Pages: 224.
How it was obtained: I bought it from Amazon.
Time spent on the "to read" shelf: 2 months.
Days spent reading it: 4 days.
Why I read it: Susan and I saw Mark DeVries at a youth ministry conference. We were really impressed with his presentation (we only had the abbreviated version of it too!). We looked at each other and decided right away that we would be picking up his book. Definitely worth it.
Brief review: Sustainable Youth Ministry is a general guide to the confusing world of youth ministry. Mark DeVries walks his readers through both the abstract and the practical.
DeVries has great organization for this book. He opens a topic and then explores 4 or 5 subpoints for the topic. He covers everything from ministries that are stuck to church politics. I actually finished this book a few months ago. I underlined a lot. As I was flipping through it again tonight, I thought to myself, "it would be good if I read through this book again, at least the underlined points." Why? DeVries covers so much information, it is impossible to absorb it all in one reading. The best part is that so much of this book is practical. It is easy to immediately implement many of his suggestions.
This is definitely a niche book. It's only going to be helpful to people concerned with youth ministry. But for those in youth ministry, I can give no higher recommendation for a book. This is a treasure trove of guidance from a youth ministry veteran. You must read it. Not much else to say.
Favorite quote: Youth workers who don't feel over their heads, who don't feel they're overwhelmed and failing at times, may simply not understand their jobs.
Stars: 5 out of 5.
Final Word: Practical.
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