Here is my review of Steve Lutz’s new book: College Ministry in a Post-Christian Culture, that posted on Scot McKnight’s Jesus Creed blog over the weekend.

——————–

We are in a time of great change. Churches in North America are in rapid decline. Numerous reports detailing the issues that young believers (and non-believers) have with Christianity continue to bring shape to a country, a generation and a faith in transition. In an ever-changing world, our faith is supposed to be the anchor that keeps us steady, but with the decline in religious life it’s easy to see how the landscape of life as we know it is shifting in seismic proportions – providing many opportunities and challenges alike.

Enter ‘the College Years.’

College has always been known as a time of transition, preparation, illumination and transformation. The University setting has been understood to be a marketplace of ideas and opportunities, as well as a place for finding – or losing – faith. But in a postmodern, post-Christian campus context… faith is increasingly seen as a “hot-button” topic, divisive, and sadly irrelevant. Christian campuses are increasingly (denominationally) diverse, with increasing numbers of biblically illiterate and theologically shallow students arriving on campus and struggling to understand the significance of growing into, and living out, a vibrant faith. Non-Christian academic institutions are becoming increasingly hostile towards Christian groups and organizations that, by the very nature of being Christian, stand in tension with (or even in opposition to) other groups on campus – even if that tension (or opposition) is never overtly expressed.

I fear for the future of this younger generation, who struggles to believe, if we continue on our current trajectory. That’s why I was thrilled when Steve first told me about this book.

College Ministry in a Post-Christian Culture is the first effort of Steve Lutz, CCO campus minister at Penn State University (copyright 2011). It is a non-fiction book on the strategic nature of ministry with college students.

There are two major convictions that undergird Steve’s writing on this subject, the first is…

To read the rest of this review please visit: http://www.patheos.com/community/jesuscreed/2011/10/22/saturday-book-review-guy-chmieleski/.