A veteran youth minister across multiple denominations, Ellis knows his subject deeply as both practitioner and theologian. Youth beyond the Developmental Lens mines personal accounts, the biblical narrative, and a vast array of theological expertise to release readers from restrictive assumptions that have long bound youth ministry. Ellis's finely tuned pastoral sensibilities bring all these elements into focus, helping us understand ministry as relational and all humans as part of God's story. Rostered ministers, lay leaders, and others engaged with youth will find an antidote to anxiety about the future of the church. Ellis reminds us that God is here already. Our call is simply to be.
Wesley W. Ellis is senior pastor of First Congregational Church of Ramona (UCC) in southern California and the author of Youth Beyond the Developmental Lens: Being over Becoming (Fortress, 2024). He holds a PhD in practical theology from the University of Aberdeen and has served as a youth minister in United Methodist, Presbyterian Church (USA), and evangelical congregations.