Books that Have Shaped Me

This list is worth its weight in gold. It’s from my annotated bibliography at Covenant Seminary, compiled in 2014. I will continue to add to it.

Spoiler Alert: the very best resource for an overall philosophy of ministry is the second book on the list: Teaching the Faith, Forming the Faithful. Not every chapter applies to Childhood Ministry, so if it seems daunting, pick and choose. Warning: you will become an evangelist for effective ministry to the children in your church.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

The Christian Educators Handbook of Childrens’ Ministry: Reaching and Teaching the Next Generaton. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1993 by Robert J. Choun and Michael S. Lawson. The authors’ solid biblical philosophy for the church to pass on her faith permeates the nuts and bolts of running a safe and biblical ministry. Their insights range from the efficacy of computers in the classroom (or not), handling conflict between parents, to operating an organized resource room. If you are a new hire creating a new system this is a must-read.

Teaching the Faith, Forming the Faithful: A Biblical Vision of Education in the Church by Gary A. Parrett and Steve S. Kang. While the education of the church body ambles along without much shape or form, Parrett and Kang, call church leaders far more than ministry directors to examine the faith education in their churches. Leaning into biblical and theological foundations, the authors hone in on the “why” and “how” God’s truth is taught through generations. One of the book’s gems is their Core Curriculum developed from the rubric of The Gospel, The Story, and The Faith. This book still convicts and informs much of what I believed about children and the church but didn’t know if I had a foundation to support my suppositions. It’s a must read for seminary students as they enter the pastorate and especially valuable for church planters as they lay a foundation for ministry.

Sir Ken Robinson: Changing Educational Paradigms http://www.thersa.org/events/rsaanimate/animate/rsa-animate-changing-paradigms. This is a fun, succinct way to consider how you are managing Christian Education in your churches. And it makes a great presentation on its own.

Young Children and Worship by Sonja M. Stewart and Jerome W. Berryman. Louisville, Westminster/John Knox Press, 1989.Stewart worked with Godly Play’s founder, Jerome Berryman to create easy-to-access reflective engagement curriculum. I have used her materials for years before I wrote my own. Includes patterns for creating cardboard, two-dimensional figures. The lessons are brief, so I have augmented them.

Following Jesus: More About Young Children and Worship by Sonja M. Stewart. Louisville, Geneva Press, 2000. Written eleven years after the text above Stewart shares with her readers much of her collected wisdom and additional ways to create a worshipful place for children. Liturgy is added as well as many new lessons.

Nurture that is Christian: Developmental Perspectives on Christian Education edited by James C. Wilhoit and John M. Dettoni.  Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998. A many-authored work that explores the impact of various developmental theorists and stages of development from children, to adolescence, and adults. It concludes by evaluating educational methods including lecturing, mentoring, small groups, etc. This is a helpful, graduate level text.

CHILDREN’S MINISTRY

Growing a Health Children’s Ministry: A step-by-step handbook to cultivating Christian Kids in any environment by Steve Alley. Cincinnati, Standard Publishing, 2002. Great hands-on resource. Includes sample goals, evaluation forms, volunteer agreements, emergency forms, all the things that are easy to forget but necessary to a well-formed Children’s Ministry.

Enduring Connections: Creating a Preschool and Children’s Ministry by Janice Haywood. St. Louis:Chalice Press, 2007. This text provides specific questions by which one can evaluate a children’s ministry program. These are followed by examples and suggestions to modify an issues.

CURRICULUM

Godly Play by Jerome W. Berryman. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing, 1991.Berryman, an Anglican priest studied under Sofia Cavelliti, a protege of Montessori whose work centered around religious education for children. Inspired by Cavelliti and his love for children, Berryman embarked on the path of reflective engagement Christian Education.  This text describes his theology and practice for passing faith. Additionally, Godly Play is the publisher for his curriculum and supplies. You’ll jump into the world of Godly Play with both feet if you read this. I suggest watching some Godly Play YouTubes as well so you see his work in action.

DIVORCE

Don’t Divorce Your Children: Listen to the Voice of Children in Divorce by Jennifer M. Lewis and William Gammons. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1999. This book includes parents’ voices but what I love is the emphasis on the children’s voice—this is children worrying about being homeless, reluctant to have two birthday parties, or worrying that dad will cancel his visit again.

FAITH FORMATION AT HOME

Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions: Why Children Should Be Your Church’s #1 Priority by George Barna. (Regal, 2003).  Barna opened the Pandora’s Box for the children’s place in the church. His research exposes the dramatic results of siloing ministry to children and adolescents. If siloing is unfamiliar to you, this is worthy of a read or a thorough skim.

Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham Jr. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2007. The name of this book is the essence of it. Baucham gives a clarion call to families and churches to embrace faith passing. The book is easy-to-read and a more extended treatise in the vein of Rienow’s text below. This is a great text to give parents in your church, but read it first.

Your Heritage: How to Be Intentional About the Legacy You Leave by Otis J. Ledbetter and Kurt Bruner. Colorado Springs: Cook Communications,1996. The authors examine parents’ backgrounds that they bring to their newly forming families and ways to address issues biblically so as to build a solid foundation as they raise children. Easy to read, possible text for parent equipping workshop.  

God’s Grand Vision for the Home by Rob Rienow. Streamwood: Awana Clubs International, 2007. Rienow simply and profoundly expresses his message that God created families for faith passing. A former pastor at Wheaton Bible Church, Reinow was a keynote speaker for a conference that I planned many years ago. I found him honest and practical. This is a super little book for parents and a great give-away.

Listening to Children on the Spiritual Journey: Guidance for Those who Teach and Nurture by Catherine Stonehouse and Scottie May. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010.  Storehouse provides a glimpse into the spiritual “insides” of children. Their experience and understanding of God expressed in simple faith, yet rich language will cause most of us to reconsider what we call “higher education.” While it is a textbook, it is so valuable to those who are looking to examine closely what their church is doing with children, I have met and corresponded with May over a number of years.. Her work has encouraged me to create my curriculum, The Children’s Sanctuary.

HISTORY & THEOLOGY

Children and the Theologians: Clearing the Way for Grace by Jerome W. Berryman. New York: Morehouse Publishing, 2009.  While not reformed, this text allows us to consider a disregarded subject and one that is vital to the context of our ministry to children today: How were children considered by the church and her theologians from the time of Christ until today?  

The Child in Christian Thought by Marcia J. Bunge.(Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001). Collected Essays exploring perspectives on children at various points in the history of the church. 

PARENTS

A Celebration of Children by Edith Schaeffer. Grand Rapid: Baker Books, 2000. This text is 26, two-page sections on the beauty of loving and respecting children. To me it is a classic and written from Edith Schaeffer’s heart. It is a great devotional book and/or gift to a family.

What is a Family? by Edith Schaeffer. Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1975. I have never met Edith Schaeffer but this book seems like a fireside chat with her. She shares her life lessons as a mother, faith passer, and wife. She is an imaginative writer and this book approaches classic proportions in my mind. I think it would make a great book club text.

Look at the Child by Aline D. Wolf. Hollidaysburg: Parent Child Press, 1978. A Montessori-influenced description of young children and the formation of intelligence. Other than the introduction and conclusion, each page is a sentence and an illustration that graphically convicts most readers of the restraints we often put on young children to their detriment. it’s a simple but beautiful way to introduce the Montessori method to parents.

Godly Play by Jerome Berryman. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1991. Simply put, this is the how-to manual for Montessori in the Protestant church. I have seen Berryman’s classrooms in Houston, Texas and I have sat at his feet for the creation story. While he takes a liberal approach to Scripture, the method he uses resonates with me. I have pilot-tested aspects of it several times at my church. 

Children Matter: Celebrating their Place in the Church, Family and Community by Scottie May et al. I am a Scottie May devotee. I have long resonated with her insights on children which echo Montessori’s and Berryman’s. I have heard her speak several times and corresponded with her. This text provides theological rationale for faith passing in the home and church by including children and respecting their needs and development.

REFERENCE/TEXTBOOK

Christian Education: Foundations for the Twenty-First Century by Michael J. Anthony (ed.). Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2001. (Michael Anthony et al., Perspectives on Children’s Spiritual Formation (B&H Academic, 2007). A ‘four-views’ book that examines traditional approaches to children’s spirituality, though it’s focus is really on philosophy of religious education. Contemplative- Reflective, Instructional-Analytic, Pragmatic-Participatory, and Media-Driven Active-Engagement are the four models presented. 

Teaching the Faith, Forming the Faithful by Gary A. Parrett and Steve S. Kang. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2009. (This is the second main textbook from Ed Min Foundations. Easy to read, theologically and biblically strong in its approach to Christian education. I resonated with this text. Included core curriculum across ages and biblical rationale/foundation.)

WORSHIP

Teaching Kids Authentic Worship by Kathleen Chapman. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003. I dragged the music pastor to Chapman’s seminar only to learn ways to engage children of all ages in prayer. Worship isn’t just singing and this book and Ms. Chapman’s seminar turned my Sunday mornings into a sanctuary of children’s prayers. Don’t ever forget to bring Kleenex if you allow children to pray.