I have just finished the book, “Life in Student Ministry” by Tim Schmoyer. I connected with Tim through social networking and blogging a while back. Through then, we connected on facebook, and I won this book of his as a campaign on his facebook page. So, he sent it to me, and I put it on my “to read” list. I finally got around to reading the book, and here is my book review:
- The book is very practical – If you know anything about the book, you will find that the book is a book based upon his blog. Let me just put a plug-in here, if you do not have life in student ministry in your RSS feed, add it right now before reading. It is a must read for student pastors or workers. Tim provides you with practical insights and articles on student ministry. He provides you with resources and reviews on the top resources out there to use to be more effective in our ministry. He also provides you with freebies which are always good. The book is based off of his blog. He puts together his blogs and thoughts and places them in book format. This makes the book so practical! I am a practical thinker. I like to have practical conversations on student ministry, and I enjoy reading practical thoughts on student ministry. This is like blog reading, but only in book format!
- It is an easy read – Have you ever opened a book, and wondered when you would ever get through with it (maybe you didn’t)? This is not like this. I finished this book within a week and a half. It is an easy read, and tough to put down.
- It is written from different perspectives – Now, let me explain this. The book speaks about starting a student ministry from the beginning all the way to continue the growth in your ministry. It carries both. Many books out there deal with a student ministry from a perspective of a ministry of 100 students, and that is the only perspective that they give. There are a great deal of student ministries out there who do not have 100 students and struggle to connect with that perspective. Tim gives a perspective a very small student ministry as well as a perspective of a large student ministry.
- It is interactive – The book also records some thoughts and comments from other guys in ministry who commented on Tim’s blog. This is a great idea, because you are constantly hit with ideas and thoughts from different people than the actual author. This makes the book very interactive which is a plus for me.
The book is a “must read” for student pastors. The book will not blow you away and share ministry changing thoughts necessarily, but it will provide you with the means to implement ideas for God to change your student ministry! Great job Tim!