Author Archives: Kenda Dean

Guest Post on “Soul Munchies”

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Kenda Dean

I got to add the final post to the “Soul Munchies” conversation on OMG: A Youth Ministry Handbook. To Rev. John McLachlan: Thank you for everything. And I do mean everything. Read it here.

Posted in Announcements |

Did Louis Kill Jesus?

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Kenda Dean

(Thanks to Christy Lang for showing me this!) If you’re not a Hulu user, go register online (it’s free) and then watch this episode of FX’s “Louie.” The show is a mash-up of Louie C.K.’s stand up comedy routines and … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Thoughts |

Youth Ministry Brain Yoga

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Kenda Dean

So here’s the most provocative question I’ve heard so far this year…compliments of Youthworker Movement (http://ywmovement.org) via Lars Rood.  (As you can see, I’m the last one to hear these things).  The question goes something like this: If you were … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Thoughts |

WANT A REALITY CHECK? HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS AND ALMOST CHRISTIAN

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Kenda Dean

I’m grateful for the many ways people are diving into Almost Christian–but above all, I have been blessed by the high school seniors who are weighing in.  You don’t get more honest critics than that.  Start with Lydia, my new … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Thoughts |

Happy Digital Nativity!

Posted on December 19, 2010 by Kenda Dean

Since YouTube is more impressive than Christmas cards this season, let me say “Merry Christmas” this way (thanks, PM, for sending!): Happy Digital Nativity! I’m taking a class of seminarians–amazing pastors, every one of them– to South Africa right after … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Thoughts, Useful Stuff |

I Stand Corrected…

Posted on December 3, 2010 by Kenda Dean

It never fails.  To write the intro in Almost Christian, I went back to school on Spiderman and Venom with Mike Lovaglio (youth pastor, high school teacher, and comic book expert), who saw an early draft of *AC* that didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized |

Cheating: The White Collar Crime of Schools

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Kenda Dean

UGH.  That was one reaction to this article (http://chronicle.com/article/The-Shadow-Scholar/125329/#top), from the Chronicle of Higher Education (thanks, AZ, for sending!).  Surprise?  Not so much.  Here is the editor’s note about the article: Ed Dante is a pseudonym for a writer who … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Thoughts |

Chapter 9: “Make No Small Plans”

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Kenda Dean

To ask youth workers, educators, and parents: 1. “When we heard that having a highly devoted faith, by definition of the study, meant relinquishing our comfortable, generic Christianity, we—like the rich young man who came to Jesus—went away sad.” (See … Continue reading →

Posted in Almost Christian Study Guide |

Chapter 8: “Hanging Loose”

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Kenda Dean

To ask parents, educators, and youth leaders: 1.   On p. 165, Dean describes the Celtic idea of thin places, “places where God reached through heaven’s floorboard and grabbed humans’ attention.” Think about a thin place in your own life.  Where … Continue reading →

Posted in Almost Christian Study Guide |

“Random Acts of Culture”: Transformative Interruptions

Posted on November 9, 2010 by Kenda Dean

Some of you know that I’m an Improv Everywhere fan.  Now the Philadelphia Opera has caught the “improv” bug–check out this video of the Hallelujah Chorus, performed on a busy Saturday in Macy’s (formerly Wanamaker’s) in downtown Philadelphia – click here. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Thoughts |