After just writing a post on the need for youth ministers to embrace their roles as theologians (as well as writing one a few months ago), I received the most recent edition (January/February) of The Journal of Student Ministries. On the cover I noticed an article on “Theological Rigor” by (Dr.) Andrew Root. I have only read a few articles by him, but have gotten to the point that I go straight to his articles before reading any other. What he says is usually what I’ve been thinking about or trying to say myself. He just does it better (as he should, Princeton Ph.D. and all).

This article is no exception. It isn’t posted online right now; if it becomes available, I will link to it. The article is titled, “Is Theologically Rigorous Youth Ministry an Oxymoron?” He argues (just like I did in my post) that youth ministry is naturally a theological endeavor, so we need to start approaching it as such and goes on to give some guidance in that direction. Youth ministers must read this article. A quote:

In a real way, ministry is a theological task; for if it is ministry of the gospel, it must be faithful to God’s own ministry.