What is the 2020 Vision?  Here at Christian Education and Publications we want to help the local church with training and resources that will enable you to spend this decade focused on training up a generation of Kingdom disciples.

During lunch with a high school student recently, I asked why he thought so few of his peers were serious about their faith.  After a few mouthfuls of Mexican food, he responded by saying “some of my friends want to make a difference…it’s like we aren’t satisfied with what we see... I guess we don’t see Christianity making much difference.  We aren’t sure yet if it is a waste of time so we don’t get that excited about it.” 

“Emerging Adults” is a label used to describe the 18-30 year olds and in this particular study it will focus on the 18-24 segment of that group. Religious leaders, including pastors, youth workers, teachers, and especially parents, not to mention the academicians and cultural analysts will benefit significantly from this study. Young people themselves will also find this book unusually accurate and reliable in understanding themselves and their immediate peers.

This three-year discipleship curriculum for teen girls teaches foundational principles of biblical womanhood—and so much more. It's distinguishing characteristic is an emphasis on seeing all of Scripture and all of life from a gospel perspective.

With the explosion in popularity of fiction books targeted at young adults, one might think that teenagers today are turning the current trend toward not wanting to read anything longer than text messages or tweets around.  However, it seems like once you move away from teenage wizards named Harry and angst ridden, love fueled vampires named Edward that young people have a tendency to stop reading...

This past July over 110 high school students and adults representing 43 churches from 14 states gathered at Covenant College for the Youth Excelling in Leadership conference sponsored by CEP. YXL 2009 was a great week spent exploring the theme “LIVE FREE” through Paul’s letter to the Galatians... Next year's dates are already set for July 5-10! Visit www.pcacep.org/yxl...

Why should your church buy a video or DVD to show one time when it can have unlimited access to over 1,500 selections? From Bible study to kids' entertainment, from doctrine to money management, the video library maintains a comprehensive inventory of videos and DVD's for your church to use in its Christian education program.

I read once that faith is sometimes best understood by looking backwards. Now, on the surface that statement feels a lot like the inside of a Christian greeting card or one of those posters with cute animals and trite sayings that we hang on our walls to inspire us to do great things. However, in this case, I think instead of motivational drivel, this statement is actually biblically correct and has application for youth ministry.

Perhaps the next time your church has a significant prayer need, you should move your teenagers out of the "future of the church" holding pen and into the ministry of your church by asking them to lead the prayer meeting. Based on my YXL experiences this summer, I have a sneaking suspicion that the adults of your church may be encouraged and challenged

If I could offer any advice to youth directors ... it would be to make sure that you are constantly communicating to other staff, elders, and parents who you are, what you do, and what is going on in the youth program.