Helping the Good Shepherd: Pastoral Counselors in a Psychotherapeutic Culture, 1925–1975. By Susan E. Myers-Shirk. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009. xi + 301 pp. $50.00 cloth.

摘要

cycles also seems problematic. Instead it might be more illustrative to suggestnthat the history of youth ministry appears more like waves than cycles sinceninstitutions, ideas, and practices ebb and flow in each generation with thenprevious generation often providing the foundation for the subsequent one.nThe major deficiency of the work is the absence of the voices of youth. WhilenSenter uses primary sources from the leadership and institutions connected tonthe various ministries, the only “primary” sources from youth mostly comenfrom fictional or pop culture sources. References to diaries or memoirs couldnhave shown how youth viewed and participated in these ministries. Playingnoff of his title, Senter demonstrates that leaders felt that God “showed up”nwhen sizable numbers of youth participated in activities, but did God “shownup” for the youth in these movements, and if so, what did it mean for them?nThese are the major question I have after reading this work.nDespite these shortcomings, When God Shows Up is a valuable work fornseveral audiences. For those involved in youth ministry or teaching anseminary course on youth ministry, the work provides an important historicalnframework to investigate the ways Protestants have involved themselves innthe lives of youth, and it may help seminarians think critically about theirnown understandings of youth ministry. For those interested in the study ofnchildren and religion, Senter’s book is a good survey of these interactions,nand it provides scholars a foundation from which to build future studies.