Most youth ministers I know don’t like feeling like “sales people,” but if we’re going to spend hours planning events for our teens then we need to spend some time publicizing the events.

Being the ridiculously cheap human being that I am, I found Doug Hall’s book, Jumpstart Your Brain, in one of those four-books-for-one-dollar deals. The cover caught my eye, so I signed up, and I’m glad I did because Doug’s humorous writing has inspired and motivated me for years.

Last year, I found another one of his books, Jumpstart Your Business Brain, in my local library. In this book he outlines the three pieces of information we should include anytime we publicize our ministry.

They are:

1. Benefit
• Keep the audience’s actual needs in mind (This happens to be very similar to my One Sentence Discription of Ministry).
• Don’t list mere features, but benefits that have pizzazz.
• Here are a few questions he suggests we ask to help identify the benefits:
• Why does this exist?
• Why is it important?
• Why is it necessary?
• Post your benefit in your most important place—your name.
2. Real Reason to Believe
• What is your credibility?
• The world is tired of sales people making promises they can’t keep. Why can our audience trust that we will actually provide the Benefit we just promised?
• The most powerful source of credibility is to tell the truth (Yet another Christian principal).
3. Dramatic Difference
• How relevant is your point of difference? Remember we are here to serve them; are we? (I love the fact that Doug Hall reiterates that we are here to serve them. There are some things that Christians can learn from capitalists.)
• Why are you the only one who can offer this?

This is a basic outline of the three points he says every publication should have. The first half of Jumpstart Your Business Brain elaborates on these points by discussing things such as the “five proven strategies for communicating Real Reason to Believe.” The second half of the book explores techniques for generating creativity in group collaborations, which is yet another important task of youth ministers.

You should definitely check your local library to see if they carry any of Doug Hall’s books. I recommend you start with Jumpstart Your Brain then read Jumpstart Your Business Brain. In the latter, Doug rescinds some if the ideas he discusses in the former, but in Jumpstart Your Brain he writes more “from the gut” so it’s more inspiring and motivating. In Jumpstart Your Business Brain he discusses the scientific research behind effective publications and collaborative creativity so it provides more logical, practical ideas.

(They’ve changed the book cover)

The USCCB published a catechism that is super easy to read. The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, basically takes the CCC and re-works the sentences using simpler sentence structures so they are easier to understand. Here is an example:

CCC 404 on original sin:

It is a sin which will be transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice. And that is why original sin is called “sin” only in an analogical sense: it is a sin “contracted” and not “committed” - a state and not an act.

Here is the information presented in the USCCB’s US Catholic Catechism for Adults:

Do we commit Original Sin? “Original sin is a sin contracted and not committed–a state and not an act” (CCC, no. 398 [sic]). Each of us inherits Original Sin, but it is not a personal fault of ours.

What I also like about this book is that they begin each chapter with a story or lesson of faith which is often about an American Catholic, such as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and César Chavez. These stories highlight the history of the Catholic Church in United States and helped illustrate why this theology is relevant to our daily lives.

The chapters end with two or three discussion questions, and I know of at least one small group in our church who is using these questions to study the text.