Mark Yaconelli is co-director of the Youth Ministry and Spirituality Project, which over the last 8 years has gathered together churches and youth ministers from across North America to explore contemplative prayer, discernment, spiritual direction, covenant community, spiritual practice and Sabbath-living as a way of resourcing ministries with youth. This book offers some of the experience, teaching, praying and thinking behind the project.

Contemplative Youth Ministry is rooted in Mark Yaconelli's experience of co-directing the acclaimed Youth Ministry and Spirituality Project. Through this project, churches and youth ministers have explored contemplative prayer, discernment, spiritual direction, covenant community, spiritual practice and Sabbath-living as a way of resourcing ministries with youth. The results have been transformative, and this engaging book, richly illustrated with personal stories, provides refreshment and new ways of thinking for anyone who has grown weary or disillusioned with the vital tasks of working with and caring for young people.

Deeply honest and personal reflections for a popular author and speaker

In Growing Souls, readers are introduced to the Youth Ministry and Spirituality Project (YMSP), a programme co-founded by the author Mark Yaconelli, which is based at San Francisco Seminary. Growing Souls is the follow-up to Yaconelli's influential book Contemplative Youth Ministry (SPCK, 2006). The idea of YMSP grew from reports of youth ministry being a frantic and busy environment that focused on fun activities and moral guidance, rather than the spirituality side. YMSP was then established to test the integration of contemplative practice and awareness within youthwork programmes. This book is for those in youthwork and does not only introduce the project itself but also tells the stories of the specific churches that adopted the project. After this, readers will then be introduced to the many youth leaders that were involved in the pilot projects, and some of the youth who had been at these projects.

Every heart feels wonder. Every heart knows fear. Every heart aches with longing. Awed, we whisper, Thank you. Frightened, we cry, Mercy. Yearning we plead, Show me the way. Because the truth is, no matter who you are, every heart needs prayer. This is a prayer book. A book to seduce, cajole, entice, and encourage your heart into prayer. More than a book to be read, this is a book to be explored. It is a book of stories, divine poetry, holy verses, mystical inspirations, prayerful imaginings, meditative practices, and spiritual exercises that seek to uncover the hidden communication between you and God. As you read and explore more about love, longing, fear, suffering, compassion, rest, reflection, passion, wonder, and gratitude you ll be invited to discover prayer within the various moods, attitudes, and experiences that we human beings often find ourselves in. It s a book to be used, flipped through, tested, experimented with, and then set aside. It is a book that asks you time after time to stop and listen, turn and welcome the silent love of God. The hope of this book isn t to teach you anything. The point of this book is to encourage you to give yourself to God---your anger, your fear, your gratitude, your curiosity---your real self to the real God, because then (and only then) will your heart find peace (even in the midst of wonder, fear, and longing). Because every heart needs prayer."

About the Contributor(s): David F. White is the C. Ellis Nelson professor of Christian education at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas. He is author of Practicing Discernment with Youth, and coauthor of Awakening Youth Discipleship: Christian Resistance in a Consumer Culture. He was the editor of the Pilgrim book series Youth Ministry Alternatives. David is an ordained United Methodist minister who served for over twenty years as minister with youth at congregations in Mississippi, Kentucky, Alaska, and California.

'You know the reality: teens don t have much downtime in their lives. Between school, extra-curricular activities, jobs, friends (and youth group ), students these days barely have enough time to do all the things they need to do in a day. It s no wonder that quiet, reflective time in prayer with God is not high on their priority list. With years of experience helping teens encounter God in quiet, contemplative ways, Mark Yaconelli will give you the tools and insights needed to help teens understand why and how to pray, and to guide them towards a life of prayer. You ll find several prayer exercises in this book, based on the praying tradition of the Christian church, along with instructions to help you introduce the prayers to students. Not only are there explorations of classical methods of prayer that involve silence, solitude, and scripture, but you ll also discover more recent forms of prayer that use creative media, music, writing, movement, and acts of compassion. As you help teens bring prayer into their everyday lives, your students will find that they long for those times when they can step away from it all and find rest and comfort in God.'"