Books by Andrew Root

A leading practical theologian articulates why congregations feel pressured by the speed of change in modern life and encourages an approach that doesn't fall into the negative traps of our secular age.

Through an abundance of examples, this book explores how pastors have both perpetuated and responded to our secular age, and provides a new vision for pastoral ministry today.

Using an innovative first-person fictional narrative, an expert in youth ministry diagnoses the challenges facing the church today and offers a new way to think about what youth ministry can be for: not happiness, but joy.

Many things threaten the faith of youth today, but none more than science. The commitments of science and Christianity seem to be at oddsscience makes truth claims based on experiments and proofs, while religion asks for belief and trust. But Andrew Root demonstrates that, in fact, the two are not incompatible.Root, a renowned expert on adolescent spirituality, shows how science overstates its claims on truth, while faith often understates its own claims. Both faith and science frame the experience and reality of teenagers, and both have something valuable to offer as adolescents develop.Drawing on a fictional account of a youth pastor and the various students he encounters, Root paints a compelling picture of how faith can flourish, even in our scientific age.

A leading practical theologian 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.

Finding practical theology not always able to present frameworks for understanding concrete and lived experience with divine action, Andrew Roots Christopraxis seeks to reset the edifice of practical theology on a new foundation. While not minimizing its commitment to the lived and concrete, Root argues that practical theology has neglected deeper theological underpinnings. Root seeks to create a practical theology that is properly and fully theological, post-postmodern, post-Aristotelian, and that attends to doctrines such as divine action and justification.

One of the Academy of Parish Clergy's "e;Top 10 Books of 2013 for Parish Ministry"e;

The youth ministry focus of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life is often forgotten or overlooked, even though he did much work with young people and wrote a number of papers, sermons, and addresses about or for the youth of the church. However, youth ministry expert Andrew Root explains that this focus is central to Bonhoeffer's story and thought. Root presents Bonhoeffer as the forefather and model of the growing theological turn in youth ministry. By linking contemporary youth workers with this epic theologian, the author shows the depth of youth ministry work and underscores its importance in the church. He also shows how Bonhoeffer's life and thought impact present-day youth ministry practice.

For half a century, relational or incarnational ministry has been a major focus in youth ministry. But for too long, those relationships have been used as a means to an end. It's time to tear down the old structure of relational youth ministry and start again. Explore the idea of place-sharing and find practical ideas to help you recreate the role of relationships in your ministry.

A recognized authority on youth ministry explores from a theological and spiritual standpoint the baffling sense of loss of self experienced by children of divorce.