God, Gospel, and Gender
Finding resources to use with teens is challenging. Finding resources that are theologically sound is tricky. Finding resources to use with leaders who don’t teach full time is a tall order. Finding resources that are engaging and meaty is not easy. Finding resources that you can use across generations and still maintain the integrity and interest of the lessons is a rarity. Margie Baker delivers all of this in her new book, God, Gospel, and Gender.
God, Gospel, and Gender is written for all of God’s children. The resource is broken into eight chapters. Each chapter follows a theme that helps us see how we are created in God’s image, explore the different representations of God, how the beloved community of God spans a spectrum, how to discern truth and what is important, as well as how to respond to conflict in love. Each chapter begins with an introduction and prayer, followed by an activity, a dive into Scripture that is followed by discussion questions, ways to go more deeply into the lesson, along with more activities and prayers. There is easily enough material in each chapter to have two separate hour long sessions. Sessions build upon each other, providing participants with a wider lens of God’s good and beautiful spectrum of God’s people. Each session builds in conversation and activity (both in groups and personally), supporting everything with Scripture and historical context, helping participants grow in their understanding of who God creates people to be. The language is accessible and activities written so that your leaders can do so with minimal preparation.
God, Gospel, and Gender is a resource that you will turn to time and again. Not only is it theologically sound, it is pedagogically sound. Participants will be able to build upon existing knowledge, learn new information, use what they learn, and talk about it with others. Yes, you can use this in your youth faith formation time. But don’t stop there. Pull out pieces to create 3-6 midweek sessions for teens. Use the Scripture section and discussion questions for church council meetings. Use the Going Deeper section for a parent book club. You can bring this to youth group, create a youth retreat around it, and have it as a fabulous spine for your teen summer camp session. The question isn’t do you need a copy of this book, but how many copies do you need. Snag at least one.
