Jeff Baxter
Zondervan, 2010, 187 pp., $16.99
Together is a thorough discussion about why and how youth workers need to be thinking intergenerationally. Instead of giving us a new model for ministry, Jeff Baxter goes about the work of helping readers develop a new mindset for ministry.
With that in mind, Together considers the current state of youth ministry, contemporary culture and adolescent development. While this information does provide a foundation for the why of intergenerational ministry, the early chapters may cause many less formally trained youth workers to feel as if they are swimming upstream. Yet, it is here that Baxter tries to help readers understand the barriers to developing an intergenerational mindset.
The latter half of Together functions well on its own as Baxter develops the belief that “adolescents need to hear and experience a congruent message from a loving intergenerational body of believers who share the same convictions.” He fleshes this out clearly and powerfully, including his excellent illustration of “The Parable of the Yepherd.”
Together is not a quick read, but it would be well worth using as a guide for some honest conversations with your leadership team as you seek to develop an effective intergenerational ministry that makes sense where you are.
