The Juvenilization of American Christianity

Pop worship music. Falling in love with Jesus. Mission trips. Wearing jeans and T-shirts to church. Spiritual searching and church hopping. Faith-based political activism. Seeker-sensitive outreach. These now-commonplace elements of American church life all began as innovative ways to reach young people, yet they have gradually become accepted as important parts of a spiritual ideal for all ages. What on earth has happened?

In The Juvenilization of American Christianity Thomas Bergler traces the way in which, over seventy-five years, youth ministries have breathed new vitality into four major American church traditions -- African American, Evangelical, Mainline Protestant, and Roman Catholic. Bergler shows too how this "juvenilization" of churches has led to widespread spiritual immaturity, consumerism, and self-centeredness, popularizing a feel-good faith with neither intergenerational community nor theological literacy. Bergler's critique further offers constructive suggestions for taming juvenilization.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Published: 04/20/2012
ISBN: 9780802866844
Pages: 281
Weight: 0.88lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.90d
Award: Christianity Today Book Award - Award of Merit

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 04/09/2012 pg. 50