There is an exciting model in youth ministry that connects Young Life with a local congregation, the Young Life Church Partnership program. Across the nation there are a number of partnerships between Young Life and congregations but nowhere is there the critical mass of partnerships we have here in the Western Great Lakes Region.
Fourteen churches have entered into this partnership with Young Life to reach beyond the walls of their congregation to introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith. Some of these partnerships have helped us reach new schools, like Harbor Springs and Petoskey, and even new communities such as Jack Droppers starting WyldLife in Muskegon. We are reaching hundreds more kids because of the partnerships with these congregations.
The church partner is a full time employee of the church who’s primary responsibility is the high school and middle school youth ministry of the congregation. The church partner then spends 30% of their time working with Young Life as an outreach of the church. Because of Young Life’s incarnational approach the partner spends a great deal of time at the local high school or middle school. At the school they connect with kids from church, kids from Young Life, and kids with no connection to a community of faith.
We ask these partners for a three year commitment, which is twice the average tenure of a youth minister. Over the past ten years 95% of these partners have completed at least three years. Ryan White at First Christian Reformed Church in Allendale is the “dean” of the church partners in his tenth year.
Jay Lindell, Area Director in Holland and specialized minister in the Reformed Church, leads this program for our region. With pride Jay reflects on the quality of these partners.
“We have a deep pool of women and men who have been Young Life leaders with at least four years of experience, probably 2,000 hours or more, under our supervision. The regional interview team meets with 12-18 candidates each year. We know exactly what we are looking for. We already know these folks are successful with teenagers and most have experience leading teams. Their primary calling is teenagers. We have identified the competencies necessary for a fruitful ministry.”
Jay meets with all the partners once each month for training. Some of this training is around organization and communication since most partners are in their first professional job. Some of the training is around discussions going on in the world of professional youth ministers such as what makes faith stick into adulthood.
“Perhaps the best part of training is getting together with other people who are doing the same job and learning from each other. Someone in their first year will bring up a concern and then someone with a little more experience will assure them they are normal. Then the group shares ideas of how they addressed that issue.”
The Young Life Church Partnership program has also become a pipeline into other forms of ministry. Many of our former partners have gone on to seminary, to Young Life staff, to college campus ministries and to be pastors of congregations.
Here is a list of our current church partnerships as of Spring 2014:
First Reformed Church, Grandville
Partner: Jeff Watson
Second Christian Reformed Church, Fremont
Partner: Brittany Baker
Allendale 1st Christian Reformed Church
Partner: Ryan White
First Presbyterian, Harbor Springs
Partner: Mike Ossewaarde
First Presbyterian Petoskey
Partner: Jake Tracy
Westview Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids
Partner: Bryan DeKoekkoek
Alive Ministries (CRC), Jenison
Partner: Carrie Rodgers
Fellowship Reformed Church, Muskegon
Partner: Jack Droppers
Keystone Church – Grand Rapids
Partner: Caitlyn Ouwinga – 2013
Immanuel Reformed Church, Grand Rapids
Partner: Michael Bredeweg
Trinity Lutheran Church, Midland
Partner: Jordan Palladino
Memorial Presbyterian Church, Midland
Partner: Kyle Kuipers.
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