Click to purchase from Amazon. From same-sex attractions, porn, drinking, and being bullied... to dating, retreats, and encountering God in the Eucharist - AJ's story is very real and very inspiring. Read about his journey of faith as he realizes that God has been pursuing his heart, even in the midst of the everyday trials and triumphs of his life.

Click to purchase from Amazon. When Christ was on the cross... where was Simon Peter? "Between the Savior and the Sea" tells the Gospel story through Simon Peter’s eyes. It not only brings to life the famous moments of the Gospels, it also goes where they are silent: What miracles occurred when Simon Peter and the other disciples were sent off two by two? How did he know that Jesus was the Christ? And what was he thinking when he denied him? Led to experience things beyond his wildest imagination, Simon Peter felt torn between being a fisherman and a “fisher of men,” caught between the Savior and the sea.

Click to purchase from Life Teen. Truth Be Told is a one-stop-shop that unpacks the most beautiful and controversial Catholic doctrines in a manner simple enough for a teen to understand yet deep enough for a Catechist to grow in knowledge. The authors share answers to each topic both in brief and in depth ensuring that every reader knows how to articulate the faith in either way when conversations begin. Truth Be Told is a treasure for all Catholics and for any soul interested in learning more about why we believe what we believe.

Click to purchase from Franciscan University Bookstore. Today's sexual confusion is not caused because the world glorifies sexuality, but because the world fails to see its glory. Through his Theology of the Body, St. John Paul II unveiled the beauty of God's plan for human love. In 60 minutes, discover how the human body in its masculinity and femininity reveals who we are and how we are called to live.

Click to purchase from Baker Publishing Group. Provides a vivid and insightful view into the world of today's teenagers. Now leading youth ministry expert Chap Clark substantially updates and revises his groundbreaking bestseller (over 55,000 copies sold). Hurt 2.0 features a new chapter on youth at society's margins and new material on social networking and gaming. Each chapter has been thoroughly revised with new research, statistics, quotations, and documentation.

Click to purchase from Amazon. In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity--principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

Click to purchase from Amazon. With over 40 years of combined youth ministry experience, Jim and Eric offer an approach to youth ministry that seeks to deepen the impact that youth ministry has in the church through discipleship. The book lays a foundation of understanding on what youth ministry is (or should be!), provides insights into many of the shifts happening in the Church, especially looking at the work of discipleship and the fruit it is bearing across the country, as well as providing a five step plan that parishes can use to begin shifting their youth ministry efforts to be more discipleship focused.

Click to purchase from Group Publishing. The world of volunteers has changed. But have you changed, too? Across the country, volunteer ranks continue to grow, but people are volunteering differently. They're working online, seeking flexible schedules, and pursuing a role in defining how projects should be completed. They want to feel a sense of responsibility for your organization's overall mission. Put simply, these volunteers don't want to simply make a contribution; they want to make a difference! Jonathan McKee and Thomas McKee have tapped into their decades of experience with the simple goal of helping you recruit, manage, and lead the new breed of volunteers. They'll guide you to a clearer understanding of what today's volunteers look like, how they want to get involved, and how you can most effectively attract, train, and unleash them within your organization. You'll also discover a bounty of helpful resources to assist you, including job descriptions, applications, and interview questions; activities, icebreakers, and team-builders for volunteer meetings; community-building activities; and tips for board retreats and planning sessions. The 21st century calls for a new system and for a greatly expanded definition of what it means to be a volunteer. If you can harness this passion and potential, you'll experience results that will reward both your organization and your volunteers.

Click to purchase from Our Sunday Visitor Catholic Bookstore. Reaching teens has always been a challenge. Add in the swirl of rapidly transforming culture and technology and no wonder today's teens are MIA at most traditional youth ministry offerings. It's the elephant in the sanctuary today's teens are more likely to look at confirmation as their exit from Catholicism, rather than their initiation into the Faith. Sadly, many never return. But how do we reach this new breed of teens? The formulas that worked with teens a generation or two ago, are now met with polite indifference. Today, young people prefer substance over sensation involvement over indulgence. They hunger for authentic relationships. They long for spiritual experiences that are firmly rooted in truth and dignity. Engaging a New Generation critically examines our commonly held assumptions as well as our often-used models and methodologies initially developed to reach late Baby Boomer and Generation X teens. It then introduces you to the core characteristics of the Millennial Generation teens and the pastoral implications, where the operational and ministerial borders are expanding far beyond traditional youth ministry.

Click to purchase from Zondervan Academic website. Most churches in America would give anything to develop a deep, growing faith in kids that "sticks" and continues to mature long-term. That interest is dwarfed only by parents' desire to develop a deep, growing faith in their own kids. Yet both national leaders with broad spheres of influence as well as local, grassroots practitioners are waking up to the reality that almost half of their graduating seniors will drift from God and the church after high school. As leaders and as parents, we're not satisfied with that. We suspect you're not either. In response to this problem, the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) conducted a national longitudinal study following over 500 high school seniors during their first three years in college. The goals of this research were to understand the dynamics of youth group graduates' transition to college and to identify the relationships and best practices in youth ministries, churches, and families that can help set students on a trajectory of lifelong faith and service. In Sticky Faith, the team at FYI presents youth workers with both a philosophical framework and practical programming ideas that develop long-term faith in teenagers. Each chapter presents a summary of FYI's quantitative and qualitative research, along with the implications of this research, including program ideas suggested and tested by youth ministries nationwide. This resource equips youth ministry leaders with what they need to help foster a faith that sticks long after young people leave the youth room.