- These people are gifted communicators, leaders and teachers who are partnering with Youth Leadership. Some teach in our Youth Ministry Intensives, some come to you to provide tools and encouragement for your team or group. All are full time in other ministry areas and are sharing in their area of expertise. We aren’t going to give them an office, but we think they are really cool and we know you will like them. .
Ginny Olson | associate staff
A popular speaker, teacher and author, Ginny is a youth ministry veteran and Director
for Youth Ministry Studies at North Park University in Chicago. We love her books
on management skills and ministry to girls so we have her teach in our
UNDERSTAND and
MANAGE classes. -
KEVIN HARRINGTON | associate staff
Kevin is a licensed psychologist in private practice in the Twin Cities. He works with adults and children and has been involved in youth ministry for over 25 years. He has spoken locally and internationally on a variety of adolescent issues. Kevin has been married for 20 years and has four children ages nine to twenty-eight. Tiger and Kevin go way back to their early days in youth ministry together and co-teach the COUNSEL and COUNSEL II class.
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Les Christie | Guest Speaker
Les Christie has spent more than forty years in youth ministry, including more than twenty years in the same church. An energetic speaker, Les also chairs the youth ministry department at William Jessup University. He's the author of more than a dozen books and lives in California with his wife, Gretchen, where he no longer has to discipline his two grown sons, Brent and David.
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Kari Lyn S. Wampler M.A., LMFT | Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist |
Guest Speaker
Kari Lyn has been advocating for the well being of youth and adults for over twenty years. She is a Youth and Family Therapist, international speaker, teacher, and author who empowers adults, families, and youth to live their best life. Her dedication to this vision brought her to Luther Seminary where she earned a Masters Degree in Pastoral Theology and Youth Leadership. After serving in the church for many years Kari Lyn went back to school to pursue a specialty in Marriage and Family Therapy.
She is the founder of Deo' Advocates, an organization dedicated to the well being of adolescents and their families, and the Resident Expert in Adolescents for Vibrant Faith Ministries (formerly The Youth and Family Institute). She enjoys music, traveling, spiritual discovery, hangin'out and, most of all, spending time with her husband and two beautiful girls. Kari Lyn loves to serve and encourage others toward a path of wellness.
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Lee Wolfe Blum | Guest Speaker
Lee Blum is a speaker and presenter on Eating Disorders and Addictions. For the past two years she has been traveling to local churches and schools sharing her own personal story of suffering and recovering from an Eating Disorder. With nine years of successful recovery after almost losing her life, Lee shares her experience and why there is hope.
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Laurie Wevers | Guest Speaker
Laurie Wevers is a former youth minister and now currently serves in a non-traditional form of youth ministry as a therapist with Soul Work Counseling in Champlin, MN and at the Emily Program (eating disorders) in Roseville, MN. Laurie is a recent graduate of Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota with a Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and has an Undergraduate Degree in Youth and Social Science from Crown College.
She has worked with a variety of issues such as anxiety, depression, pre-marital therapy, eating disorders, self-injurious behaviors (cutting), post-abortion, unplanned pregnancy, trauma, abuse, and spiritual issues. While ministering in a venue outside of the church, Laurie’s passion still resides in working with youth and families in crisis.
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Hollie Woehl, PhD | Guest Speaker
Hollie M. Holt-Woehl is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with a Ph.D. in pastoral care and counseling. She is the mother of two sons, one with hearing loss and mild autism.
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Shawn Bortel | Guest Speaker
Shawn Bortel has been working in education for the past 10 years. His experience has been working with students with Emotional Behavior Disorders, Learning Disabilities, Cognitive Delays, Autism and other Mental Health Disorders. Working with these students has always been with the goal in mind of helping these students cope with their current role as students and future role as adults.
Shawn's current role is as a Work Experience Coordinator at Lionsgate Academy's AIM program in which students (ages 18-21) are taught work skill for vocational independence. Shawn has worked both in administration and teaching at Lionsgate in which the mission and vision is to equip young adults with Autism for greater independence and success in their respective communities. Shawn resides in New Brighton with his lovely wife Jennifer and three girls, Tatum (5), Macey (3) and Annika (9 months).
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Julie Sampson | Guest Speaker
Julie Sampson is a certified trainer with Thera Rising, in Self-defeating Habits of Otherwise Brilliant People® Over the past 13 years, she has been partnering with companies by coaching employees for excellence in people skills and leadership skills. Since 1998, Julie has been a certified trainer with Dale Carnegie Training and coached hundreds of executives in strengthening presentation and communication skills. She has been an executive trainer for many in-house projects throughout the Saint Paul / Minneapolis area to develop the skills of employees and teams for better business productivity.
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Brian Pingel | Guest Speaker
Brian has been in youth ministry for 17 years. I am currently in Higher Education with a passion for helping young people develop who God created them to be.
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BOB STROMBERG | associate staff
Internationally known funny man,
Bob is a gifted communicator, storyteller and author who has captivated audiences
for over 30 years. Creator of the hit comedy, Triple Espresso, and new one-man show, Mr. Wonder Boy, Bob is a longtime friend of Youth Leadership and teaches in
our COMMUNICATE class. For
more info, visit www.bobstromberg.com.
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PAUL HILL | Guest Speaker
Executive Director, Vibrant Faith Ministries.
UNDERSTAND class.
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KEVIN FARMER | associate staff
Kevin has worked with young people for over 15 years, from Philadelphia to Minnesota.
He is a Youth Leadership alumni and the pastor of Equipping and Formation at Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis. Kevin teaches about youth culture in ESTABLISH.
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AMANDA Berger | Guest Speaker
Amanda is a pastor to middle schoolers at St. Philip the Deacon and is known for her fantastic ways of managing time and keeping a calendar. She has been known to make a guest appearance in MANAGE and is part of Youth Leadership’s speaking team.
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NATALIA TERFA | Guest Speaker
A youth pastor to junior and senior
high students, Natalia specializes in mentoring, marketing and organization. One
of the more normal and fun Type-A’s you’ll meet, we glean from her wisdom
in MANAGE. Natalia also shares her passion and knowledge of youth ministry as part of our speaking team.
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Dave Mergens | associate staff
When Dave isn’t camping, biking or having water balloon fights with students, he serves as Jr. High pastor at Grace Church in Champlin. As a Youth Leadership graduate, he gets youth ministry and shares his experiences and insights in our ESTABLISH class. Dave is also a part of our speaking team.
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Nate Gustafson | associate staff
Nate is a Youth Leadership graduate and for over 9 years, he has served at Cornerstone Church in Crystal. He is passionate about his daughter, his wife, his ministry and come to think of it… just about everything. He brings that passion to the ESTABLISH class and can bring it to your church as part of our speaking team.
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NATE "N8" STENHOLTZ | associate staff
Nate loves Jesus, his wife, his children, prayer, Starbucks, and the Church. He is passionate about helping people follow the life and teachings of Jesus and believes every church needs adults who are first disciples of Jesus and can pass on a living faith that will impact the world today and tomorrow. As a youth pastor at Christ Community Church in Rochester, MN he is consistently trying to live out what he says and what he teaches. Nate is a part of the Youth Leadership speaking team.
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JOELLE HASSLER | associate staff
As Pastor of Youth and Outreach at First Baptist in Minneapolis, Joelle blends a passion for youth ministry with the goal of leading the church’s outreach effort. Joelle is a graduate of Bethel University and also Bethel Seminary as is a part of our speaking team.
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BRIAN HOUTS | GUEST SPEAKER
Director of Program Development, Connected Families
UNDERSTAND class.
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PAM HULL | GUEST SPEAKER
System Director of Strategy Development, HealthEast
LEAD class.
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DAN COLLISION | GUEST SPEAKER
Lead Pastor, First Covenant, Minneapolis, MN
LEAD class.
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Annie Perdue-Olson | GUEST SPEAKER
Annie Perdue-Olson, Leadership Coach and Trainer, Olson and Associates, Inc.
MANAGE class.
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STEVE ANDERSON | GUEST SPEAKER
Pastor of Student Ministries, Excelsior Covenant Church
MANAGE class.
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JENNIFER SCOTT | GUEST SPEAKER
Adjunct Asst. Professor in Biblical and Theological Studies, Bethel University
INTRO TO THE BIBLE class.
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HANS WIERSMA | GUEST SPEAKER
Assistant Professor of Religion, Augsburg College
INTRO TO THE BIBLE class.
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