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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Young Life has been around for decades. It is generally upbeat and not especially cult-like; most of the kids who attend in high school move on and don’t have any ongoing connection to YL.  They have some nice camps, including a beautiful facility in Saranac Lake.  I went to YL in high school decades ago and recall being asked to join a more intense weekly Bible study group in my senior year, after I’d been going to YL two years. I wasn’t up for that, and declined, and then just stopped going to the weekly meetings, which were mostly social sing-alongs, altogether.  One of the youth leaders made one attempt to get me to return, but left me alone when I said I had too much on my plate.

My recollection is that the types of kids who got involved in YL varied a lot from school to school. At some area schools it was mostly band/theatre kids, while at others there were a lot more athletes/cheerleaders.  That was probably a reflection of its decentralized structure. [/quote]

I grew up in the 80s and this was my experience as well.  YL was a huge, fun group of kids from all the local high schools and I think we met once every two weeks or so.  Meetings consisted of hilarious skits, singing, jokes, corny/goofy fun, and yes, some praying.  I found it to be an incredibly positive influence on my high school years.  I had to laugh at one of the PP's characterization of it being "cultish."  No, not at all.  It's just a great group of perfectly normal kids from all different cliques/groups, which makes it a great way to meet kids you wouldn't otherwise know or hang out with.  We took several weekend retreats which were a blast.  I went on the summer trip to Saranac, and it truly was "the best week of my life."  None of my close friends at the time were going, but I decided to take a chance and just go - and I wound up meeting new kids and just having the most unbelievable time.  I'm 50 yrs. old and still remember that week.

I would say it's 80% having fun and about 20% talking about Christ.  Not evangelical at all, but yes - Christian.  A very welcoming atmosphere for anyone.

My daughter is a freshman and her older siblings were involved in YL - she's eager to start too.  [/quote]

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