Push It! Young Adults Engage the Bible Vol. 1 Sidney D. Fowler, Editor. Contributors: Debbie Culbertson, Renee Griffin, Kyle T. Harris, Craig C. Schaub. United Church Press, 1999.
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Push It! Young Adults Engage the Bible Vol. 3 Jana Norman, Editor. Contributors: Tom Chu, Debbie Culbertson, Sidney D. Fowler, Craig C. Schaub. United Church Press, 2002.
Purchase from United Church Press for $10

Push It! Young Adults Engage the Bible Vol. 4 Jana Norman, Editor. Contributors: Mona Bagasao Cave, Sidney D. Fowler, Bruce Larson, Helen R. Neinast, Gloria Otis, Terry Yasuko Ogawa, Craig C. Schaub. United Church Press, 2003.
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The Push It! series of young adult Bible studies seeks to make the stories of the Bible highly relevant and applicable to the lives of young adults. Each volume operates under three key assumptions: 1) push is the "energy that many young adults bring to a task before them-grounded in their experience of the world...[they] test something's truth and its relevancy for life" 2) the Bible is a valid source of imagination and imagery for young adults, and 3) young adults feel the need to be engaged with others. Operating under these assumptions, one Biblical text is explored in each lesson or session.

Push It! helps you to recognize the Bible not only as a book, but as part of the world, making connections between the ancient texts and the modern world. "Push It" invites young adults to test, doubt and change their faith, acknowledging that such experiences don't necessarily mean that this is evidence one's faith dwindling, but rather as a mean towards growth and exploring one's faith.

One example of a session is "The Great Ordeal" by Rev. Bruce Larson, the former Minister for Campus and Student Ministries of the United Church of Christ national setting. Drawing from Revelation 7:9-17, Larson emphasizes a message of hope and comfort. The session begins with "Life's a Push," which is an illustration of the thrust of the session. Here, Larson illustrates with the experience of his wife's death and goes on to ask questions about the "great ordeals" one faces regularly. After the questions are concluded there is a brief prayer. Following the prayer is the telling of "The Story." Several methods of experiencing the story are suggested including using art to illustrate the story, examining its structure, reading the story in several different ways, acting it out, writing, playing with the story's phrasing, pairing it with art and/or literature, meditation, and dialoguing with characters in the story. In "You Push the Story" participants are invited to begin exploring the text, encourage to bring their questions, doubts, impressions, and comments to the table. Participants are then given questions on important aspects of the text. Here possibilities for push include asking "Who are the elders and what do they signify?" and "How can God wipe away tears?" Next, "The Story Pushes You" follows, examining the ways in which the text challenge or push the reader. A brief exegesis is offered at this point, contextualizing the passage historically, culturally, socially, and religiously. At this point relevance is key, with the leader posing questions before the participants, that question their experience: "If you can visualize yourself as one of the great multitude, what do you think that experience would feel like?"; "What powers does the prophet's vision ascribe to the Lamb in this passage? What importance do these powers have to you?" Finally, the session concludes with "Push Out" which seeks to explore the aspects of faith revealed in the passage further. Several suggestions are offered, such as discussing how faith affects us in the time of war.

Although the Push It! series itself is not specifically focused on civil rights issues, through tying Biblical texts to "theory of the flesh" in its seeking to make the texts relevant through tying them to lived experiences several justice issues are addressed. In volume three alone sexism is addressed in "Battle of the Sexes" which explores the story of Deborah and Barak, restorative justice in "Blowing the Lid Off 'Fair'"on the parable of the vineyard laborers, and HIV/AIDS in "Bearers of Justice" which tells of Mary's magnificat. In personal use of the Push It! series in a campus ministry setting I have found that it is successful in speaking to the truth of students' lives particularly as it seeks to be relevant in drawing connections between the Biblical experience of God to spirituality found in contemporary culture and issues. Each session is rich with insight, and most sessions could be extended for an hour or more. However, the contributors offer ways in which to shorten or lengthen each session as needed. Some groups may also wish to break down each Bible study session into separate sessions. Volumes 1 and 3 each include 14 sessions, while volume 4 includes 13. Each session follows the same format, but allows for flexibility.

"Push-It" was designed to be used either by an individual or by young adult groups in a variety of educational settings, such as weekly or monthly meetings, retreats, mission projects, or fellowship groups. The authors also presume that some individuals may wish to experience the Bible study alone, so the curriculum is designed to be used either on an individual basis or in groups, and is very conducive for either use. However, if it will be used for individual use, the authors advise that study is followed by discussion with others about the topics addressed and the insights gained, as an opportunity to reflect on what you have learned.

Young adults often become estranged from the church during this time in their lives because they don't find relevance in the experience and/or they aren't interested in having the faith of the generation prior to their own because it doesn't hold as much value to them. "Push-It: Young Adults Engage the Bible" acknowledges this, and celebrates it, recognizing that it is only through continually experiencing the Bible in new ways and allowing our faith to naturally evolve, coming to know God better, and exploring how we feel about the spiritual world, that we will ever have any opportunity for growth.

This resource is more than a group of study material; it is a curriculum for leadership development, theological discourse, and spiritual formation.

"Push It: Young Adults Engage the Bible" is also the young adult resource for a comprehensive curriculum series called "Bible Quest: A Bible Story Curriculum For All Ages." For more information about "Bible Quest" or "Push-It," contact your denominational publisher or contact United Church Press at 1-800-537-3394 or ucpress@ucc.org.