Anybody's teens have experience with Young Life?

[Anonymous]

I am a current Young Life leader in Frederick. I'm 29, with 2 young kids and married, so not a college age kid living at home with my parents. I was involved throughout middle and high school, and stayed involved throughout my adult life before becoming a leader again.

I am not evangelical Christian, I am presbyterian.

If you tell me your city/county, I can give you the contact information for the Area Director, the adult that is in charge of the college age/ young adult leaders and finances/ etc. He or she would be MORE than happy to speak or meet with you about any/all concerns!

[Anonymous]

When I was in HS, my best friend was in YL. It was a very social group. She was Presbyterian. I wanted to join because she made it sound so fun but I’m Jewish and my mom said absolutely not. But looking back, I don’t think her group of YL friends were well supervised. She would go out “forking” and toilet papering houses with them. I’m not sure about drinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was in HS, my best friend was in YL. It was a very social group. She was Presbyterian. I wanted to join because she made it sound so fun but I’m Jewish and my mom said absolutely not. But looking back, I don’t think her group of YL friends were well supervised. She would go out “forking” and toilet papering houses with them. I’m not sure about drinking.

I meant to add that I was in BBYO and there were some kids who were role followers and some who were partiers. I think all these groups are dependent on the leader and particular peer group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was in HS, my best friend was in YL. It was a very social group. She was Presbyterian. I wanted to join because she made it sound so fun but I’m Jewish and my mom said absolutely not. But looking back, I don’t think her group of YL friends were well supervised. She would go out “forking” and toilet papering houses with them. I’m not sure about drinking.

As a parent to a teen if that is all they do, then sign my kid up! I'm not quite sure one can chaperone a teen every second of the day, like they are toddlers.

[Anonymous]

As pointed out upthread, a bunch of previous posters are using the term "evangelical" wrong. To quote the Atlantic article someone posted earlier,

"The term evangelical derives from the Greek word euangelion meaning “gospel” or “good news.” Technically speaking, evangelical refers to a person, church, or organization that is committed to the Christian gospel message that Jesus Christ is the savior of humanity."

So, the YL Presbyterian leader is evangelical - and so are the Catholics that have been chiming in, unless you all have stopped believing Jesus is the Savior.

Yes, we've begun using Evangelical to mean something else - people that heavily recruit others to their church, perhaps - but that's not the actual meaning.

-- Poster who grew up in the Midwest at a high school where Young Life was active - and those who were active in Young Life were the popular, heavy drinking crowd that had a lot of sex. It was VERY cliquish and only certain kids were invited to participate.

BUT I recognize that every Young Life group is different.

I'm not saying you shouldn't send your kid to Young Life. I'm saying don't crowdsource this to an anonymous forum, find out what YOUR school's Young Life group is like. Because (1) many posters' experiences are at least 10-15 years old and often in another part of the country and (2) no Young Life leader is going to admit that "their kids" drink and do drugs. Ask the other parents or RECENT graduates of your school what that particular group is like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was super popular where I grew up. Totally weird and encompassing. Cultish. But that was in the 90s, so hopefully some people have more info re: today.

It was like this in the 80's too!

And the 70's.

[Anonymous]

80's midwest. Oh they partied but were big on the abstinence - the YL girls were the "everything but" girls who ended up doing things even the girls who put out wouldn't do as long as they could hold on their "V" card.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do openly gay teens join Young Life? Would they be comfortable and accepted?

i know an adult member of young life and she is very open and welcoming of my 2 Mom family. She is a lovely person all around.

I think this varies a lot by the area/ group leader.

I am not in the DC area anymore, we are in a more southern location and there are a lot of "true" evangelicals here. Young Life is liberal in that they accept everyone regardless of religious affiliation, but there is a lot of talk about Jesus. Our local group has Protestants, Catholics and a few non-practicing Jews. My friend has hosted some "parties/ events" at her house and the young people are very nice, seem wholesome, have a lot of fun singing and playing silly games instead of drinking and making out. So that part seems like a nice social scene alternative.

But when 1 of her 3 teenage sons came out it got weird. He was and would like to still be active in Young Life, but they have asked him to stop attending meetings. He was also expelled from his Christian school and is their family is currently being shunned by a large part of their previous peer group. It is appalling.

But there are some people who are part of Young Life who have stayed friends with their son. They are struggling though with the hypocrisy this has exposed within the group. The now openly gay son is still celibate and still believes Jesus is his personal savior.

So you may want to reach out to the leader of the local group to see if they have faced any situations like this and how they handled them.

[Anonymous]

08:34, does Young Life allow gay adults to be leaders? Would you say this article is accurate?


https://www.heraldnet.com/news/volunteer-quits-young-life-over-ban-on-gay-leaders/

[Anonymous]

A bunch of my friends did it grow up. From what I gathered it just made for an easy hook up situation.

[Anonymous]

I did YL & Campaigners. YL is the more social aspect for people of any beliefs that may be interested in learning about Christ and having fun. Campaigners is more of a Bible study for committed Christians.

I don't think it's odd to say that someone needs to accept Christ as savior to be a Christian, isn't that really the definition of the faith? Of course that doesn't mean you aren't Christian because you didn't have a "conversion experience." The 2 aren't the same. Christ is as much a savior in the mainline as evangelical, I think this is more of a miscommunication or misconception of what that means. No reason why you can't "come to Christ" gradually through your mainline Christian upbringing. I was raised evangelical and still kind of consider myself evangelical but also a member of a mainline church and more liberal than most evangelicals (though there are liberal evangelicals out there)! I have a kid at Blair and wish they had a YL group. The fellowship was great and gave me no desire to be a part of the party scene.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do openly gay teens join Young Life? Would they be comfortable and accepted?

i know an adult member of young life and she is very open and welcoming of my 2 Mom family. She is a lovely person all around.

I think this varies a lot by the area/ group leader.

I am not in the DC area anymore, we are in a more southern location and there are a lot of "true" evangelicals here. Young Life is liberal in that they accept everyone regardless of religious affiliation, but there is a lot of talk about Jesus. Our local group has Protestants, Catholics and a few non-practicing Jews. My friend has hosted some "parties/ events" at her house and the young people are very nice, seem wholesome, have a lot of fun singing and playing silly games instead of drinking and making out. So that part seems like a nice social scene alternative.

But when 1 of her 3 teenage sons came out it got weird. He was and would like to still be active in Young Life, but they have asked him to stop attending meetings. He was also expelled from his Christian school and is their family is currently being shunned by a large part of their previous peer group. It is appalling.

But there are some people who are part of Young Life who have stayed friends with their son. They are struggling though with the hypocrisy this has exposed within the group. The now openly gay son is still celibate and still believes Jesus is his personal savior.

So you may want to reach out to the leader of the local group to see if they have faced any situations like this and how they handled them.

I am so sorry to hear this. I hope the struggle will lead to deeper understanding and compassion from YL as an organization. I would have to agree that different groups/leaders would have differing views.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As pointed out upthread, a bunch of previous posters are using the term "evangelical" wrong. To quote the Atlantic article someone posted earlier,

"The term evangelical derives from the Greek word euangelion meaning “gospel” or “good news.” Technically speaking, evangelical refers to a person, church, or organization that is committed to the Christian gospel message that Jesus Christ is the savior of humanity."

So, the YL Presbyterian leader is evangelical - and so are the Catholics that have been chiming in, unless you all have stopped believing Jesus is the Savior.

Yes, we've begun using Evangelical to mean something else - people that heavily recruit others to their church, perhaps - but that's not the actual meaning.

-- Poster who grew up in the Midwest at a high school where Young Life was active - and those who were active in Young Life were the popular, heavy drinking crowd that had a lot of sex. It was VERY cliquish and only certain kids were invited to participate.

BUT I recognize that every Young Life group is different.

I'm not saying you shouldn't send your kid to Young Life. I'm saying don't crowdsource this to an anonymous forum, find out what YOUR school's Young Life group is like. Because (1) many posters' experiences are at least 10-15 years old and often in another part of the country and (2) no Young Life leader is going to admit that "their kids" drink and do drugs. Ask the other parents or RECENT graduates of your school what that particular group is like.

I agree somewhat w/ a couple points of differentiation. The definition of evangelical is correct, but the Good News does place an emphasis on the centrality of Jesus and telling people about him/salvation. This is not necessarily prevalent in Catholic or other Protestant denominations, though it may be. Our local Catholic church had an evangelical group. I eventually became Presbyterian, and I found some fellow church goers who were fairly evangelical there and some not-so much (more into traditions).

I totally agree that evangelical does not mean recruiting to a specific church or cultish or necessarily conservative (though many are). I used to teach at a Christian college, & I and many former students would probably be classified as evangelical Left!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do openly gay teens join Young Life? Would they be comfortable and accepted?

i know an adult member of young life and she is very open and welcoming of my 2 Mom family. She is a lovely person all around.

I think this varies a lot by the area/ group leader.

I am not in the DC area anymore, we are in a more southern location and there are a lot of "true" evangelicals here. Young Life is liberal in that they accept everyone regardless of religious affiliation, but there is a lot of talk about Jesus. Our local group has Protestants, Catholics and a few non-practicing Jews. My friend has hosted some "parties/ events" at her house and the young people are very nice, seem wholesome, have a lot of fun singing and playing silly games instead of drinking and making out. So that part seems like a nice social scene alternative.

But when 1 of her 3 teenage sons came out it got weird. He was and would like to still be active in Young Life, but they have asked him to stop attending meetings. He was also expelled from his Christian school and is their family is currently being shunned by a large part of their previous peer group. It is appalling.

But there are some people who are part of Young Life who have stayed friends with their son. They are struggling though with the hypocrisy this has exposed within the group. The now openly gay son is still celibate and still believes Jesus is his personal savior.

So you may want to reach out to the leader of the local group to see if they have faced any situations like this and how they handled them.

IME, homosexuality has been described as “sexual sin” by YL leaders. I’m wary of the heavily touted summer camps because young attendees are encouraged to open up in small group settings about difficult times or trauma they have experienced. I was surprised by what my
son shared and taken aback by the adult response to his share. He was 13 years of age at the time. Tread carefully....

[Anonymous]

I'm probably younger than most of you and was in YL during the current century For the record:

- I did not grow up in a church
- I did not want to drink, do drugs or be sexually active in HS
-YL gave me a group of friends with similar values and it was a great safe place to NOT have to fit in with the fast crowd.
-my experience was positive and kept me out of trouble and never put me in a situation that I was uncomfortable in.
- The YL kids in my high school were definitely the "good kids" who were never in trouble.

I'm very grateful that YL allowed me a safe social setting to be a kid and not feel pressured to do grown up things.