The early years of adolescence are a tumultuous time, full of challenges and opportunities that can shape one's whole life. In recent years several books have analyzed this period of life for girls, but this is the first book that investigates the interior life of boys as they develop their sense of self and begin the spiritual journey that will carry them throughout their lives. The authors contend that adolescent boys often experience themselves at various times as losers, loners, and rebels. As self-defined losers, boys begin to realize self-awareness; as loners they begin to understand their own relatedness to the larger world; as rebels they gain a sense of self-sufficiency. Through these common experiences of life, boys gain self-awareness, self-transcendence, and self-sufficiency, concepts that take root in the spirituality that will last their lifetime.

A study of how faith forms through friendship for adolescent boys

When a boy cries, his father trains him in the way of the ancients. He is taught to "man up," and rejects anything feminine in his life. Thus he begins the process of becoming a man in the image of his culture. This transformation comes at the expense of his own calling to reflect the image of God. Men and women, however, were both created in this divine image and were meant to live in harmony rather than enmity. Recently, influential Christian writers and leaders have suggested that men have become too feminized and need to return to their calling to be "real men." Clark believes that this "new masculinity" is in reality a return to the way of the ancients. Drawing from his experiences as a minister, domestic- and sexual- violence prevention advocate, and community leader, Clark suggests that Jesus came to redefine masculinity and resist the cultural view of manhood, power, and oppression.

Engaging College Men is a ground-breaking collection of essays by mentors of college men and high school boys on what works to increase their engagement as citizens and participants in the common good. Sponsored by the Lilly Endowment, Engaging College Men presents a variety of programs at fourteen colleges and universities and select high schools and reports on their widely differing ways of guiding men to vocational discernment and a sense of purpose in life. As enrollments of men in college decline, this book is essential reading for college services administrators, teachers, and counselors who are committed to involving males in academic life and service to the community.

Editors Mary Elizabeth Moore and Almeda M. Wright address the harsh, challenging, and delicate realities of children and youth who live as spiritual beings within a beautiful yet destructive world. Providing a practical theological analysis of the spiritual yearnings, expressions, and challenges of children and youth in a world of rapid change, dislocation, violence, and competing loyalties, Children, Youth, and Spirituality in a Troubling World provides readers with a purposeful conversation on this important topic. This book will serve as more than a collection; it will be a genuine conversation, which will in turn stir lively conversation among scholars, theological students, and Christian communities that seek to understand and respond more adequately in ministries to and with children and youth. Contributors include: Claire Bischoff, Susanne Johnson, Jennie S. Knight, Bonnie Miller-McLemore, Mary Elizabeth Moore, Joyce Ann Mercer, Veronice Miles, Rodger Nishioka, Evelyn Parker, Luther E. Smith Jr., Joshua Thomas, Katherine Turpin, David White, Almeda Wright, and Karen Marie Yust.