Youth Ministry in Modern America: 1930 to the Present

Professor Jon Pahl examines the history of youth ministry through the lens of four twentieth-century movements: the Walther League (Lutheran), the Young Christian Workers (Catholic), Youth for Christ (evangelical), and African American congregations (Methodist, Baptist, and United Church of Christ). By chronicling the emergence and influence of these movements, Pahl enhances our understanding of their effect upon both the American church and society. Pahl also explores how youth ministry has been transformed over the years and suggests ways that youth ministry must redirect its focus in the twenty-first century.

“The compelling stories and contributions of modern youth ministry remain invisible in the standard histories of Religion in America. Jon Pahl makes young people and their faith commitments visible as primary actors in portraits of four youth ministries. A skillful theologian and historian, Pahl analyzes the tension between ‘purity’—keeping young people safe from a hostile culture—and ‘practices’—efforts to encourage young people in risks and responsibilities—and allows the past to become present tense.”
—Ronald C. White, Dean and Professor of Church History, San Francisco Theological Seminary