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Revolutionary youth ministry program celebrates 40 years
Youth Leadership introduces Mike Yaconelli Scholarship | By Carra Carr
Published by Minnesota Christian Chronicle | September 2008
St. Paul - Youth Leadership, a groundbreaking youth ministry program, celebrates 40 years of service this October. A banquet will be held on Oct. 23 at the Landmark Center in St. Paul. A full program is scheduled.
Started as the Young Life Staff Ministry, YL was one of the first organizations to help legitimize youth ministry as a career.
“When YL started, nobody was offering youth ministry training,” said Kara Stromberg, director of student services. “Now, 40 years later, you can get a youth ministry degree at most Christian colleges or seminaries.”
One man in particular is to thank for that. “Mike Yaconelli, founder of Youth Specialties, was one of the first to begin to legitimize this as a profession,” Stromberg said.
A sought after speaker and author, Yaconelli passed away in 2003. The Mike Yaconelli Scholarship Fund has been established to honor his legacy and will be introduced at the Oct. 23 banquet by his wife, Karla.
Dennis “Tiger” McLuen, president of YL and close friend of Yaconelli, will also be honored at the banquet.
“He is the face of the organization,” Stromberg said. “I would guess that most people are dedicated to Youth Leadership because of Tiger’s ministry. It’s an honor to work with him.”
With 20 years of service, it’s been McLuen’s leadership and vision that has helped bring YL to where it is today. More than just a training program, YL offers classes, a certification program in conjunction with Bethel Seminary, and church consultations.
“[It’s] often true that a big source of conflict in the church centers around the youth ministry,” Stromberg said. “We hope to change that by providing quality consulting, speaking, and training to help churches maintain healthy ministries.”
Yet it’s the unique, relational approach to leadership development that is the strength of YL. Through the certification program, students can take advantage of classes through YL and Bethel, but they also get the added bonus of a mentor and a peer community—something unlike any other program out there.
As a result, YL has seen exciting success both as an organization and in the individuals who go through the program.
“One of [YL’s] strengths is that they make such a personal investment in each person who goes through their program,” reads a quote from Tic Long, president of events at Youth Specialties, on the YL Web site. “It is not a ‘pop and serve’ or ‘one size fits all’ approach.”
That’s why YL’s program is so well-rounded—and open to anyone. Classes can each be taken individually and one does not have to be involved in the certification program to attend.
Yet YL acknowledges that more than just youth ministers have an impact on today’s teens. Going above and beyond preparing ministers, YL also reaches out to churches.
“Consulting is an on-site assessment to help churches be clear about their vision regarding youth ministry,” McLuen said, adding that they don’t have a blanket end product for everyone. “It’s about Christ-centered principles and helping pastors and churches best apply them to their youth ministry.”
Along with an action plan, YL follows up with each church six months later.
Another way YL helps church communities is through speaking and on-site training. They even have a program for parents, giving them a glimpse into today’s teen world. However, the main focus is still on preparing men and women for the difficult job of ministering to today’s teens.
“Youth ministry used to be a lot more fun and games. Now the issues are deeper and require a highly-skilled response,” Stromberg said. “Youth workers are now thrown into situations where they are expected to act as counselors, therapists and mediators. It’s scary stuff.”
While it may be scary, it’s a challenge YL happily takes on.
“Educate, equip, encourage—that’s really the heartbeat of what we’re trying to do here,” summed up McLuen.
ACTION POINT: Log on to www.youthleadership.org to find out what Youth Leadership can do for you. To buy tickets to the banquet, contact Jeanne at (651) 484-9400.
Published by Minnesota Christian Chronicle — September 2008
