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Reviewed by Rev. Patricia Farris, Senior Minister, Santa Monica First United Methodist Church Growing Up Christian: A Congregational Strategy for Nurturing Disciples, by C. Ellis Nelson Smyth and Helwys, 2008 Nelson’s first premise is that far too many congregations have rather thoughtlessly—if in good faith and all sincerity and with the best of intentions—continued to reproduce a strategy for nurturing young disciples that was designed in the 1800s for a culture that no longer exists, and hasn’t for a very long time. This is the system of Sunday school, originally developed as a supplement to what children were learning at home and in the public schools. But in a culture now considerably more secular, individualistic, commercial, and competitive, this strategy is no longer adequate. Chapter 1 compares and contrasts the historical context of the 1800s with the world in which we now live. This is a fascinating overview of the Second Great Awakening, the Industrial Revolution, the role of the religious press, and the founding of Christian schools and colleges. The central role of the congregation in the life of the community is discussed, as is the home as the place where children of church members learned about God and about what God expected of them. It is easy to grasp the massive shift that has taken place. Nelson quotes a Gallup study that reveals three significant gaps in current faith and practice: the gap between what people say they believe and how they live; the gap between Americans’ stated faith and their basic knowledge about that faith; and the gap between people’s beliefs and their participation in a congregation. From these flow Gallup’s alarming and motivating conclusion that only 13% of Americans possess a truly transforming faith that is expressed in attitudes and behaviors. Chapter 2 examines how and what children learn about God from their parents. The assertion that infants create an image of God by the end of their third year should draw all parents, pastors, nursery care givers, church preschool workers and Sunday School teachers into renewed intentionality towards the care and nurture of the little ones in our midst, and their need for modeling and faithful practice in the lives of the adults who are responsible for them. Nelson defines the goal of discipleship in the manner of Jesus—to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. His model for congregations, then, is one of nurture rather than education, curriculum reform, or technique. Affections and sentiments are to be nurtured along with the mind towards what he calls three essential beliefs: to know God as revealed in Christ, to take responsibility for bringing about God’s will for the world, and to engage a lifelong struggle to live a Christian life. United Methodists will easily find great resonance here with our stated mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Nelson’s examination of both informal and formal processes and settings for nurturing and Christian formation is helpful, from congregational dynamics and events to worship and preaching. Not until the concluding pages does he address instruction of children and youth by parents and church. This is not a book that prescribes a new format for Sunday school or a new curriculum. It probes deeper into the total fabric of how children and youth are formed as disciples through the totality of the life of the congregation. The discussion questions at the end make it an easy-to-use resource for all those entrusted with leadership in the congregation, to the end that our children and youth might be nurtured in the precious faith of our parents and grandparents—a faith vital and strong for the transformation of the real world in which we and they now live. 
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