“Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, say Smith and Denton, seems to be “colonizing many historical religious traditions and, almost without anyone noticing, converting believers… — Kenda Creasy Dean Happiness Copy Share Image
“The essential mark of maturity in Christians—as in peach trees—is generativity. Mature faith bears fruit. Mature Christians are branches on which God’s… — Kenda Creasy Dean Aging Copy Share Image
“Foolish faith comes from the security of knowing that we live in God’s embrace, and with that knowledge comes a peculiar kind… — Kenda Creasy Dean Courage Copy Share Image
“As young people contribute to the faith community, their competence as members of that community grows; it is in doing the work… — Kenda Creasy Dean Faith Copy Share Image
“If teenagers lack an articulate faith, maybe it is because the faith we show them is too spineless to merit much in… — Kenda Creasy Dean Communication Copy Share Image
“What we can say with some certainty is that American young people have enormous trouble putting faith into words. It was unclear… — Kenda Creasy Dean Religion Copy Share Image
“Part of our skittishness about Christian perfection is linguistic confusion. The English word "perfect" has absorbed the Greek notion of "teleos". When… — Kenda Creasy Dean Christian living Copy Share Image
“When we downshift Christian education from the paradigm of expertise to a paradigm of love, we do not dilute the importance of… — Kenda Creasy Dean Christian Copy Share Image
“divine grace is a gift, but not one we get to keep. Christ sends us into the world as he was sent:… — Kenda Creasy Dean Divine grace Copy Share Image
“We may question what we believe, but most of us are pretty clear about who we love, and who loves us. It… — Kenda Creasy Dean Faith Copy Share Image
“Faith does not mean mimicking Jesus, but participating in his self-giving love—not because we have somehow chosen to be like him, but… — Kenda Creasy Dean Faith Copy Share Image
“With God's breath in the church we are called to exhale, but not because it's a morally good thing to do but… — Kenda Creasy Dean Good thing Copy Share Image
“The church’s first witness, as the theologian John Howard Yoder reminds us, is the way we live before the eyes of the… — Kenda Creasy Dean Copy Share Image
“If we say we want to translate the gospel with young people, this is what we are saying: we are willing to… — Kenda Creasy Dean Christianity Copy Share Image
“The issue is not whether young people can read the Bible (they can). The real issue is . . . well, really,… — Kenda Creasy Dean Bible Copy Share Image
“Legitimate peripheral participation means that adolescents make real contributions to our shared life in God, even while they are still figuring out… — Kenda Creasy Dean Life Copy Share Image
“Adults need spiritual apprenticeships as much as their children do—and adults need them first. Group spiritual direction, covenant groups, practice in oral… — Kenda Creasy Dean Children Copy Share Image
“Mission is not a trip or a youth activity, a silent cousin to evangelism, or an optional model of youth ministry. Mission… — Kenda Creasy Dean Goals Copy Share Image
“Words matter to Christians not primarily because they spread our ideas or accomplish our goals, but because they proclaim our love. For… — Kenda Creasy Dean Christianity Copy Share Image
“In other words, Jesus not only sends the church where he was sent; he sends us in the same way that he… — Kenda Creasy Dean Divine love Copy Share Image
“Youth groups can be vehicles for Christian fellowship, but unless teenagers learn to share one another’s suffering (not to mention the suffering… — Kenda Creasy Dean Christian fellowship Copy Share Image
