Summer is often a time we think we’ll get lots of learning and reading done, but if you’re like me, I sometimes don’t know where to start. Let me make a few suggestions. These recent books will stretch, challenge, and grow you in some fantastic ways.

Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg

Our roles as youth workers are quite eclectic. We plan big events. We train and motivate our teams. We try to become better leaders  ourselves. We answer emails. We make decisions. We set goals. We communicate, believing that it will lead to a change in the lives of our listeners.

When we get better and more productive everyone in our ministry wins–and ultimately more people are influenced with the message of Jesus. This new book is a great collection of productivity lessons around key topics such as motivation, managing others, focus, and innovation.

“Motivation is more like a skill, akin to reading or writing, that can be learned and honed.”

A New Kind of Leader by Reggie Joiner

Every wonder if you could take the passion of your best volunteers and copy/paste it into the rest of your team and church? This book will do just that for you. Get this one into the hands of everyone you meet and you’ll have a waiting list of new volunteers.

“What your church does for kids is more important than anything else your church does.”

Messy Grace by Caleb Kaltenbach 

How you and your church engage the LGBT community is a critically important conversation that must be had. Messy Grace is the prerequisite reading for anyone about to have that conversation, no matter where they land on the issue.

“We should be pursuing relationships with members of the LGBT community the same way God pursues us.”