Check out the full review http://www.youthworker.com/reviews-for-youth-pastors/youth-ministry-books/11637491/.

I’d just completed a talk when an every hair in place eighty – something gentlemen with a ramrod straight back and fierce handshake made a bee line for me. I saw him coming and was preparing my defense when he said ” Do you know Brian Mclaren? (which in an SBC church is not a good way to begin a conversation but recalling Peters denial of Jesus and the fact that Brian was the first national leader to stand up for Off The Map I mustered my jesus- courage and said: “fact is Brian is actually a very good friend”.

“Well I read his stuff” my Ross Perot look alike said , “and I like him.”

I was momentarily thrown back and then he unloaded even more interesting news

” My grandkids are pretty much done with this operation” he said pointing toward the church he helped build and currently served in as an elder,”and I’ve pretty much decided that if push comes to shove Im going to join them”

Hearing this pronouncement by a conservative, tradition bound eighty something was akin to seeing the stuff fall off the shelves when an earthquake hits – you think you feel something but then you “see” it.

When the middle adopters ( thats what he is) begin embracing the change the hippies have been yelling about for years then you KNOW something is up.

Thats why we mixed the Outsiders with Insiders in our book- The Insiders and their relatives are astir as much as the Outsiders. Watching these two groups interact in a candid non contrived conversation is moving and motivating.

I wanted to honor my Ross Perot look alike’s courage and give him something he could pop into his DVD , make some popcorn and invite his grandchildren over to watch and discuss.

Besides they will think he is unbelievably cool

The book, moderately well-written, includes a DVD featuring about two dozen clips from the interviews and identifies where each clip should be viewed during the reading. Both are fast-paced and thought provoking. Occasional swearing. The book concludes with a study guide for small group use. Similar to Rainer’s Unchurched writings, but the DVD adds a unique, personal element. Some ideas and conclusions will be controversial, even offensive. Recommend to pastors, church planters, seminary professors, evangelists and twenty-somethings.

David Mundt
cbaonline.com
July, 2010

Inspired by Barna Group President David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons’ 2007 book UnChristian, three men set out to conduct interviews with young adults who don’t consider themselves Christians to find out how they perceive believers and the church.

Henderson, Hunter and Spinks filmed interviews in four cities, giving their reflections on what was said in The Outsider Interviews: A New Generation Speaks on Christianity. Mainly, their aim is to instruct the church on how culture has changed, how Christianity is now perceived and how such perceptions have created the need for a change in how believers connect with “outsiders.”

The authors want readers to really listen to unbelievers without becoming defensive, in order to be more effective communicators. They caution Christians not to perceive all hostility as persecution, realizing that outsiders have seen Christianity misrepresented and are reacting to that.

The Outsider Interviews is challenging to read and sure to cause a variety of responses, both negative and positive. A DVD of the interviews accompanies the book.

Deborah L. Delk
christianretailing.com
July, 2010

A November 2009 issue of The Week featured a story, “Losing our Religion,” that focused on the rapidly growing numbers of the religiously unaffiliated in the United States, the so called Nones, and asked if organized religion is fading. Younger than the general population, many Nones believe in God yet are skeptical about organized religion. The article quotes recent statistics suggesting that if this trend continues, cohorts of nonreligious young people will replace older religious people and account for one-quarter of the American population. Another recent article in USA Today concluded that young adults born in the 1980s and 1990s, approximately 72 million people, want to make an impact and are socially-conscious yet do not relate to traditional institutional structures. A decreasing number of these young adults view churches as places to make a difference or to develop their leadership skills.

The fact that nearly every major denomination is aging and losing members has been a concern for the last thirty years, yet institutional efforts to reverse these trends and to capture the religious imagination of young adults have been limited. Mainline denominations, historically and culturally self-conscious about evangelism, are further challenged to proclaim the good news in today’s religiously pluralistic nation and world. What then is the role of evangelism with young adults today? What are some of the ways that the Christian church can better respond to the spiritual questions of young adults in a religiously pluralistic age? How might congregations better respond to the gifts and skills young adults have to offer?

Read the rest of the article here.