Faith Formation in a Secular Age

Responding to the Church’s Obsession with Youthfulness

By: Andrew Root

Narrated by: Mike Lenz

The loss or disaffiliation of young adults is a much-discussed topic in churches today. Many faith-formation programs focus on keeping the young, believing the youthful spirit will save the church. But do these programs have more to do with an obsession with youthfulness than with helping young people encounter the living God?

Questioning the search for new or improved faith-formation programs, leading practical theologian Andrew Root offers an alternative take on the issue of youth drifting away from the church and articulates how faith can be formed in our secular age. He offers a theology of faith constructed from a rich cultural conversation, providing a deeper understanding of the phenomena of the "nones" and "moralistic therapeutic deism." Root helps listeners understand why forming faith is so hard in our context and shows that what we have lost is not the ability to keep people connected to our churches but an imagination for how and where God could be present in their lives. He considers what faith is and what steps we can take to move into it, exploring a Pauline concept of faith as encounter with divine action.

©2017 Andrew Root (P)2022 Tantor

A Very Accessible and Challenging Proposal for Ministry in Response to Charles Taylor

A Very Accessible and Challenging Proposal for Ministry in Response to Charles Taylor! Very worth the listen.

Wonderful book

Insightful analysis of our secular age including rich discussion of the dawning of the age of authenticity. Root also offers a wonderfully rich theological account of ministry as a response to secularity and the age of authenticity.