I couldn’t write about the best books in youth ministry for the year without including Kenda Creasy Dean‘s Almost Christian. This book builds on the research presented in Soul Searching by Smith and Denton which is another great book that details what is happening in contemporary youth ministry. What Dean’s book did (that Soul Searching didn’t) was give the highlights of the research while drawing out some great application.

You couldn’t read very many youth ministry blogs without hearing Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. This phrase seems to have stuck as a description for the watered down version of religion that has replaced faith based youth ministries. MTD will be a phrase that will likely be a part of the upcoming conversations about where youth ministry is going. That alone makes this book in my op read list for the year.

It seems that this a quite a year for reading. I bought a Kindle this year and recently looked back at how many books I read on it (over 100). So I decided to do series on my top books I have read this year. So without further explanation:

Orbiting the Giant Hairball

I couldn’t get this one on the Kindle, but read it on paper. This book was one of the assigned readings for my YMCP cohort with Marko. This book was written by Gordon Mackenzie tells his story of working for Hallmark for thirty years to the day. Mackenzie is a creative and he struggled to reamin at Hallmark while not getting squashed by the corporate bureaucracy. It is a beautifully written book with some great takeaways.

One of the best points made in this book is how to remain in an organization that has its own rules without getting caught up in them. As a youth pastor, this is a particularly helpful idea. Youth pastors in churches can easily get caught in the hairball of church polity and governance. This book has some great ideas for how to keep from getting stuck.

Even more important than the stories it tells is the inspiration it gives to stick with what you do well. I remember reading several job descriptions several years ago for youth ministry positions. The list of expectations was shocking. Everything but walking on water was included in the list. Those lists show how the expectations of churches can easily overwhelm youth pastors and get them stuck in the hairball of churches. Check this book out if you need some inspiration or just want a great read.