A Review of: Practicing Passion – Part 4

Practicing Passion: Youth And The Quest For A Passionate Church by Kenda Creasy Dean was a great read for me because it helped me remember that youth ministry and ministry in general is about relating with real live people who have emotions. Anyone who seeks to minister to youth must constantly strive to remember what it is like to be young. Dean’s book is rooted in theological truths and provides helpful encouragement for youth workers to strive to live a life of passion. Youth ministry must work to capture the passion of teenagers and turn their passion over to go to be used for his glory. However, youth ministry must resist the temptation to woo youth into their programs by appealing only to their passion for fun, food and community. These passions are the easiest to access, because teenagers’ lives are usually overly packed with frenetic activity.

Youth ministry must engage teens in a way that teaches them of something to die for. It is difficult to capture the passions of youth, yet Dean offers theological truths that back up her call for ministry to work toward that end. Dean speaks to the heart of youth by realizing their needs for fidelity and communion. One of the major reasons that motivate me to do ministry is to teach of God’s everlasting fidelity and model God’s commitment to Christians, even though my model cannot nor should try to be a substitution for God’s perfection. It is important for youth to experience deep relationships within the church so that they are assured of the safety within the church to be who they are and to become more Christ-like.

Everyone desires this safety and intimacy of relationships, especially teens who are seeking to find their identity. It is the youth minister’s privilege to introduce them to Jesus Christ as the model for that identity. Hopefully youth can see Jesus within the body of their church, living and active, so that they can have a model that is still today incarnated who will walk beside them along the journey of faith. The ministers who take to heart the message of Practicing Passion will have a better understanding of the relationships that teens seek and need. All Christians’ lives’ are better when they are full of a passionate love for Jesus. Passion for God fills the holes in the life of teens. I agree with Dean that youth ministry must strive to be a place that produces teens who are adept at practicing passion.


Dean, Kenda Creasy, Practicing Passion: Youth And The Quest For A Passionate Church. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004.