Moore, Mary Elizabeth Mullino and Wright, Almeda M., eds. Children, Youth, and Spirituality in a Troubling World. Chalice Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-827205-13-0.
Meet the Editors
Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore is the Dean of the School of Theology and Professor of Theology and Education at Boston University. Previously she served as Assistant Director and Research Coordinator of the Theology and Ministry Program at Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Her recent books include Teaching as a Sacramental Act, Ministering with the Earth, and Teaching from the Heart, plus the co-edited volumes Children, Youth, and Spirituality in a Troubling World and Practical Theology and Hermeneutics.
Almeda M. Wright is Assistant Professor of Youth Ministry at Pfeiffer University. She is also a doctoral candidate in practical theology at Emory University where her research focuses on spirituality and race-identity development among African American youth.
Book Basics
The book is about “loving and choosing life for and with children and youth. It is about drawing that life from spirituality and religion” (p. 3). The book is structured into two parts: Part One – The Young in a Troubling World and Part Two – Choosing Life in a Troubling World. It begins with an introduction by Moore and concludes with a call to action by Wright.
Part one includes essays by Luther E. Smith Jr., Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, Katherine Turpin, Roger Nishioka, Joyce Ann Mercer, and Joshua Thomas. These chapters help to give insight into the world in which youth live by highlighting specific troubling local contexts.
Part two is the stronger of the parts and offers essays by Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore, Karen Maria Yust, Veronice Miles, Susane Johnson, Claire Bischoff, Almeda M. Wright, Evelyn L. Parker, David F. White, and Jeannie S. Knight. These chapters consider ministry experiences and suggest what is possible in ministry for and with young people.
Potential readers should be aware that many of the chapters will focus on issues that may at first not appear relevant to a given local ministry context. However, these topics are helpful for fostering a deeper appreciation of the world in which young people live and how those who shape ministry for and with them can best respond in ways that are contextually appropriate and theologically sound.
So What?
Yearnings, Hopes, and Visions: Youth Dreams and Ministry Futures, written by Moore, opens the second part of the book and is the only must read among the fifteen essays. She suggests youth carry with them five yearnings: for the holy, for community, to understand the world, for ethical guidance, and to make a difference (p. 110-117). If adults hear, accompany and guide youth these yearnings are able to grow into visions: relationship with the holy, community, wisdom and meaning-making, faithfulness, and vocation (p. 117-122). How are these five reflected in your congregation’s ministry with youth?
“In a word crying out for peace and justice, in a word that longs to know and respond to the compassionate, challenging presence of God, we need the prophecies and visions of the young. We need their yearnings and their action. Let us listen, encourage and respond” (p.122).