Does Christianity Work?
How would we know if Christianity works? More significantly, our sense of “work” here is different. For Smith, Christianity works if it still persists in some manner—that is to say, Christianity works when there remain identifiable Christians committed to identifiable Christianity. Read more
Compassion and Humility as Predictors of Justice and Diversity Commitments Among Seminary Faculty
In 2017, the Association of Theological Schools sponsored the Preparing for 2040 Initiative to help theological schools and seminaries respond to the growing diversity in faith communities. Read more
Development Towards Maturity (Part 2)
The second of two, this article explores the desired outcomes of youth ministry by focusing on personal and social development, building on a systematic literature review of scholarly works from 1996 to 2021. It also examines how these goals relate conceptually to spiritual development, discussed in the first article, and concludes with implications and questions for further research. Read more
Development Towards Maturity (Part 1)
This article is the first of two centering around the theme of desired outcomes of youth ministry practices, which are often embedded in a certain conception of spiritual maturity. The review study which forms the basis for these two articles aims to construct a theoretical framework on desired outcomes in youth ministry on the basis of a systematic literature review of scholarly works in peer-reviewed journals regarding the subject published from 1996 up to 2021. Read more