Help for Young Life Leaders NOW

We are starting our summer Work Crew training next week. We have done various things in years past: here and here are some examples. This year we are collaborating with another area for a new approach. We will have two weeks of training online via a Facebook group and submitting work through Google forms. We will then have two Sunday meetings with all the kids from both areas.

For part of our online training we are having kids prepare their written testimony. I have two resources I am giving them, so I thought I’d pass them along to you too.

I am also including the amazing Work Crew training plan from the San Francisco Bay Region from my friend Bree. It is amazing.

Enjoy!

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Over the summer I normally try to post a couple things that I learned over the previous school year. If you have anything you learned from last year that you would like to tell me about, send it my way smcgever (at) pv dot younglife dot org

In our club, I normally play guitar and lead the music with some help from another leader. This has been the norm for me for a long, long time. When I was in high school going through WL leader training, the person training me briefly mentioned, “oh, and you should probably learn to play the guitar.” So, I borrowed a guitar and taught myself the four chords needed to play 90% of club songs.

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Need to get a new leader up to speed with contact work and the school? We have used these questions below to help get things going. This could also be a great refresher for an experienced leader. You could also have a contest between leaders, pair them up in groups of two and see who can finish this first. Another way we have used this is at our All Area Leadership meetings. We play a Jeopardy style game with one representative from each club. The possibilities are endless. Not really, but it is fun to say they are.

Here is a worksheet you can download.

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I want to put together a checklist for leaders in training. It would be a 1st 30 days new leader checklist. In other words, it would be a list of the most important things a leader could do to get a great start as a YL leader. Here are a couple ideas…

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This is the fifth and final post in a series that is a review of the Original Young Life Leader Training Manual from 1942.

If you are interested, here is the link to the copy I made of the manual with a letter from Jim Rayburn.

4. The Young Life Club and Promotion

The last two sections are about club and promotion of club. From the very start, the manual says that there is no set procedure for the club meeting. The manual consistently reminds the reader that Young Life is done best when it is molded to the local context.

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This is the fourth post in a series that is a review of the Original Young Life Leader Training Manual from 1942.

If you are interested, here is the link to the copy I made of the manual with a letter from Jim Rayburn.

3. The Campaign Organization

The Young Life “Campaign” was organized under a national board of directors, much as it is today. Under this board sits a local committee. Then there are field staff. At the time of this manual there were only five Young Life staff! The manual mentions that they were paid a salary each month, if the money came in that month! The staff was expected to keep a file of all club members. Weekly reports of attendance were to be sent in to the office for their records.

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This is the third post in a series that is a review of the Original Young Life Leader Training Manual from 1942.

If you are interested, here is the link to the copy I made of the manual with a letter from Jim Rayburn.

2. The Campaign Leader

The manual starts this section on leadership with a bold phrase, “The leader is IT!” Young Life puts an incredible emphasis on the leader and on leadership. There is not only one kind of leadership, as the manual suggests, “Do not put yourself in someone else’s mold. Use the personality God gave you to its best advantages.” This is a good reminder as we often see leaders up-front who are funny or exceptional communicators. There is not one “mold” for the Young Life leader. The mold is the complete body of Christ and each person is just one part.

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This is the second post in a series that is a review of the Original Young Life Leader Training Manual from 1942.

If you are interested, here is the link to the copy I made of the manual with a letter from Jim Rayburn.

1. The Introduction

The introduction begins by asking a great question, “Why Young Life Campaign?” Basically why do we need something like Young Life today? It also asks, “What need is there for another organization?” The same questions are asked today. Sometimes this is asked by teenagers, “What is Young Life?” Sometimes this is asked by parents. Sometimes the question is asked by opponents in and out of the church, “Is there a need for another organization?”

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This is the first post in a series that is a review of the Original Young Life Leader Training Manual from 1942. This is a little change of pace from the typical content on this blog, but I trust it will be helpful for staff and volunteers.

If you are interested, here is the link to the copy I made of the manual with a letter from Jim Rayburn.

Intro and Background

I stumbled across a goldmine of Young Life history and philosophy. Let me tell you the story… While I was working on my M.Div I searched the country to find the best elective credit I could find. I found it at Wheaton. They have a Masters in Leadership and Evangelism program that is top notch. They study and teach the things I am most interested in at the highest level. I have since then graduated from seminary but I continue to travel back to Wheaton to take classes that I think will help my theology and ministry in Young Life. Read the rest of this entry »

We just finished being a part of four weekend camps for our area! They were great, the Lord did amazing things. I also recently posted about using cabin time questions at weekend camp.

We require every leader to go through leadership training to be a leader and then we do separate trainings for leading at weekend camps and weeklong summer camp trips. I recently refined our weekend camp leader training packet. I thought I’d share it with you all. Enjoy!

PS… If you have any reflections from the Fall semester, things you learned, things you would never do again, etc. Pass them along! Leave a comment or email me smcgever (at) pv.younglife.org.