Young Life

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Young Life is a Christian non-denominational, incarnational, ministry based in Colorado Springs, but more commonly the name refers to the outreach arm of the organization directed towards high school students.

Contents

[edit] Background

Young Life in the United States of America was founded by Jim Rayburn in Texas in 1941. Originally called the Miracle Book Club, Rayburn changed the name to Young Life to be more attractive to teenagers. It was the philosophies of this US version that inspired evangelical efforts in more than 50 other countries, reaching an estimated 1 million teenagers annually.

Young Life's leaders state that their ministry philosophy is "incarnational" or "relational" ministry, which they define as a ministry where leaders share their lives with teenagers in order to teach them about Christianity. As a result, campus groups attempt to recruit high school students who do not attend church regularly. Young Life's goal is to spread Christianity in order to expand the belief to areas that have limited Christian influnce.

Young Life activities are coordinated by the Young Life area director and/or by volunteer Young Life leaders, who are assigned to a particular high school. These volunteer leaders are usually trained, interviewed, and screened by the area director, who is ultimately accountable for their actions and whatever activities are planned. The training process is left to the judgment of the area director, however Young Life has a hierarchy where a supervising staff member is accountable for every staff member under them all the way up to the president of the organization.

Campers relax in the pool at the Young Life camp Wildhorse Canyon, located in Antelope, Oregon.
Campers relax in the pool at the Young Life camp Wildhorse Canyon, located in Antelope, Oregon.

Young Life is active in all 50 states in the United States of America and currently has a club present in roughly 2,500 high schools across the nation. It has expanded internationally to Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.[1] More than 70,000 teenagers spend a weekend during the school year or a week during the summer at one of Young Life's camping properties in the United States and Canada.[2]

[edit] Organizational Mission Statement

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 (May 2008)

Introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith. We accomplish our mission by ...

Praying for young people. Building personal relationships with them. Winning the right to be heard. Providing experiences that are fun, adventurous and life-changing. Sharing our lives and the Good News of Jesus Christ with adolescents. Inviting them to personally respond to this Good News. Loving them regardless of their response. Nurturing youngsters so they might grow in their love for Christ and the knowledge of God's Word and become people who can share their faith with others. Helping young people develop the skills, assets and attitudes to reach their full God-given potential. Encouraging youngsters to live connected to the Body of Christ by being an active member of a local congregation. Working with a team of like-minded individuals -- volunteer leaders, committee members, donors and staff.[3].

[edit] Young Life's Five C's

The Young Life organization has intentional ways of reaching out to youth throughout the world through what the ministry calls "The 5 C's"[4]:

Contact work - Any instance where Young Life leaders spend time with teenagers in an informal setting. Examples of "contact work" encouraged by Young Life staff include going to sporting events, talking after school, and hanging out with teenagers during their school hours. Contact work is the foundation for the ministry of Young Life. It was one of the founding principles and the basis to spreading the ministry.
Club - The chief event of Young Life. Club typically includes one or more of the following activities: skits performed by students and/or leaders, icebreakers, singing pop music, and a short talk (usually around 10 minutes) about Jesus Christ. Many Young Life clubs have "membership" that is a loose term, as membership is not at all required to take part in Young Life sponsored activities, but is merely a status noted when students fill out a card containing demographic information about themselves. Membership is open to all students and has no requirements.
Campaigners - An optional bible study for students. This event typically includes singing Christian songs as well. Since the study is optional, only a portion of Young Life club members attend.
Camp - Every summer Young Life leaders arrange a trip to take teenagers to one of the camps owned by the organization. Most camps host weekend and summer trips, and are busy year-round. Young Life camps are staffed by volunteer high school students and college students in the summer, along with full-time camp property staff members throughout the year. Students involved as camp staff commit to a month of service. Food and lodging are provided for the volunteer camp staff. The high school students are referred to as "Crew" and the college students are referred to as "Summer Staff". Camps range from 5 to 7 days and include numerous voluntary activities. These events include: sports, field games, arts & crafts, swimming, Young Life club, a time to reflect on what they have heard about Jesus Christ, and role-playing dramas where Young Life leaders act out scenes and monologues as if they were high school students. Camps also include activities that may be specific to that particular camp... kart racing, ropes courses, and mountain bikes are examples.
Committee - A group of adults who are committed to supporting Young Life in their local area. Support from committee members typically includes any combination of prayer, planning, and/or donations. Most Young Life committees have a volunteer chairperson who is responsible for all committee coordination efforts. Committee chairpersons often co-sponsor local fundraising efforts, as Young Life area directors are responsible for raising the vast majority of their own area's operating budget... banquets and golf tournaments are examples of common fundraising events.

[edit] Camping

There are currently 19 Young Life camps in operation across the continental United States, 2 camps in Canada, and 3 camps in Latin America. Young Life also owns 2 camps that they are not currently operating.

[edit] Locations in the United States

[edit] Locations in Canada

[edit] Locations in Latin America

[edit] Locations not currently operating

  • Clearwater Cove in Lampe, Missouri, USA
  • Pinnacle Point in Brevard, North Carolina, USA

[edit] Leadership

Young Life employs more than 3,000 staff and more than 27,000 volunteers. Each year, more than 150 new staff members or interns are employed by Young Life and work for a two-year period. After this period they can decide to or not to continue with the ministry. Volunteer leaders are absolutely vital to the mission of Young Life. It is their involvement that allows lives to be changed. Young Life volunteer leaders participate in a full range of activities that help them build these significant relationships with kids. Each Young Life area has a different process for becoming a Young Life leader.

== Organizational Statistics ==[5].

U.S. High Schools: 2,543 Schools and Other Outreach Ministries

  • 74,918 Children in High School Ministries/Weekly
  • 29.46 Average Ministry Size
  • 204,477 Club/Contact Cards
  • 31,194 Campaigners

U.S. Junior High Schools: 1,223 Schools and Other Outreach Ministries

  • 27,579 Children in Junior High School Ministries/ Weekly
  • 22.55 Average Ministry Size
  • 60,335 Club/Contact Cards
  • 6,379 Campaigners
  • 613,431 Est. Total of Kids We Minister to Each Year¹ 181,005 Est. Total of Kids We Minister to Each Year¹

Capernaum: 110 Schools and Other Outreach Ministries

  • 1,354 Children in Capernaum Ministries/Weekly
  • 12.31 Average Ministry Size
  • 2,357 Club/Contact Cards
  • 395 Campaigners

YoungLives: 62 Schools and Other Outreach Ministries

  • 879 Children in YoungLives Ministries/Weekly
  • 14.18 Average Ministry Size
  • 1,278 Club/Contact Cards
  • 277 Campaigners

International: 58 Countries with 597 Young Life ministries to nationals, international school students or children of US military personnel

Overall U.S. Ministry: 963 Areas with Ministry

  • 16,436 Volunteer Leaders
  • 11,723 Committee Members
  • 52 Regions with Active Ministries

Summer Camping

  • 33,888 High School Campers at Young Life Camps
  • 12,508 Junior High Campers at Young Life Camps
  • 375 Campers at Non-Young Life Camps
  • 1,968 Work Crew
  • 1,949 Summer Staff
  • 1,031 Wilderness and Creative Camping

School Season Camping

  • 22,974 High School Campers at Young Life Camps
  • 5,113 Junior High Campers at Young Life Camps
  • 2,222 Campers at Non-Young Life Camps
  • 6,174 Leadership Campers
  • 11,252 Work Crew

Personnel

  • 3,180 Total Young Life Staff
  • 1,153 Full-Time Field Ministry/U.S.
  • 106 Field Ministry/International (U.S. Staff Only)
  • 361 Field Administrative
  • 668 Part-Time Field Ministry/U.S. 78 Area Director School

Training

  • School Attendance
  • 223 New Staff Training
  • 154 Winter Training
  • 105 Apologetics
  • 6 Regional Director School

Financial Highlights (06-07):

  • $159,394,565 Total Contributions
  • $2,596,331 Staff Contributions
  • $212,905,542 Total Revenues
  • 165,306 Active Donors

¹ Based on total number of club cards times three to factor for kids we know we know who have not filled out a club card

[edit] Statement of Faith

Young Life’s Statement of Faith*[6]. Preamble We the members of the Young Life mission – trustees, staff, instructors at Young Life schools and volunteers – join together in our affirmation of the following articles and our central purpose of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and introducing adolescents everywhere to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith.

Article I: The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the final and supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

Article II: In the Scriptures, God reveals Himself as the living and true God, Creator of all things. Perfect in love and righteous in all His ways, this one God exists eternally as a Trinity of persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Article III: God made man and woman in His image that He might have fellowship with us. Being estranged from God by our disobedience, we are, as sinful people, incapable of a right relationship to God apart from divine grace.

Article IV: The only Mediator between God and all human beings is Jesus Christ our Lord, God’s eternal Son, who as man fully shared and fulfilled our humanity in a life of perfect obedience.

Article V: By His death in our place, Jesus revealed the divine love and upheld divine justice, removing our guilt and reconciling us to God. Having risen bodily from the dead and ascended into heaven, He rules as Lord over all and intercedes for us, as our Great High Priest.

Article VI: The Holy Spirit, through the proclamation of the Gospel, renews our hearts, persuading us to repent of our sins and confess Jesus as Lord. By the same Spirit we are led to trust in divine mercy, whereby we are forgiven all our sins, justified by faith through the merit of Christ our Savior, adopted into God’s family as His children and enabled so to live in the world that all people may see our good works and the Gospel of grace at work in our lives and glorify our Father who is in heaven.

Article VII: God, by His Word and Spirit, calls us as sinful people into the fellowship of Christ’s body. Thus He creates the one holy, catholic and apostolic church, united in the bonds of love, endowed with the gifts of the Spirit and summoned by Christ to preach the Gospel and to administer the sacraments, to carry on the ministry of reconciliation, to relieve human need and to strive for social justice.

Article VIII: God’s redemptive purpose will be consummated by the return of Christ to raise the dead, judge all people and establish His glorious kingdom. Those who are apart from Christ shall be eternally separated from God’s presence, but the redeemed shall live and reign with Him forever.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Facts at Your Fingertips
  2. ^ Facts at Your Fingertips
  3. ^ Mission and Vision of Young Life
  4. ^ Five C's of Young Life
  5. ^ [All data is for the 2006-2007 school year unless noted otherwise Facts at Your Fingertips
  6. ^ Statement of Faith
  • From Young Life Bylaws, Article IX

[edit] External links