The Anxious Teen: Ministry with Stressed and Fearful Students

Now more than ever, teens are struggling with stress, anxiety, and fear. Between social media, the 24/7 flood of news from around the world, global pandemics, mental health crises, the pressure of getting good grades or attending a specific college, financial stress at home, and existential threats like climate change, it’s no wonder.\nTeenagers today are different from teenagers even 10 or 20 years ago. The issues they are facing are complex and wide-ranging. How can youth workers understand them better? What are the best ways to meet anxious teens where they are and help them feel seen, loved, and known—both by our youth ministries and by the God who cares for them so deeply?\nBrock Morgan uses his conversational style and trademark humor to approach this topic from the starting point of his own experiences with anxiety and his decades in youth ministry. In these pages he provides context to help us understand today’s anxiety-ridden reality, and teaches skills and practices we can develop in ourselves and our youth to move forward in a lasting, healthy faith.