Friday Review (3/21/25)
Each week we compile a list of helpful articles from other sites, in a variety of categories, for youth workers to read, reflect on, and/or discuss with parents and volunteers. If you have any articles you’d like to suggest, we’d love for you to share those in the Youth Pastor Theologian Facebook group. That’s a great way to bring them to our attention and to discuss them with like-minded youth workers! (Inclusion in this list does not imply complete agreement with the publishing source, but we have found these articles to be beneficial.)
Youth Ministry
Creating a Child Protection Policy for Your Church, by Chelsea Kingston Erickson (Rooted)
Safeguarding children and teenagers in the church begins at the policy level. As church leaders, this is our first step toward shaping a culture of physical, emotional, and spiritual safety in our communities. Following are some steps you can take to create and implement a child protection policy for your church.
Biblical & Theological Studies
Why Seminary?, by Meredith Beatty (Women Studying the Word)
For those who don’t know me, I am a middle aged woman with adult children who has an undergraduate degree in music but has also homeschooled her children and cleaned other people’s houses for a living. So why am I going to seminary? And why now?
Cultural Christianity: The Good, the Bad, and the Inadequate, by Thiago M. Silva (The Gospel Coalition)
While these acknowledgments are surprising and even encouraging, they raise an important question: Is cultural Christianity enough? As believers, how should we respond to those who admire Christianity’s legacy but stop short of embracing the gospel?
The Theology of Work and the Stay-at-Home Mom: Embracing the Value of Our Calling, by Shiphrah Lakka (Indi Aanya)
The world tends to categorise work into two categories: "important" and "not-so-important." We might think of pastors, doctors, teachers, and CEOs as the “important” workers. But a stay-at-home mom? Well, not so much.
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
Are Sports Worthy of Our Fandom?, by Jason Park (Center for Faith & Culture)
The pervasiveness of sports fandom causes difficulty for me, as well as for many Christians I know, in objectively assessing its worth. As with anything as embedded in culture as sports fandom is, Christians should be encouraged to question its worth in relation to the kingdom of Christ.
The Unique Christian Contribution to Politics, by Tim Challies
The relationship of the Christian to the political process is one of those issues that arises time and again and cycle after cycle. It is one of those issues that often generates more heat than light and that brings about more division than unity. Yet I would like to think we can agree that there is one unique contribution that Christians alone can and must make to the process.
Pastoral Ministry
Death, Grief, and Frodo's Incurable Wound, by Zak Mellgren (The SubZak)
As Frodo came to the realization that true healing would not be found back in the Shire, but rather on the shores of the Gray Havens, so my brother’s death is a wound that will only find its full healing in the New Heavens and the New Earth.
How to Respect the Dignity of Loved Ones with Dementia, by John Dunlop (Crossway)
Contrary to what we might think, the gift of presence is perhaps most significant in the advanced stages of dementia. It is not infrequent at that time for loved ones to feel that their visits do not count for anything. They assume that they won’t be recognized or their visit remembered, which may be precisely the wrong conclusion.
Family & Parents
When Puppies Replace People, by Ben Hicks (Proclaim & Defend)
A civilization that ceases to see the unique value of family and human life is a civilization in decline. Let’s get back to celebrating the good gift of families, reminding people that while puppies are cool, kids are way better.
“Mum, I Need a Mini Fridge for My Face”, from Growing Young Disciples
Many Christian parents want to raise their children with a strong foundation in Christ, but when it comes to beauty, worth, and identity, it’s easy to let the world take the lead. We may not be the ones preaching the gospel of skincare, but we may fund it without question.
From YPT this week
YPT Podcast ep.96: Teaching the Old Testament to Youth with Chelsea Erickson
Why and how should we teach the Old Testament in youth ministry?
Teaching Youth About Our Sinful Nature by Jason Engle
Here are six truths about our sinful nature to help youth understand their need for Christ and their struggle with sin and temptation.