Young Adult Resources from the NCCUMC Media Center Last Updated: June 25, 2013 Purpose: This subject guide lists resources specifically geared towards young adults or resources suggested by the Young Adults Committee of the North Carolina Conference. Young adults generally include ages 18 30. Table of Contents Subjects and Keywords... 1 Video Resources... 2 Books... 4 Websites related to The United Methodist Church... 9 Subjects and Keywords Search for these subjects or keywords in the Media Center catalog: Subjects Young Adults Keywords Campus College Young Adults Electronic Resource Keywords Click on these words at http://nccumc.org/mediacenter/electronic resources to find electronic resources related to this subject. college students ~ 1 ~
Video Resources DVD312 The Searching Generation: The Spiritual Life of Twenty Somethings A documentary about Generation X and Milennials exploring the questions: What is important to these groups, what are common misunderstandings, how do they shape values, what is spirituality to these generations, and more. Includes discussion and listening guides. DVD410 Does God Exist? Building the Scientific Case This DVD series is designed for youth preparing to enter college. It equips them with scientific evidence to defend the existence of God to nonbelievers. Dr. Stephen Meyer received his Ph.D. at Cambridge and has "spent twenty years researching cosmology, biology and metaphysics to determine the existence of a creator God." The DVD format consists of a set of ten engaging 30 minute lectures in a classroom setting with 24 college aged students. The 10 lessons are divided into 5 sections: Faith and Reason, The Big Bang Cosmology, DNA by Design, The Return of the God Hypothesis, and The Moral Necessity of Theism. The DVD also includes short previews of each lesson, a behind the scenes video, and a 45 minute documentary that recreates a college student's encounters with nonbelievers. Sponsored by Focus on the Family's Truth Project. DVD454 The Black College Fund: Instruments of Change The students who walk the grounds of United Methodism's 11 historically Black colleges and universities are the result of answered prayers, some more than a century old. This engaging documentary tells how these students are changing the world today. The Black College Fund, which United Methodist congregations support through their apportionment gifts, has helped countless men and women earn a college degree. Your church's 100 percent remittance of the Black College Fund apportionment secures opportunities for thousands of students to grow into leadership. Please make a commitment today to support quality education, nurturing environment, state of the art facilities and superior educators. DVD498 Fruitcake and Ice Cream: An Unlikely Collision of Friendship and Grace Part of the Passion Talk Series. Demonstrating an unlikely collision between friendship and grace, Louie Giglio takes you through journal entries chronicling a college student's amazing road to faith. Includes an audio CD with five specially selected songs: Mighty to Save by Chris Tomlin, Rescue is Coming by David Crowder Band, Marvelous Light by Charlie Hall, You Are My Joy by David Crowder Band, and I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin. DVD572 The Jesus Creed for Students The gravity point of a life before God is that his followers are to love God and love others with everything they have. New Testament scholar Scot McKnight calls this The Jesus Creed. In this video presentation for high school and college students, Scot presents the twelve key aspects of becoming a Jesus follower: 1. The Jesus Creed 2. Happiness is a GPS 3. The More Jesus Expects 4. Spiritual Branding 5. The Lord's Prayer 6. Forgiveness 7. Learning to Be Wise 8. Focused Following 9. Who Is Jesus? 10. Distraction vs. Devotion 11. Representing Jesus 12. Be a Boundary Breaker. This is essential spiritual ~ 2 ~
formation for anyone between 16 and 22. It teaches young adults how to pray, concrete ways to know Jesus and how to love others. DVD574 Exploring Blue Like Jazz Explore the themes and questions raised in the major motion picture based on the best selling book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. Youth workers, parents, and mentors need guidance in order to break through to youth during the critical transition to adulthood. Using the topics, themes, and questions addressed in Blue Like Jazz: The Movie as a means of starting the conversation, Donald Miller offers an extremely frank look at sex, drugs, alternative lifestyles, and other situations youth face when moving from high school to the freedom of college or a work environment. Featuring interviews with Donald Miller and clips from the movie along with a practical resource guide written in the language of today's youth, this interactive resource helps youth explore the consequences of their decisions without predetermined outcomes. DVD689 DreamThinkBeDo Looking for a springboard to get young adults talking about what Christianity is all about for this generation? DreamThinkBeDo is an engaging catalyst for conversation among young adults searching for what's next for followers of Jesus. Starting with the foundation of "Love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind" (Luke 10.27), DTBD is what Christian educators have been looking for to help college groups and twenty to thirty somethings build a 21st Century faith. An overview of progressive Christianity for young adults, DreamThinkBeDo features the insights of over twenty five theologians and teachers at the top of their game. Each of the twenty self standing sessions contains a 20 minute DVD segment drawn from the critically acclaimed LtQ2 series updated with connecting narrations, graphics, and music to engage your young adults. Bundled in four five session modules, each session is divided into convenient and easily navigable chapters. Use the DVDs and downloadable participant guides as is or take advantage of the flexible format to customize the material for gatherings ranging from small groups to retreats to enhancing worship. However you slice it, DTBD is rich with the material you've been looking for in a format that will connect your young people with the best in today's theological thought. KIT79 Where Do I Go Now, God? Part of the Restless Hearts, studies for Young Adults, this is a 6 part program. Provides an opportunity for young adults to reflect on their faith life and the direction of their vocational journey. Titles of sessions: Expectations, Passion and Vocation, Trusting the Gifts, Listening to the Shadows, Somebody's Calling Your Name, and Taking Risks. Includes DVD, leaders' guide and participant book. ROM12 Molding the Future A PowerPoint presentation created for the Board of Higher Education and Campus Ministry and shown at Annual Conference on June 7, 2010. The presentation includes two video testimonials by college students and a slideshow of pictures of campus ministry fellowship and missions set to the music of "Hands of the Potter" by Randall Goodgame. ~ 3 ~
Books BK64 More Faith Matters for Young Adults A Leader's Guide to Questions of Faith and Belief. Faith Matters is an exciting resource geared specifically for use with today's young adults. Looking at questions of morality, faith, biblical understanding, and everyday living, this study provides 26 sessions of teaching helps. BK140 Claim the Name: Faith Exploration for Older Youth and Young Adults A confirmation study that takes into account the greater life experience and knowledge of older students. BK209 20 30 Bible Study for Young Adults: Abundance An example to the curriculum series 20 30 which was developed especially for adult learners in their 20s and 30s. Abundance: Living Responsibly With God's Gifts has 7 sessions with Bible background, case studies, easy to lead sessions, discussion ideas, and options for service projects. BK210 Push It! Young Adults Engage the Bible The first volume in a series of four designed by young adults for young adults who are seeking to explore and ask questions about what they read in the Bible. This is the young adult portion of the Bible Quest program, but it may be used separately. Lessons may be done individually or as a complete program of 14 sessions. BK284 Grace Being Loved, Loving God Part of the 20 30 Bible study curriculum, developed for groups made whose members are in their 20s and 30s. Do we deserve a closer relationship with a loving God? How do we play out our faith in the community and relationships? A seven session study, with leader's guidelines throughout. BK308 Soul Tending: Life Forming Practices for Older Youth and Young Adults The Key Disciplines of a Spiritual Life are introduced in this reader developed especially for Young Adults. To be used with small groups or as individuals. BK542 Faith Matters for Young Adults: Discovering the Faith The first volume of a 3 volume series of studies organized into 13 sessions each. This volume will help young adults discover and explore basic elements of Christian faith in order to grow in faith and discipleship. Leader material is interspersed within the book. BK543 Faith Matters for Young Adults: Practicing Faith The second volume of a 3 volume series of studies organized into 13 sessions each. This volume will help young adults discover and explore participation in the worship and other ministries of a church, practicing Christian disciplines, and dealing with challenging questions about God. Leader material is interspersed within the book. ~ 4 ~
BK544 Faith Matters for Young Adults: Living the Faith The third volume of a 3 volume series of studies organized into 13 sessions each. This volume will help young adults discover opportunities to grow in faith and commitment. Leader material is interspersed within the book. BK630 Permission to Speak Freely: Essays and Art on Fear, Confession, and Grace Permission to Speak Freely is the unique new project and movement of author Anne Jackson, who is finished with keeping brokenness in the dark. Bringing to light the original intent of God's sanctuary as a place of help and healing, Anne reveals that through confession, both to God and to others, we can live lives that are whole and healed. Told with disarming transparency, Anne shares what led to her own addictions and the ensuing lifestyle that left her wounded and withdrawn, but ultimately rescued and redeemed. She includes dramatic stories of others who also learned to abandon their fear, pride, and masks; to identify their hurts; and to find the courage to speak freely. BK661 Mission Making a Difference: Youth and Young Adult Opportunities Mission Making a Difference: Youth and Young Adult Opportunities provides an overview of the General Board of Global Ministries' programs and networks for young people seeking to transform their communities, connect with their peers, and live out their faith. BK752 Generation Rising: A Future with Hope for The United Methodist Church The adults now known as Generation X had a unique firsthand experience of the cultural shifts now affecting the way the church works in the world. Growing up, Gen Xers were isolated and independent and had no common cause in terms of war or revolution, but had a common experience of life as increasingly less concrete, increasingly more detached. Because of this, Gen X Christians have a deep hunger for authentic community and the possibility of lifelong growth in grace because those things have become more and more difficult to achieve. Generation Rising is the collaboration of twelve Gen X authors who believe passionately that the Wesleyan vision of Christian discipleship in the holy community called church is the most exciting life we can live. They offer a vision of what the United Methodist Church could be, if we will faithfully respond to the call God continues to give us, and where our very identity as disciples will never be separated from the community God calls us to join. BK895 Fresh Air: The Holy Spirit for an Inspired Life In the Bible, the Holy Spirit staggers us with its unexpectedness. The Holy Spirit is not just about speaking in tongues, spiritual gifts or fruits but also about our deepest breath and our highest human aspirations. Popular teacher Jack Levison brings a scholar s knowledge of this complicated biblical topic to a wide audience that crosses all denominational boundaries. His new book aims to do nothing less than clarify 2,000 years of confusion on the topic of who the Holy Spirit is, and why it matters. Provocative and life changing, Fresh Air combines moving personal anecdotes, rich biblical studies, and practical strategies for experiencing the daily presence of the Holy Spirit. In brief chapters, the book finds the presence of the Holy Spirit where we least expect it in human breathing, in social ~ 5 ~
transformation, in community, in hostile situations, and in serious learning. Fresh Air will unsettle and invigorate readers poised for a fresh experience of an ancient, confusing topic. BK942 Handbook of United Methodist Related Schools, Colleges, Universities & Theological Schools Includes a guide to United Methodist loans and scholarships. BK964 Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity and Why it Matters Based on groundbreaking Barna Group research, "unchristian" uncovers the negative perceptions young people have of Christianity, and explores what can be done to reverse them. Christianity has an image problem. Christians are supposed to represent Christ to the world. But according to the latest report card, something has gone terribly wrong. Using descriptions like "hypocritical," "insensitive," and "judgmental," young Americans share an impression of Christians that's nothing short of... "unchristian." Groundbreaking research into the perceptions of people aged 16 29 reveals that Christians have taken several giant steps backward in one of their most important assignments. The surprising details of the study, commissioned by the Fermi Project and conducted by The Barna Group, are presented with uncompromising honesty in "unchristian." Find out why these negative perceptions exist, learn how to reverse them in a Christlike manner, and discover practical examples of how Christians can positively contribute to culture. BK1249 Credo: Faith Formation for Older Youth and Young Adults Credo Faith Formation for Older Youth and Young Adults provides a different kind of confirmation experience that reflects the greater life experience and thinking capacity of older youth or young adults. Made up of six units covering God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Prevenient Grace, Justifying Grace, and Sanctifing Grace, with emphasis on Baptism and Holy Communion. The units offer multiple learning activities as well as discussion starters the leader can choose from based on the needs of their group. 8 sessions. Also included, in the resource is instruction on how to plan and implement two retreats. Retreat 1 focus on the Sacraments. While, Retreat 2 helps participants identify their gifts and how they will use those gifts as God calls them into service throughout their lives. BK1260 Serve God, Save The Planet: A Christian Call to Action Not long ago, J. Matthew Sleeth had a fantastic life and a great job as chief of the medical staff at a large hospital. He was living the American dream until he saw an increasing number of his patients suffering from cancer, asthma, and other chronic diseases. He began to suspect that the Earth and its inhabitants were in deep trouble. Turning to Jesus for guidance, Sleeth discovered how the scriptural lessons of personal responsibility, simplicity, and stewardship could be applied to modern life. The Sleeths have since sold their big home and given away more than half of what they once owned. In Serve God, Save the Planet, Sleeth shares the joy of adopting a less materialistic, healthier lifestyle, stronger relationships, and richer spiritual lives. With the storytelling ease of James Herriot and the logical clarity of C. S. Lewis, Sleeth lays out the rationale for environmentally responsible life changes and a how to guide for making those changes. ~ 6 ~
BK1261 The Slow Fade: Why You Matter in the Story of Twentysomethings A discussion of the most overlooked and underdeveloped facet of the modern church how to keep college aged people engaged in faith. Many churches and families have programmed a youth ministry finish line at twelfth grade. They walk their seniors out the door, breathe a sigh of relief, and let them disappear for a few years. There is an assumption they'll return to church later, as adults with young families. Many never come back. They become less and less involved in church and faith and, eventually, absent altogether they slowly fade away. Facing critical decisions that affect the rest of their lives, college aged people need a faith community more than ever. A senior pastor, a college pastor, and a twenty something rethink one on one mentorship as the way to end the slow fade. They offer insights and suggestions that will help anyone get started fighting the fade. BK1262 Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We pray in the name of all three, but how often do we live with an awareness of only the first two? As Jesus ascended into heaven, He promised to send the Holy Spirit, the Helper, so that we could be true and living witnesses for Christ. Unfortunately, today's church has admired the gift but neglected to open it. Breakthrough author Francis Chan rips away paper and bows to get at the true source of the church's power the Holy Spirit. Chan contends that we've ignored the Spirit for far too long, and we are reaping the disastrous results. Thorough scriptural support and compelling narrative form Chan's invitation to stop and remember the One we've forgotten, the Spirit of the living God. BK1264 Reaching People Under 40 While Keeping People Over 60: Being Church for All Generations Many established churches are facing a number of challenges in today's increasingly secular culture. Such a shift in many communities creates a challenge of church growth and church health when it seems that satisfying the needs of one group creates barriers to reaching another group. So many are asking, "How do you keep people over sixty years of age who often hold church culture values while at the same time reach people under forty who often hold postmodern values?" If a church is interested in growing, this situation becomes a major challenge. Reaching People under 40 while Keeping People over 60 looks at the church as it seeks to function in a new world. It looks at the differences in the generations and at postmodernism not just a generational difference but a global change. Most importantly Reaching People under 40 while Keeping People over 60 looks at what a church can do in this new age to help the church survive and thrive! BK1265 Becoming the Church: Lessons for Today's Disciples Living as a Christian in the 21st century is difficult business. As if loving God and following Jesus's commandments weren't enough, we are also called to live together with one another as the church. What does it mean to be the church? How can we live together peaceably? Why do we bother with this old institution anyway? In Becoming the Church, the Rev. Dalton Rushing, a United Methodist pastor, looks to the first disciples to gain insights about how we are called to live today. This book will serve well as Sunday school class curriculum, personal devotion, or group study material, as it traces the ~ 7 ~
development of the church in the book of Acts and makes real connections to our lives today. Discussion questions are included. BK1266 College Ministry 101: A Guide to Working with 18 25 Year Olds 18 25 year olds are trying to find their place in society while living through an array of experiences that force them to reevaluate beliefs and assumptions they were raised with, which leads many students to disconnect from the church after high school. College Ministry 101 will help church leaders understand the college age stage in order to better minister to their needs. This book will provide leaders with practical ministry philosophies about how to effectively minister to college students through mentor relationships, what students need in their day to day lives, how to work with volunteers in college ministry, and how to turn college age students into genuine disciples. BK1267 The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows We all have ideas that we tell ourselves about God and how he works in our lives. Some are true but many are false. James Bryan Smith believes those thoughts determine not only who we are, but how we live. In fact, Smith declares, the most important thing about a person is what they think about God. The path to spiritual transformation begins here. Turning to the Gospels, Smith invites you to put your ideas to the test to see if they match up with what Jesus himself reveals about God. Once you've discovered the truth in Scripture, Smith leads you through a process of spiritual formation that includes specific activities aimed at making these new narratives real in your body and soul as well as your mind. BK1268 The Good and Beautiful Life: Putting on the Character of Christ "I have never met a person whose goal was to ruin his or her life. We all want to be happy, and we want it all of the time." So begins James Bryan Smith in The Good and Beautiful Life. The problem is, he tells us, we have bought into false notions of happiness and success. These self centered decisions lead us further into the vices that cause ruin: anger, lust, lying, worry and judging. Eventually we find ourselves living a beautifully packaged life of self destruction. Following the Sermon on the Mount, this follow up to The Good and Beautiful God guides us to look behind these character flaws and to replace our false beliefs with Jesus' narratives about life in the kingdom of God. BK1269 The Good and Beautiful Community: Following the Spirit, Extending Grace, Demonstrating Love In this third book in the Apprentice Series, James Bryan Smith helps us know how to live in relationship with others as apprentices of Jesus. "Apprentices of Jesus are not part time do gooders," he writes. "They live in continuous contact with the kingdom of God, and are constantly men and women in whom Christ dwells. They do not sometimes tell the truth, sometimes live sacrificially or sometimes forgive. There are myriad opportunities for us to impact the world in which we live." Yet many times we've gotten it wrong, tending to emphasize personal faith over social justice or vice versa. In these pages Jim Smith shows us how to bring spiritual formation and community engagement together, and then once again offers spiritual practices that root new, true narratives about God and the world in our souls. His insight and humility as a fellow learner with us will lead us to live in authentic ways as a good and beautiful community of Christ followers, shining the light of the Spirit into every relationship. ~ 8 ~
BK1270 You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith More than 60 percent of young people who went to church as teens drop out after high school. This is a striking and alarming statistic. Now the bestselling author of unchristian trains his researcher's eye on these young believers. Where Kinnaman's first book unchristian showed the world what outsiders aged 16 29 think of Christianity, You Lost Me shows why younger Christians, ages 16 29, are leaving the church and rethinking their faith. BK1271 Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church For years Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven. Award winning author N. T. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright, who is one of today's premier Bible scholars, asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection. He provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus and shows how this became the cornerstone for the Christian community's hope in the bodily resurrection of all people at the end of the age. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth," revealing what happens to the dead until then and what will happen with the "second coming" of Jesus. For many, including many Christians, all this will come as a great surprise. Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. For if God intends to renew the whole creation, and if this has already begun in Jesus's resurrection, the church cannot stop at "saving souls" but must anticipate the eventual renewal by working for God's kingdom in the wider world, bringing healing and hope in the present life. Lively and accessible, this book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life, not only after death but before it. Websites related to The United Methodist Church General Board of Discipleship Young People's Ministries http://globalyoungpeople.org/ministries/youngadult/ General Board of Higher Education & Ministry http://www.gbhem.org/ NC Conference Young Adults Ministries http://nccumc.org/christianformation/young adult ministries/ ~ 9 ~