. This resource provides tips for peacemaking, insights for better empathy, and the motivation you need to make these important relationships work.

BAGS helps parents become aware of the specific bags kids tend to pack as they grow up, how these bags tend to get packed, and the long-lasting negative impacts they can have.

Best-Ever Games for Youth Ministry contains over 200 field-tested games that are easy to use in many settings and include classic games with new twists, indoor and outdoor, games that teach, and games that build community.

Building a Youth Ministry That Builds Disciples: A Small Book About a Big Idea offers a blueprint for building in teenagers the ultimate ministry goal—a lifelong love of Christ.

Three years into Kendall’s job as the youth pastor of Grace church, many things are going really well: Kids are connecting and growing. She’s built a solid team of adult leaders. She and her husband love their home, city, and friends. But when Kendall is blindsided by her unsupportive senior pastor, who once again takes the side of a wealthy parent over Kendall’s, it’s the impetus she needs to start reconsidering her future. Is it time for Kendall to move on? And if she does look for a role at a new church, how can she be sure it will be a better fit than this one? 

With this fiction debut, veteran youth worker Jen Bradbury’s novel explores the process of living in to your calling, listening to the voice of God, and continually asking the question, What does the right fit look like, and how do you know when you’ve found it?

Ministry comes with many weighty responsibilities. Ministry leaders are called to teach, serve, and lead. But in leading those under their care, there comes a moment when they recognize the future leaders under their leadership. With this recognition comes an all too familiar question: What comes next?

In Calling Out the Called, Scott Pace and Shane Pruitt answer this question by giving direction, encouragement, and a charge for ministry leaders to recognize the future leaders in their midst and do what needs to be done for the future of ministry: the calling out of the called.