Network Blog

I received a great e-mail question this morning from a member of the Network:

"Dear youth ministry network friends: The news that Youth Specialties is providing the bookstore at this year's extravaganza raised some questions in my mind: first, who are they, and do they recognize my infant baptism, and the baptisms of my youth members? Their website indicates that they do not consider the sacraments to be among "the biggies," by which I take it they mean things of first importance. I also gather from their website that they believe in biblical inerrancy, which is not the Lutheran view.

Finally, I wonder why the Extravaganza is not supporting our own publishing house, Augsburg Fortress? I would appreciate a reply."

I wrote back to him and thanked him for the good question, replied, and then wondered if it would be to publish both his question and my reply.  If one person asks the question, odds are that 12 others are wondering the same thing.  My reply:

Hi _______,

Thanks so much for your note.  You raise good questions.

Youth Specialties is an inter-denominational publishing house of youth and family ministry resources.  They are not tied to any one denomination or doctrinal position, although historically, they have probably been more closely aligned with the evangelical end of the faith-perspective. 

Most of their resources, however, are not doctrinal in nature, but rather are about the practice of ministry.  Looking at their list of authors, you will find people from across the theological spectrum, from Baptists, to Lutherans and Catholics.  Some of those authors probably don’t recognize infant baptism…many of them do.  Youth Specialties has put out a couple of books by some faculty members at Luther Seminary.

Their organization actually was completely independent for a number of years, and then 3 or 4 years ago, Zondervan publishing house bought them.  But then in the last year, Zondervan sold them to YouthWorks because Youth Specialties and Zondervan really weren’t that good a match…Zondervan was more theogically conservative.  YouthWorks is also an inter-denominational organization, however, they are very closely tied to Lutheran Congregations.  49% of their work is with ELCA congregations.  I know the leaders of YouthWorks and of Youth Specialties and they are all good people whose goal is to really serve congregations and organizations that they connect with.  I have no reservations or hesitations about working with them at all.  They are people of unimpeachable integrity and good hearts.

As far as supporting our Lutheran publishing house, they actually were our “bookstore” for the first 10 or 12 years of the Extravaganza.  However, 3 years ago Augsburg Fortress made the strategic decision to stop doing bookstores at all events (conferences, synod assemblies, etc) with the exception of the Churchwide assembly.  Frankly, they didn’t feel like it was a profitable venture to do these events.  They pulled out of Extravaganza 3 years ago (giving us only 3-weeks notice before our our event) and we haven’t had a bookstore presence since.  We’ve been looking for a new partner to fill this void, and Youth Specialties is, we feel, the best fit for us.  We have actually had a great deal of positive feedback on this new partnership from youth ministry people around the ELCA.

By the way, Augsburg Fortress will be back at the Extravaganza this year as an exhibitor, but with a single table, showcasing some of their confirmation curriculum.

I really appreciate your question, _______.  I am guessing that others might wonder the same thing.  With your permission, I would love to post your question (without using your name) and my reply on the Network Blog, so that others who may be wondering the same thing can have their questions answered.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Peace,

Todd