{"product_id":"faith-formation-in-a-secular-age-responding-to-the-churchs-obsession-with-youthfulness-9780801098468","title":"Faith Formation in a Secular Age: Responding to the Church's Obsession with Youthfulness","description":"\u003cb\u003eA Top Ten Book for Parish Ministry in 2017, Academy of Parish Clergy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eThe loss or disaffiliation of young adults is a much-discussed topic in churches today. Many faith-formation programs focus on keeping the young, believing the youthful spirit will save the church. But do these programs have more to do with an obsession with youthfulness than with helping young people encounter the living God?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eQuestioning the search for new or improved faith-formation programs, leading practical theologian Andrew Root offers an alternative take on the issue of youth drifting away from the church and articulates how faith can be formed in our secular age. He offers a theology of faith constructed from a rich cultural conversation, providing a deeper understanding of the phenomena of the \"nones\" and \"moralistic therapeutic deism.\" Root helps readers understand why forming faith is so hard in our context and shows that what we have lost is not the ability to keep people connected to our churches but an imagination for how and where God could be present in their lives. He considers what faith is and what steps we can take to move into it, exploring a Pauline concept of faith as encounter with divine action.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is the first book in Root's Ministry in a Secular Age series.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAndrew Root\u003c\/b\u003e (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has authored numerous books, including \u003ci\u003eBonhoeffer as Youth Worker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Children of Divorce\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRevisiting Relational Youth Ministry\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eRelationships Unfiltered\u003c\/i\u003e, and coauthored (with Kenda Creasy Dean) \u003ci\u003eThe Theological Turn in Youth Ministry\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Baker Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50461091660050,"sku":"9780801098468","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_66669905-3d4c-4cfb-8c96-b9bc3577436b.jpg?v=1730056766","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/faith-formation-in-a-secular-age-responding-to-the-churchs-obsession-with-youthfulness-9780801098468","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}