Essential Books on Children's Ministry

The October 18, 2011 issue of the Christian Century magazine has a list of five essential books on Children’s Ministry. Here is their list:

• Listening to Children on the Spiritual Journey by Catherine Stonehouse and Scottie May
• Enduring Connections: Creating a Preschool and Children’s Ministry by Janice Haywood
• Home Grown: Handbook for Christian Parenting by Karen De Boer
• Helping our Children Grow in Faith by Robert Keeley
• The Child in the Bible edited by Marcia Bunge

Both Karen DeBoer and Robert Keeley (my husband) are Christian Reformed authors. How cool is that!

I think the list is a good one. I have all but Enduring Connections on my shelf already (and that one will be added soon). This list was made by Karen-Marie Yust from Union Presbyterian Seminary. Karen-Marie is a well-known and well-respected name in the field of children’s ministry. In fact, if she had not created the list, her book Real Kids, Real Faith may well have been on it. That made me wonder what other favorites of mine would be on the list if I had made it. Here are four more that I would add to the list.

• Parenting in the Pew by Robbie Castleman
• Real Kids, Real Faith by Karen-Marie Yust
• Sharing Faith With Children by Sarah Covin Juengst
• Shaped by God edited by Robert Keeley

So, what books would you add?