Middle School Ministry: A Comprehensive Guide to Working with Early Adolescents

by Mark Oestreicher

Many people run scared from the middle school youth room. But (thankfully!) there are people out there who are actually drawn to those young teens. Although often times they're not equipped to deal with the unique challenges that middle school ministry presents, or they're just not sure what to do when a room full of young teens (who are 'part child, but not quite adult') are running around the youth room. Finally, there's a comprehensive guide to middle school ministry, from two veterans of this unchartered territory. Mark Oestreicher and Scott Rubin help youth workers understand the importance of middle school ministry, the development process for young teens and their implications for ministry, and how to best minister to these sometimes misunderstood students. They share their experiences (as middle school pastors and parents of middle schoolers), giving youth workers he encouragement, hope, and training they need to succeed in middle school ministry.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2009

Reviews

[Nathan Slonaker]

Unbelievably helpful - blew my expectations out of the water and has equipped me so much more than I expected.

[Jonathan Lucas]

Amazing insight to the realities of ministry to a junior high leader's life.
This is my first year as a middle school director and I have so many questions! Glad to know I wasn't alone. Mark had so much great insight, not only for the structure of your group, but insight into what is going on inside a middle school students mind during that period of their life...
Definitely going to be drawing from this book a lot going forward.

[Dan Durrenberger]

This book gets 5-stars not because it's the perfect solution to whatever issues or problems you may have in leading middle schoolers, but because it's the ONLY youth ministry guide I've seen that addresses the science and psychology of adolescence within the context of ministry. This book changed the way I work with young people by allowing me to see and respond to students' needs for normalization and acceptance.

[Zach Davis]

This book broke my heart for middle schoolers. Early adolescence can be one of the most confusing, challenging, and frustrating times of your life and this book gives you practical and biblical ways to encourage students. Very easy read and great story telling.

[SOLEIL WEAVER]

First real ministry focused book that I have read, learned so much. Marko is a legit middle school ministry master and I look forward to learning more from him! Huge huge recommend for anyone who works in middle or high school ministry. So good.

[Kristiana Sfirlea]

Very informative and helpful!

[Sean]

This sucker's thick, but it's filled with a lot of useful and practical information. The first half of the book focuses primarily on young adolescent development (emotionally, physiologically, spiritually, mentally, etc.) This section was incredibly valuable! The second half of the book focuses on the myriad realms of ministry to middle school students: how to prepare a talk, teaming up with parents, creating a volunteer team, relating to guys and girls. Some of this was the reason I bought the book in the first place. After reading "Middle School Ministry" cover-to-cover, I thought two things: 1) this is great for a staff person who focuses exclusively on middle school age students (like I do), 2) this is a fantastic resource for a volunteer team. If you are a youth worker that works with both senior high and junior high together (like I used to do), I wouldn't put this at the top of your list because it is SO specific some of the principles may not transfer through the adolescent age gaps (7th grade boys and 12th grade boys think differently, for example). But for me, a middle school pastor, I will continue to reference this book over and over again.

[Melissa Mae]

This book is extremely useful for anyone in middle school ministry, but especially those just starting out. The first half focuses on the changes that a middle schooler faces during these years. It's broken down into physical, emotional, cognitive, and relational changes. This first part is a great resource for parents, and it's especially great for youth ministers to relate to what parents are experiencing with their teens at home. The second section overviews how to create a ministry that speaks to middle schoolers where they're at. It's broken down into relationships, giving talks, recruiting and training leaders/volunteers, parents, and small groups.

The style is engaging and full of stories from Marko and Scott's personal experiences in their many years of youth ministry. They definitely know what they're talking about, and they've made it very simple for youth ministers to understand what their students are going through. Definitely would recommend this book.

[Will Standridge, II]

Great book on the ins and outs of middle school ministry.

The high point comes at the beginning. Oestreicher and Rubin have a fantastic section that addresses the psychological development of middle schoolers and why that matters for ministry. It was “5 Stars” and I’ll be going back to it often.

The cons are the length. At times the book tries a little too hard with personal stories, long anecdotes, and fluff. It clocked in at over 300 pages when I think you could’ve had all the same material in 200 or so.

Regardless, it is about the only book of its kind, and if you’re involved with teach (or parenting) middle schoolers it is an indispensable resource.

[Brandon]

This was pretty good. It gives a pretty solid introduction to adolescent development (forming identity, physical changes, cognitive changes) as it relates specifically to middle schoolers. To me, it's the most valuable part of the book because the authors approach these mental, physical and emotional changes with ministry focused minds. Instead of talking about the changes and leaving you hanging out to dry, they try to give some practical advice as to how to wade through the lives of the ever changing middle school teenager. If you work with middle schoolers this is worth a read.

[Alex Kramer]

I'm marking this book as read because I have read a majority of it and I know what the rest will be about. The book is really repetitive and repeats a lot of things, but it did help give me a new mindset for middle schoolers and helped me to realize how to handle them better.

[Angie]

I know this is designed for Middle School pastors and ministry staff, but as the parent of a 7th grade student, I learned so much! This has been so helpful to me and j would recommend this book to anyone!

[Dan Jacobsen]

Excellent science and systematic approach to the world of adolescence. Revolutionized my ministry style to teens.

[MrWalterN]

Excellent introductory work for middle school ministers seeking to better understand and minister to their students - it could also be encouraging and motivating for your volunteers.

[Barbara Skalberg]

The ridiculous cover and boring title aside, the first half of this book really is the great "parenting" book for middle schoolers I was told it was.

[Kyle Alt]

Solid books full of helpful insights. It could stand to be shorter if fewer stories were included, but the stories help to make their points as well.