Today's adolescents face an uphill climb.

It's easy to think today's teens need experts, but what they really need more than anything else is you. If you would like to learn how to be a wise and compassionate companion who can make an eternal difference in the lives of youth, Owning Faith will show you how.

Ron Bruner has served as the executive director of Westview Boys’ Home in Hollis, Oklahoma, since 1999. Because of his interest in practical theology—especially in the fields of intergen- erational, children’s, and youth ministry—Ron edits the eJournal Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry.

Dudley Chancey has served as professor of youth ministry at Oklahoma Christian University since 1998. He is involved in several professional organizations, including the National Council on Family Relations, Groves Conference on Marriage and Family, Association of Youth Ministry Educators, and the National Conference on Youth Ministries.

Ron Bruner (DMin, Abilene Christian University) has served as the executive director of Westview Boys’ Home in Hollis, Oklahoma, since 1999. He co-edited Along the Way: Conversations about Children and Faith with Dana Kennamer Pemberton. Because of his interest in practical theology—especially in the fields of intergenerational, children’s, and youth ministry—Ron edits the e-journal Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry. He and his wife, Ann, enjoy life with their three adult children and four grandchildren. 

Dudley Chancey (PhD, University of Tennessee) has served as professor of youth ministry at Oklahoma Christian University since 1998. He is involved in several professional organizations including the National Council on Family Relations, Groves Conference on Marriage and Family, Association of Youth Ministry Educators, and the National Conference on Youth Ministries. Dudley is dedicated to Honduras family mission trips at OCU. He loves all the sponsors, parents, and youth ministers who have brought teens to Winterfest for the last 30 years. Dudley is married to Vicki and has two adult children and two grandchildren. 

Brad Childers gave his life to Jesus at the age of fourteen when his mentor Jim Moss shared the gospel. After attending Lipscomb University, he married his college sweetheart Margaret. They now have four kids: Margaret Grace, Charles, Annie Cage, and William. For twenty-three years, he has served as the youth minister at the Providence Road Church of Christ in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has served on the boards of National Conference on Youth Ministries, Breaking Chains, and Carolina Teen. Brad is an avid golfer and is currently getting his masters from Liberty University. 

Ryan Noel Fraser (PhD, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University) has taught in the graduate counseling program at Freed-Hardeman University since 2006. He is a pastoral therapist in private practice. Ryan also serves as the pulpit minister and an elder for the Bethel Springs Church of Christ in Bethel Springs, Tennessee. He wrote The Spiritual Narratives of Adoptive Parents: Constructions of Christian Faith Stories and Pastoral Theological Implications (Peter Lang, 2013). Ryan is a pastoral theologian with expertise in marriage and family issues, as well as ministry and mental health concerns. He and his wife, Missy, are blessed with two adopted children. 

David Fraze (DMin, Fuller Theological Seminary) was drawn to Lubbock Christian University in 1987 to pursue his life’s calling in youth ministry. Fraze began working as a part-time college minister at Greenlawn Church of Christ in Lubbock, Texas, in 1989; he and his wife, Lisa, were hired full time for student ministry from 1991– 2002. He served as an adjunct professor at LCU from 1994–1999, then as full-time faculty beginning in 2001 until he and Lisa moved to Dallas-Fort Worth in 2007 to lead a large student ministry. David completed his Doctor of Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is now the special assistant to the president of LCU. 

Houston Heflin (EdD, Southern Seminary) spent twelve years in church ministry before moving to Abilene, Texas, where he is an associate professor at Abilene Christian University. He is the author of Youth Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Youth Ministry and Teaching Eutychus: Engaging Today’s Learners with Passion and Creativity. Houston and his wife, Karen, are youth ministry volunteers at their church and are thankful to be raising four adolescent and elementary-aged children. 

Earl Lavender (PhD, Saint Louis University) has taught at Lipscomb since 1990 and for the last thirteen years has served as Director of Missional Studies and professor in the College of Bible and Ministry. He has led mission and education events in Europe, Australia, India, Russia, Brazil, Ghana, and China. Earl also serves as the founding director of the Institute for Christian Spirituality, established at Lipscomb in the fall of 2009. He and his wife, Rebecca, have three grown children. Rebecca and Earl have planted churches in Italy (1978–1984) and Illinois (1986–1990). 

Johnny Markham has been a full-time youth minister since 1985. He served the McGregor Boulevard (now Gulf Coast) Church of Christ in Ft. Myers, Florida, from 1985 until 1990. He has been with the College Hills Church of Christ in Lebanon, Tennessee, since 1990. In addition to his responsibilities at College Hills, Johnny serves on the boards of Winterfest and Impact (Lipscomb University). He and his wife, Vicki, have three children: Mary Beth, John, and Katie. Johnny completed his quest to attend a complete game at all thirty current Major League Baseball stadiums. 

Monty McCulley has served as the Youth and Family Minister at A&M Church of Christ in College Station, Texas, since 2006. He began serving in full-time youth ministry at Georgetown Church of Christ in 1999. Prior to his full-time role in youth ministry, he taught eighth-grade math in Abilene, Texas. He is a graduate of Abilene Christian University. Monty is married to his college sweetheart, Heather, and they have four children. He loves spending time with his family, doing anything outdoors, and helping students grow in faith. 

Cari Myers is studying Religion and Social Change in the joint PhD program at the Iliff School of Theology and the University of Denver. Her work resides at the crossroads of social ethics, postcolonial theory, Latino/a studies, adolescent development, and public education. Specifically, Cari’s dissertation will focus on the ways Latino/a youth negotiate life on the United States-Mexico border, especially in the context of the colonized classroom and the Christian church. Of particular interest are the “survival narratives” Latino/a youth receive about how to survive and succeed in the United States. Currently, Cari is serving as a Faculty Fellow in the Religion and Philosophy Division at Seaver College of Pepperdine University. 

Robert Oglesby is the director of ACU Center for Youth and Family Ministry and a professor of youth and family ministry in the Department of Bible, Missions, and Ministry. He also works with the Ministry Support Network and is a consultant with the Siburt Institute for Church Ministry. He was the youth and family minister at Southern Hills Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas, from 1984 to 1999, when he came to Abilene Christian University full time. Whether riding his Harley or climbing a 14,000-foot mountain peak, he is not risk-averse. Robert and his wife, Jenny, have three adult children. 

Dave Pocta (MS, Lubbock Christian University) presides over three ministry training academies in Africa and one in Texas. He has served as chairman for the international youth and family service team in the International Churches of Christ for the past six years. He and his wife, Beth, have been in full-time ministry for twenty-five years and have spent the last seventeen years working with teenagers and their families. They currently minister in San Antonio, Texas, and spend a fair amount of time training church leaders about family-based models for youth and family ministry. Dave also runs a Christian resource publishing company named GROUNDED Resources (www.getgroundedforlife.com). Both of their daughters are currently in college in Texas.

Beth Robinson (EdD, Texas Tech University) is a professor in the Pediatrics Department at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. She is a licensed professional counselor, an approved supervisor for licensed professional counselors, and a certified school counselor. Dr. Robinson has written several books and developed therapeutic coloring books for foster children. She has worked with traumatized children, as well as foster and adopted children for more than 20 years. Dr. Robinson also holds academic appointments at Harding University and Lubbock Christian University. 

Walter Surdacki (DMin, Fuller Theological Seminary) is an associate professor of youth and family ministry at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he teaches various youth ministry and practical ministry courses as well as spiritual disciplines and spiritual formation courses. He has served in full-time youth ministry for over sixteen years, working at churches in Torrance, Malibu, and Campbell, California. He currently volunteers with the youth ministry at the Otter Creek Church where his daughters are in the youth group. He is a regular speaker and teacher at events all over the country. Walter and his wife, Amy, have two daughters, Madeline and Abby. Walter loves to travel, cook, snowboard, read, write, and ride roller coasters. 

Scott Talley is the executive minister at the Crestview Church of Christ in Waco, Texas, where he has been on the ministry staff for thirty-nine years. Scott also served as youth minister three years at Central in Amarillo and twenty-three years at Crestview in Waco. He authored two books providing practical guidance for parents and youth workers concerning communicating and modeling godly sexual values for children and teens. In 1990, he published Talking with Your Kids about the Birds and the Bees and This Can’t Wait: Talking with Your Kids about Sex in 2000. 

Foreword | David Kinnaman

1 | You're Not Supposed to Do This by Yourself | Dudley Chancey

Section 1 - Whose Job Is Youth Ministry Anyways?

2 | To Be a Parent Is to Be a Youth Minister | Robert Oglesby 

3 | Disciples Learn from Disciples | Dave Pocta 

4 | What Is a Youth Minister's Job, Then? | Houston Heflin 

Section 2 - Becoming Whole Persons

5 | Building Faith at Home | Johnny Markham 

6 | Discernment: Core Spiritual Practice of the Disciple | Ron Bruner

7 | Comfort with the Comfort We Receive from God | Beth Robinson 

8 | Human Sexuality: We Have a Lot to Talk About | Scott Talley 

9 | Adoptive Parenting: Coming to Understand the Heart of God | Ryan Fraser

Section 3 - Connection and Community

10 | Life among the People of God | Monty McCulley

11 | Life with Peers | Brad Childers 

12 | Friends, Mentors, Heroes: Connecting with Other Generations | David Fraze 

13 | Bringing in the Outsider: Hospitality in the Way of Jesus | Cari Myers 

Section 4 - Preparing for Launch

14 | Maintaining a Holy Identity While Wholly Immersed in a Culture | Walter Surdacki 

15 | Dreams, Visions, and Real Life | Earl Lavender

Appendices

Contributor Biographies

Endnotes 

ISBN: 9780891124764

Pages: 324

Dimensions (inches): 5.5 x 8.25

Weight (pounds): 0.8