young life - capernaum board handbook

Capernaum BoardEFFECTIVE

Building an

Capernaum Board Handbook

877-438-9572 • younglife.orgYoung Life © August 2015 • YL-2377

Printed in USA • August 2015

Young Life Capernaum Board Handbook

ContentsWelcome to the Young Life Capernaum Board .............................................................. 1

A Synopsis of Young Life ................................................................................................ 2

A Word from the President ............................................................................................. 2

What We Believe ............................................................................................................. 3

Our Mission Statement ................................................................................................... 5

God’s Heart for People with Disabilities: A Biblical Basis for Capernaum Ministry ..... 6

Young Life and Young Life Capernaum .......................................................................... 8 The Method of Young Life .............................................................................................. 10

How Young Life Began .................................................................................................. 12

The Story of Young Life Capernaum ............................................................................... 13

The “Official” Pronunciation of Capernaum ...................................................................... 14

Young Life Capernaum: A Focused Ministry ................................................................ 15 Beyond Capernaum ...................................................................................................... 18

The Characteristics of an Effective Young Life Capernaum Board ............................. 21

Job Descriptions ........................................................................................................... 34

Young Life Glossary ...................................................................................................... 40

Capernaum Board Handbook

Welcome to the Young Life Capernaum Board!

Dear Friend,

Whether you’re new to Young Life and Young Life Capernaum or you’re a seasoned Young Life veteran, there’s a lot to know about Young Life and how it works.

That’s why we’ve put together this Young Life Capernaum Board Handbook. In it you’ll find out a little about our history, who we are and why we do what we do best — reach out to kids with the Good News of God’s love for them!

This handbook is an attempt to put most everything you might need to know in one place. It gives a little about our background and how both Young Life and Young Life Capernaum came about, how we are organized, and how we as Young Life Capernaum are the same and different.

It starts with an overview of the Young Life mission and what we believe. It then lets you know how Young Life is structured and where Young Life Capernaum fits in.

And then there are nitty-gritty details about our Young Life Capernaum Board — what makes an effective board as well as details about how the board works and what’s expected.

And just for fun, there’s a rather loose dictionary of sorts with Young Life and Young Life Capernaum terms that may not be familiar and can be a bit confusing.

So, feel free to use it as a reference, and we hope it helps you to feel informed and better able to serve in the ministry of Young Life Capernaum!

With thanks for all you do for Young Life Capernaum,

The Young Life Capernaum Board Development and Recruitment Sub-Committee

Welcome

Young Life

A Synopsis of Young LifeYoung Life was founded by Jim Rayburn, a seminary student and part-time youth minister in Gainesville, Texas. He wanted to reach out to kids who were disinterested in church. Rayburn took the challenge to go where the kids were, meet them on their turf, and find a creative way to share the love of God with them. Rayburn’s method of reaching out to adolescents worked in 1941, and it continues to be effective today. Annually, Young Life leaders impact the lives of nearly 1.7 million kids across the nation and around the world.

A Word from the PresidentOne of my favorite Bible stories comes from Mark, chapter 2. I never get tired of hearing how four determined friends tore a hole in the roof and lowered a paralytic onto the floor in front of Christ. And I never cease to be amazed at Mark’s commentary on corporate faith. Mark records, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”

I love that story because it so clearly depicts what I see happening every day in Young Life. Kids keep finding forgiveness at the feet of Christ, but behind every kid stands an entire team of determined adults. And just like the team of faithful friends in Mark 2, the Young Life team consists of four corners. I don’t know the personal profiles of the four friends in Mark, but I am very familiar with the four corners of corporate faith in Young Life. It takes the combined muscle of donors, committee, leaders who volunteer, and staff to tackle the tremendous task of getting kids to Jesus Christ.

I hope you get the picture. Without faithful folks serving in Young Life across this country and around the world, we would stumble badly in our efforts to carry kids to Jesus. We might be able to drag kids to the door, but we would never be able to lift kids to the roof. And the roof is where we often need to be in Young Life — on the edge, outside the box, above and beyond the call of duty — creating a window of opportunity through which kids can see Christ.

One commentary said that Jesus recognized the “ingenuity and persistence” of the four friends as faith. Welcome to the Young Life Capernaum Board Handbook. In this handbook, you’ll find a wealth of information and insight regarding Young Life. But we’ve discovered that the most important resource is you and your relationship with Christ.

You’ve proven yourself to be a person of ingenuity and persistence, and we need your faith to shoulder the weight of this tremendous mission. Thank you for joining the team. And congratulations! Just like the four friends in Mark, you’ve just secured a front row seat to watch Jesus work. I hope you enjoy the view.

Denny Rydberg, President of Young Life

(Denny Rydberg is Young Life’s fifth president and has faithfully served since 1993.)

What We Believe: Young Life’s Statement of FaithPreamble 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.

What We Believe

What We Believe

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.

Effective Committees Evaluate ThemselvesOur Mission

Our Mission: Introducing Adolescents to Jesus Christ and Helping Them Grow in Their FaithWe Accomplish Our Mission By ...

• Praying for young people.• Going where kids are.• 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 kids 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 kids 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 — leaders who volunteer, committee and board members, donors and staff.

Effective Committees Evaluate ThemselvesGod’s Heart for People with Disabilities

God’s Heart for People With Disabilities: A Biblical Basis for Capernaum Ministry 1. Scriptural Basis

Salvation• All have sinned and deserve death; the gift of salvation is also for all. (Romans 3:23; 6:23)• God loves the world (in its entirety) and gave His only Son for whosoever (no exceptions) will

believe (no entrance requirements except believing). (John 3:16)• Jesus is the door; any can enter and be saved. (John 10:9)• God desires that all be saved. (I Timothy 2:3-4)• Love one another. (John 13:34)• Bear one another’s burdens. (Galatians 6:2)

Creation• Male and female were created in God’s image; no other distinction is made. (Genesis 1:26-28)• Moses complains of being slow of speech and tongue. God responds with affirmation that He

knew that upon creation (and still chose to use him). (Exodus 4:10-11)

Great Commission• We are told to teach, reach and preach to all. (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Acts 1:8)

Conclusion• God loves all and desires to offer salvation to all. We are commanded to love and care for

all. God created all — even those with disabilities — and all means every person. Therefore, there is no room to exclude any group or people in God’s plan. It is all-inclusive (those with disabilities too). Ephesians 2:8-10 states that nothing we can do will save us; it is a free gift of God’s love and grace for no one to boast about. Therefore, ability (or disability) is not an issue. We are all created as God’s workmanship to walk in good works as a response to this gift. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus invites all those who are weary and heavy-laden (often this is how persons with disabilities feel) to come unto Him and find rest.

God’s Heart for People with Disabilities

2. Our Responsibility• To encourage the fainthearted and weak. (I Thessalonians 5:14)• When we do things unto the “least of these,” according to these verses, we do them unto Jesus

(Matthew 10:42, 25:34-45): In the eyes of the world, those with disabilities fall into this population. • Be people of vision — find the needs and meet them! (Proverbs 29:18)• Have regard for others (Philippians 2:1-4): Regard others (this includes persons with disabilities) as

more important than yourself, look out for others and exemplify a Christ-like attitude.• Experience abundant life (John 10:10): To exemplify and teach the abundant life Christ can give.

Many with disabilities merely exist; they need to know and experience the fullness and joy of abundant life.

• Be the Body of Christ (I Corinthians 12): Recognize that we are a body and need all members for optimum operation; assist persons with disabilities to identify their gifts and to use them in the body of the church.

3. Related Passages• King David shows kindness to Mephibosheth, the disabled son of his friend Jonathan. (II Samuel 9)• Intelligence or wisdom is not the issue; the law of the Lord makes wise the simple. (Psalm 19:7)• Jesus heals people of palsy, leprosy, infirmity, and blindness so that the power and glory of God

might be revealed. (Luke 5:25, 13:13, 17:15, 18:43)• Regarding the question of the man born blind, Jesus responds that neither the man nor his parents

sinned, but his blindness was so that the works of God might be displayed. (John 9:1-11)

Effective Committees Evaluate ThemselvesYoung Life and Young Life Capernaum

Young Life and Young Life CapernaumA Brief History of Young LifeIn 1939, Jim Rayburn, in his final year at Dallas Theological Seminary, was hired by Gainesville Presbyterian Church. The senior pastor, Clyde Kennedy, told Jim, “I don’t want you to come here just to feed our church kids. I expect you to do whatever is necessary to get to the ones I never see in church. You don’t have to make it part of our Presbyterian program.” That fall, Jim began traveling to Gainesville every weekend. He would spend Saturday hanging out with kids and teach a class at church on Sunday. He started a club that would meet in a classroom after school every Monday. He quickly learned several principles.

1. First, he discovered that if you want to have a meeting kids want to attend, don’t try to get them to stay after school.

2. Second, he recognized the positive potential of peer pressure: Kids will go where their friends are. 3. Third, if you interest the leaders in the school, other kids will follow. 4. Fourth, he discovered that evening was a better time to meet than afternoon, and that kids were

more comfortable in the informal atmosphere of a home. By April of 1940, the Gainesville Young Life club had grown to 125 kids meeting in a living room. Several new clubs were started in other towns and the tool of the traditional Young Life club became Young Life’s primary platform to live out Jim Rayburn’s belief that every kid had the right to hear the message of Jesus Christ and decide how to respond to the Gospel.

Young Life and Young Life Capernaum

SOUTHWESTERN

LEGEND

NORTHWESTERN

SOUTHERNGREATER NEW YORK

MIDWESTERNEASTERN

Young Life U.S. Divisions

SOUTHWESTERN

1. Northstar2. Gateway3. Heartland4. Wisconsin5. Chicagoland6. Raceway7. W. Great Lakes8. E. Great Lakes

MIDWESTERN

1. North Coast2. Buckeye3. River4. West Central PA5. Greater Northeast6. Liberty7. Chesapeake Bay8. Washington Metro9. Blue Ridge10. Commonwealth

EASTERN

GREATER NEW YORK 1. Cimarron2. N. Central Texas3. Lone Star4. Houston

1. Metro North2. Garden State 3. Gotham City4. Long Island

SOUTHERN 5. ArkLaMiss6. Tennessee7. Tar Heel8. Southeast

1. NorCal 2. Golden Gate3. Pacific Bay 4. Gold Coast/Central Calif.5. Greater Los Angeles6. Great Basin

9. Carolinas10. Florida

1. Western Washington2. Inland Northwest3. Montana4. Oregon/S.W. Wash.5. Idaho6. Rocky Mountain West7. Front Range8. Alaska

NORTHWESTERN

7. Southcoast8. Arizona9. New Mexico/El Paso10. Hawaii

Young Life U.S. Regions

F l o r i d a

L o u i s i a n a

M i s s i s s i p p i

G e o r g i a

A l a b a m a

South Carolina

A r k a n s a s

T e x a s

North Carolina

T e n n e s s e e

N e w M e x i c o

O k l a h o m a

A r i z o n a

K e n t u c k y

Virginia

Maryland

Delaware

K a n s a s

M i s s o u r i

West Virginia

C o l o r a d o

New Jersey

IndianaO h i o

N e v a d a

U t a h

C a l i f o r n i a

Rhode Island

Connecticut

P e n n s y l v a n i a

I l l inois

Massachusetts

N e b r a s k a

I o w a

W y o m i n g

N e w Y o r k

Vermont

New Hampshire

M i c h i g a n

S o u t h D a k o t a

O r e g o n

W i s c o n s i n

M a i n eN o r t h D a k o t a

I d a h o

M o n t a n a

W a s h i n g t o n

M i n n e s o t a

H a w a i i

A l a s k a

9

5

6

87

8 10

4

1

6

4

12

7

3

5

2

3

98

52

43

1 6

10

7

17

6

8

5

2

5

4

32

61

7

9 10

8

4

3

1

23 4

MIDWESTERNNORTHWESTERN

SOUTHWESTERN

SOUTHERN

GREATERNEW YORK

EASTERN


The Method of Young Life: Incarnational Evangelism by Building Relationships Through “Going Where They Are,” Club, and CampWhat is a Young Life Club? The Young Life club has been an effective tool in reaching out to the majority of a targeted adolescent community. Usually the meeting is held on a weeknight in a neutral place, such as the home of one of the kids. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. Club involves lively singing, a skit, and a short talk about Jesus Christ. Making Jesus known at club simply means doing things His way, with His attitudes and His actions. The fun and games of club are all part of the nonverbal communication of Christ and should prepare the way for the verbal presentation of Jesus Christ. The message is the climax of the meeting. The club meeting features planned informality. Kids and leaders sit on the floor. The leaders are in charge, but the students feel it is their club.

A good Young Life club is relational in nature. The club is driven by the relationships that kids have with leaders and the relationships among the kids themselves. Everything, including pre-club times, the meeting itself and the time after club, should further relationships. The club is made or broken in the first 10 seconds after the kids get out of the car. They will decide by then if they are welcome and belong. We must be in the parking lot or street, not just inside.

In places where the majority of teens experience home as a place to escape from, club becomes a safe place to be, and kids want to stay as long as possible. Most clubs meet on a weekly basis, the same night each week.

A Young Life club is under the leadership of men and women who love Christ and care about the kids in that community. A club leadership team has the grand opportunity to conduct 30 or more meetings during a school year. The club event must be attractive. Each meeting should be approached as a great privilege and responsibility. This requires prayerful planning. Leaders are free to experiment with new features in club just as long as the Gospel is not obscured or the club does not become mere entertainment. Young Life believes the best club work is yet to be done. The meeting is designed to introduce disinterested high-school kids to Jesus Christ. Nothing is pushed or forced since Christ does not force Himself.

We slant the meeting at that young person who may not know very much about the Lord, and who may even be negative toward Him. It should not become a clique for Christian young people; we must always guard against this as some clubs become safe Christian

sanctuaries. That said, club also has a not-so-obvious second function. It is a discipleship tool: a place to give Christian kids the opportunity to reach out to their unbelieving friends. Most healthy clubs have a group of Campaigners who invite friends and help make the club atmosphere friendly and inviting. Encouraging Campaigners kids to use club as a place for ministry helps to teach them to live as ministers to the people God brings into their lives through school, work, and friendships.

Young Life club is open to any student in the school or community. There is no such thing as membership or dues. Leaders make every effort to cooperate with school activities and to help promote school spirit. We want school, church, and civic leaders to look at Young Life as an asset to the community. No club may exist under the name “Young Life” without the supervision of a Young Life staff representative. This means, among other things, an adequate reporting system on a regular basis.


TRADITIONAL INGREDIENTS OF THE YOUNG LIFE CLUB MEETING

TEAM TIME: The leadership team comes together for preparation, prayer, and encouragement. These times are important because the quality of the team’s relationship communicates the Gospel in a powerful way. Kids will see the body of Christ in action.

PRE-CLUB: The 15 minutes before club is “kid contact time.” Again, the kids’ first 10 seconds when arriving are key ... are they welcomed? The singing has particular value in getting young people doing something together and in preparing them for the message. Good singing can be a tremendous asset to the meeting’s atmosphere and effectiveness.

THE MINUTES (SKITS AND GAMES): This is not just a skit thrown into the program, but rather an important ingredient for breaking down barriers and making kids laugh and relax in a happy setting.

THE ANNOUNCEMENTS: Mainly used to break the stride of the meeting and cover any future plans for the club. Camp promotion may often best be done at this time.

THE MESSAGE: An important part of any Young Life club is when a leader has the opportunity to speak of Jesus Christ to young people who do not know Him. We prepare to grab their attention and give them an honest look at Jesus.

THE CLOSE: Brief, but important in leaving kids with a good impression of the meeting and what was said. Post-club is when leaders get a chance to hang out and talk with kids. Many clubs go out to a local spot to get something to eat.


What is Young Life Camp?Camping in Young Life is an experience of a lifetime. The food is fabulous, the entertainment beats Broadway, and the message proclaimed from the clubroom stage starts conversations that change lives. Not much in youth ministry can compare.

Young Life’s camping spans more than 50 years and reaches coast to coast. And for every one of those years, we’ve seen that once out of their world and face to face with the love of a leader and their Creator, kids meet Christ.

Enabling 200,000 kids to make it to camp each summer requires taking care of a lot of details. Just as important is follow-up after camp because it’s all about relationships.

How Young Life Camping BeganJim Rayburn grew up in Kansas, and many summers his family would vacation in the Colorado Rockies. When Jim was a young man, he loved nothing more than to sleep out under the stars. As he began to minister to young people in Arizona and New Mexico, he loved to take them on camping trips. It was a great way to get them to think a little deeper about things that really mattered.

Conferences were a very common Christian activity as Young Life began. Each spring, Young Life would hold its own conferences, what we know as weekend camps today. The program was different from today, but the essence and the content were the same. They were held at various conference grounds and YMCA camps.

This seemed to be working so well that when Jim suggested that we buy our own piece of property, most of the members of the board of trustees balked at the idea. It was only because one member, H.J. Taylor of Chicago, put up the money for the first camp property that Young Life ever owned property. That was Star Ranch, bought in 1946 (Young Life didn’t actually purchase it; Mr. Taylor did, and Young Life leased it from him for $1 per year).

From the first day of Star Ranch, Jim wanted things done with excellence. He’d had enough of using second-rate facilities. “Why should we not present the beautiful Gospel of the magnificent Lord Jesus Christ in equally beautiful and first-class surroundings?” he would ask.

Star Ranch was an immediate success and was quickly and dramatically followed by Silver Cliff Ranch, Frontier Ranch, and Malibu Club. Within 10 years, Young Life had gone from not owning a single acre of land to a camping program that would become a hallmark of our ministry.


The History of Ministry with Kids with DisabilitiesBY NICK PALERMO

In the fall of 1980, I was a volunteer leader in a new Young Life club. As a highly committed volunteer for a number of years, it was my intention to go on full-time staff with Young Life and work with the kids I had become familiar and grown to deeply love.

As God is prone to do, He threw a detour my way that first day as I walked onto the Blackford High School campus. Blackford was the mainstream site for kids with physical and mental disabilities in Santa Clara County. Approaching me at high speed and heading toward the cafeteria for lunch were 25 kids in power wheelchairs. My curiosity was piqued, and as I walked into the cafeteria, I walked into a world that was new to me, a world of which I knew nothing. I have no professional training with disabilities. The development and success of our ministry is the greatest proof I know of that you do not need to be a professional to work with kids with disabilities. You need only God’s call, a deep love for kids, and a willingness to learn. My beginning that day with those kids was very uncomfortable.

Kids drooled; food ran down some of their faces; some kids communicated in garbled language that I could not understand. So what did I do? I faked it. I pretended to understand when I did not. Early on in this process of getting to know kids, it seemed that God was saying to me, “Be comfortable with being uncomfortable.” That was revolutionary for me. I was able to take the posture of learning from my new friends instead of trying to save them. I could say, “I have never been around someone with a disability, please teach me.” What a beautiful and eye-opening process this began!

I began to learn who they were and what they needed by being with them. It is important to remember two things: “be comfortable with being uncomfortable,” and commit yourself to spending time getting to know a group of people and a culture that may be new and different for you. Be honest about your own hang-ups — your own disability in dealing with someone different from you — and get to know your new friends. Listen to them.

As I listened and experienced kids who have disabilities, I became overwhelmed with what their world was about. Three words seem to sum it up: isolation, loneliness, and boredom. Their lifestyle consisted of going back and forth between school and home. While staying in the house, they spent most of their time watching TV. Weekends were spent at home doing nothing. This is not an exaggeration. These kids lived all over Santa Clara County, but they did not get together with friends like other teenagers. They did not attend school dances, plays or football games. They had practically no social life. While this is true for some able-bodied kids, there is a difference — able-bodied kids have a choice. Kids with disabilities do not.

Unless someone transports kids who use wheelchairs, they don’t get anywhere. Few people have the proper vehicle equipped with the hydraulic lift necessary to transport kids whose power wheelchairs weigh hundreds of pounds. For kids with disabilities, there are places to go, but no one to take them there. Yet these kids have the same feelings, desires and dreams as anyone

The Story of Young Life Capernaum (kuh-PUR-nee-uhm)Nick Palermo was on Young Life staff in San Jose, California, when he encountered kids at the high school who had disabilities. His love for them was the beginning of Young Life Capernaum. Nick has served on Young Life staff since 1983 as a club leader, Capernaum founder, and Capernaum national director. He currently is the director of Young Life’s Metro Capernaum ministry in the Santa Clara Valley.


their age. It is normal for these teens to be isolated, not only by their wheelchairs, but also by the attitudes of their able-bodied peers and, in many cases, their parents.

Able-bodied students steered completely away from their peers with disabilities at the high school. They were at best ignored and at worst, taunted and teased. This was the norm, not a rare occurrence. They were the outcasts of the school — the first ones, I believe, Jesus would have approached. I am astounded now as I look at the Gospels to see how much of Jesus’ ministry was among those with disabilities.

Parents of teens with disabilities can seem to be overprotective of

their sons and daughters. This attitude can limit their child from reaching his or her full potential through experiences that create greater independence and dignity. Therefore, Capernaum leaders need to “earn the right to be heard” with parents and teachers of their high-school friends with disabilities.

Young Life’s Capernaum Ministry began through my own deep longing for these kids to know Christ, friendship, and a social life. I began to take one kid to our traditional Young Life club attended by 50 able-bodied kids. He used a walker so he was able to get into my car.

At first he was avoided, but over the weeks a miracle began to

take place. He had a powerful response to the Gospel and kids began to reach out to him. This spilled over to the campus as students who would have avoided him began to say “hi” to him. Relationships were born. A social life was born. Christ was born in his heart and able-bodied kids began to see a person with a disability instead of a disabled person. There is quite a difference.

While I was learning, praying, and longing to see all these kids become involved with our Young Life club, God was giving me a vision. As I shared the dream, God called others to join, and a team of people committed to kids with disabilities formed.

The “Official” Pronunciation of Capernaum

This is what has been shared with the mission regarding the pronunciation:

• Capernaum (kuh-PUR-nee-uhm) Capernaum means “village of Nahum.” We’ve named our ministry

with kids with disabilities after this town, where men tore through the roof to bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus (see Mark 2:1-12).

So it’s a four syllable pronunciation as you can hear on this page: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/capernaum?s=t

Some people assume it’s three syllables because it’s easier to say, but the name Capernaum actually means “Village of Nahum” and Nahum has two syllables!

Principles for Effective Relationship-BuildingYoung Life Capernaum: A Focused Ministry

Young Life Capernaum: A Focused MinistrySince that first club with Nick, Young Life Capernaum ministry has grown from one high school in San Jose, California, to hundreds of ministries across the country and around the world. Capernaum not only touches the lives of kids with disabilities, it is also part of the healing for the whole community. Where there are parents, Young Life Capernaum reaches into homes to support families physically, emotionally, and spiritually in their often-challenging lives.

Capernaum buddies (typical high school friends that accompany teens with disabilities) who come to camp and other activities get to experience joy like they have never felt as they give of themselves and learn the value of their friends with disabilities. More than ever, Young Life Capernaum is reaching a greater number of typical kids who get to experience God’s love as they minister to their Capernaum buddies and they become friends. This is a remarkable and unforeseen bonus to the Capernaum ministry.

The Vision for the Young Life Capernaum MissionThe vision of Capernaum is to provide relationships and activities through which young people with disabilities have the opportunity to experience God’s love and explore a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Objectives • Minister to the whole person, being aware of and responsive to each individual’s special needs

(physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally). • Offer a Young Life club specially designed for teens with disabilities as well as encourage inclusion

in typical Young Life clubs.• Have activities or outings for fun, recreation, and building relationships with each other, adult

leaders and able-bodied teens.• Provide opportunities for Young Life camping through including Capernaum campers in traditional

Young Life weeks of camp as well as specially designed Capernaum weeks. Also provide Young Life-type day camping experiences made accessible for teens with disabilities who may not be ready to attend overnight camp yet.

• Utilize able-bodied high school students in all activities and encourage adults with disabilities and able-bodied adults to come alongside our Capernaum friends as volunteers, speakers, friends, and supporters. This will begin to break down the social barriers separating students with disabilities from able-bodied students.

• Have Young Life Capernaum Board (and local committees) of adults supporting Young Life Capernaum by providing spiritually and financially, as well as advising in program direction and promoting community awareness of the program.

• Raise awareness of those involved in Young Life and churches regarding people with disabilities and provide a model for ministry.

• Provide staff and leadership opportunities within the structure of Young Life.

Effective Committees Evaluate ThemselvesYoung Life Capernaum: A Focused Ministry

Young Life Capernaum ParametersOur goal as a missionwide team is that all Capernaum ministries will be committed to serving adolescents who are students in middle school through college age. This means that WyldLife Capernaum will be for middle school students, Young Life Capernaum ministries will include students in high school to age 22, and those areas that include Beyond Capernaum ministries will be reaching young adults ages 23 to 26.

Ultimately, Young Life’s desire has been to reach out to unchurched adolescents, lead them to Jesus, and then encourage them and their families to be integrated into local area churches.

Out of love and compassion for our older Capernaum friends and their families, we are encouraging all of our staff and volunteer leaders to research organizations, churches, and other ministries in their local areas that currently work with individuals with disabilities aged 22 and older, so that we have options to offer our friends once they age out or graduate from Capernaum.

We are also encouraging staff and volunteers, as needed, to proactively initiate conversations with local churches that do not currently have this type of ministry. Young Life Capernaum wants to serve as a resource to local churches by helping them brainstorm, develop, and be able to create ministries for people with disabilities. We can also refer interested churches

to ministries that provide training to help to establish a more inclusive environment at their church. These ministries offer excellent resources and consulting services to churches; most are free of charge.

It is our desire to help churches, parents, and young people themselves to know that our friends with disabilities are valuable to their community and that they offer the church new experiences to grow in their relationships with Christ. We want to model the fact that we see value and potential, and expect growth in our friends. Remember to use positive, affirming language when describing your friends. This is counter-cultural to most groups of people, but so is the Gospel message. We have the responsibility to bridge our friends to a whole new world of community in Christ that is age appropriate.

Consider opportunities for our older friends to serve within Young Life. Capernaum has seen doors open over the years encouraging our older friends to participate and serve as volunteer leaders, work crew, summer staff, and Young Life staff. Participating in work week at Young Life camps has been another way to have our older friends serve with their same-age peers.

Many in the church have not been exposed to the amazing, challenging, wonderful world of our friends with disabilities. Fear of the unknown and awkwardness happens to many people in areas where they have had no experience. Therefore, we may need to offer to form a team to teach a Sunday school class or lead a small group for adults with disabilities at a church in our area to help the church.

There are a number of Young Life Capernaum areas that have already made this transition or are in the process. These staff are enjoying focusing on outreach to middle school and high school friends and enabling them to experience the love of Jesus. The transition has been easier for some areas than for others. In each case, some leaders are now volunteering with the new ministry with their friends at the new location. We are excited about maintaining some lifelong friendships, yet our focus is on outreach with adolescents.

Please know that we are all working on this together; we understand the challenges and the joys. Members of congregations around the country are being affected, as are our friends and their families, as doors are being opened that have been closed or even slammed shut in the past. There seems to be an awakening in many churches to care for people with disabilities and their families on a larger scale. We have even been approached by churches that desire to start Capernaum ministries as a way to jump-start their ministry with people with disabilities.

As Young Life Capernaum is growing at a remarkable rate, both domestically and internationally, we know that the needs are great. Let us continue to pray for hearts and hands beyond Young Life to love our friends well. Our desire is to see existing church bodies take on God’s heart for the intellectually and developmentally disabled by ministering in cooperation with Young Life Capernaum. We hope

that churches will consider the time-tested, successful model of Young Life Capernaum as a part of their outreach to the special needs community. The potential for Capernaum expansion from there is huge.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRADITIONAL CLUB AND CAPERNAUM CLUB?Every kid is welcome at Young Life, any time, anywhere.

That said, there are two frequently used models of Young Life Capernaum. Both are valid and both have their reasons for why they do what they do. Overall, they are very similar, but there are also distinguishing differences.

TRADITIONAL YOUNG LIFE INCLUSION CLUB: This is traditional Young Life with kids with disabilities welcomed and included at both club and Young Life camp. Kids with disabilities have much to offer their able-bodied peers, and they are welcomed and cared for in all activities.

CAPERNAUM SPECIFIC INCLUSION CLUB:Capernaum club is still about leaders caring for young people, friendship, adventure, laughter, and sharing about God. Yet, the pace of a Capernaum club is slower. Club takes a little more time and incorporates more slapstick humor. Games, skits, and activities are adapted so young people with disabilities can

be engaged. The club message has more simplicity, repetition, and visuals. Capernaum kids are often very enthusiastic because club is a unique time for them to have fun with their leaders and friends.

Traditional high school students or Campaigners enter into the Capernaum world as buddies, and they get to experience serving their friends with disabilities in new and often profound ways.

Principles for Effective Relationship-BuildingYoung Life Capernaum: A Focused Ministry


Beyond CapernaumWhat happens when our friends get older and still love Young Life? Oftentimes our friends find a black hole of closed doors and missed opportunity. Beyond Capernaum creates an environment that promotes leadership and service as our friends act on the love they have found in their relationship with Jesus. The focus of Beyond Capernaum is three-fold:

• To help our friends learn to serve.• To help them fulfill their dreams.• To help them find their gifting and allow them to serve as “unto the Lord.”

Monthly gatherings provide avenues for service with the help of community mentors. The years of being a Capernaum club kid end, and new opportunities for leadership begin. In Beyond Capernaum, friends will learn about being a part of and serving their communities, participate in alternative weekend camping experiences, and enjoy time together with their friends and mentors.

The needs are quite specific — men and women of God who are willing to serve as Christ did and walk beside our friends as they seek to become all that God intends. The desire is for each to have a church family to provide lifelong love and support.

Church/Beyond Capernaum InitiativeAs our friends get to know Jesus, we desire to encourage every Young Life Capernaum participant to make a meaningful connection with a healthy church – hopefully for the rest of his or her life. We will creatively seek to lead the way in order to encourage and enable churches to care for our friends and their families.

• We believe that our friends with disabilities play an essential role in the church and in their community.

• We desire that our friends be encouraged to serve in the ways in which God has gifted each of them.

• We believe that our friends should be with same-age peers.

• We desire that our friends be involved in a faith community that will encourage their growth for the rest of their lives.

• We believe that our friends play an important role in the church and in their community.

Young Life Capernaum: A Focused Ministry

The Importance of Training: To Both Feel Loved and Be SafeWe believe that the key to our continued success and growth lies in the training and development of staff and volunteers. Caring for a teen with a disability is a challenge, and above all, we want our friends to both feel loved and be safe.

We take the excellent training that Young Life offers and augment it with educating on how to specifically reach out to young people with disabilities. The task is to improve the overall effectiveness and consistency of Young Life Capernaum around the country and around the world. We are looking at recruitment, structure, leader care, safety and new venues for easily accessible training.

We train our Capernaum staff to consistently encourage and mentor other staff, interns, student staff, and volunteers. Each division has a Capernaum coordinator who has access to training and the responsibility of encouraging and nurturing the Capernaum staff within the division. We give them access to information and training that they can then disseminate throughout their geographic region. They plan, train, problem solve, and support Capernaum staff in conjunction with their regional directors and senior vice presidents.

The need for qualified, trained staff to start and grow new Capernaum ministries (and to replace existing Capernaum staff when they move on from this ministry) is increasing. In order to keep the pipeline full of qualified, passionate individuals, it is necessary to have ongoing, supervised training for Capernaum staff members and others who are caring for our friends with disabilities.


Young Life Capernaum International

• Work has stood the test of time • Ministry has grown beyond the beachhead

city to multiple locations • Ministry is primarily run by national sta�

• Places where we have significant connections and oppportunities

• Ministry is in one beachhead city • Building a time-tested leadership pipeline• Sta� are being recruited and trained

ESTABLISHED WORK

FUTURE WORK

DEVELOPING WORK

ESTABLISHED WORKAustralia • Bangladesh • Brazil • Cambodia

China • Colombia • Costa Rica Dominican Republic • Haiti • India • Indonesia

Israel • Japan • Mongolia • Nepal • New Zealand Nicaragua • Palestine • Peru • Philippines • Singapore

DEVELOPING WORKArgentina • Chile • Cuba • Ecuador • El Salvador Guatemala • Honduras • Hong Kong • Malaysia

Mexico • Panama • Paraguay • TaiwanThailand • Venezuela • Vietnam

FUTURE WORKBelize • Bhutan • Bolivia

Fiji Islands • Laos • Myanmar (Burma)Pakistan • S. Korea • Sri Lanka • Uruguay

iSouth

iNorthESTABLISHED WORK

Bahamas • Belgium • Bermuda Bulgaria • Canada

Czech Republic • EnglandFrance • Germany

Netherlands • North ChinaNorth Ireland • Norway • Portugal Puerto Rico • Romania • Scotland

Spain • St. Croix • St. ThomasSweden • Switzerland • Wales

DEVELOPING WORKCayman Islands • Italy • Jamaica

Macedonia • PolandRepublic of Ireland

FUTURE WORKAustria • Croatia • Denmark Finland • Greece • Hungary

Iceland • Luxembourg Nevis/St. Kitts • Slovakia • St. John

AFRICAESTABLISHED WORK

D.R. Congo • Ethiopia • KenyaLiberia • Malawi • Mali

Mozambique • Rwanda Senegal • Sierra Leone • Tanzania

Uganda • Zanzibar • ZimbabweDEVELOPING WORK

Burundi • Cote d’Ivoire • DjiboutiGhana • Morocco • Somalia

South Africa • Swaziland • Zambia

FUTURE WORKAlgeria • Cameroon • Madagascar

Mauritius • Namibia • Niger Nigeria • South Sudan • Tunisia

FSU/RussiaESTABLISHED WORK

Abkhazia • ArmeniaBelarus • Georgia • Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan • Latvia Lithuania • Moldova • Russia

Ukraine • UzbekistanDEVELOPING WORKAzerbaijan • Estonia

FUTURE WORKTajikistan • Turkmenistan

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KALININGRAD

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TUNISIA

LAOS

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PHILIPPINES

SOLOMONISLANDS

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THAILAND

BANGLADESH

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HONG KONG

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JAMAICA

CAYMAN ISLANDS

PARAGUAY

ICELAND

SCOTLAND

ENGLAND

UNITEDKINGDOM

WALES

REP. OF IRELAND

NORTHERN IRELAND

LIECHTENSTEINSWITZERLAND

CZECH REPUBLIC

SLOVAKIA

ROMANIA

ALBANIA

BELARUS

SYRIACYPRUS

LEBANON

GREENLAND

UZBEKISTAN

U K R A I N E

MOLDOVA

GEORGIA

ABKHAZIA

AZERBAIJANARMENIA

U N I T E D S T A T E S

I R A NIRAQAFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN

AUSTRIAHUNGARY

SERBIA

MONTENEGRO KOSOVO

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MYANMAR(BURMA)I N D I A

NEPAL

BHUTAN

T U R K E Y

B R A Z I L

A L G E R I AL I B Y A

E G Y P T

BOSNIA ANDHERZEGOVINA

NIGERIA

MALTA

NETHERLANDS

LUXEMBOURG

BELGIUM

DENMARK

JORDAN

ISRAEL PALESTINE

KUWAIT

BAHRAIN

QATARUNITED ARAB

EMIRATES

OMAN

OMAN

GERMANYPOLAND

M O N G O L I A

DJIBOUTI

SOUTH SUDAN

BOTSWANANAMIBIA

TURKMENISTAN

KYRGYZSTAN

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SAUDIARABIA

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LESOTHO

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ZANZIBAR

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MOZAMBIQUE

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The growth of Young Life Capernaum internationally is remarkable and an answer to the prayers of many.

Like traditional Young Life, any Capernaum ministry that happens internationally falls under the umbrella of the international Young Life offices. We have helped to partially fund some of these ministries through a yearly grant we have received.

The Characteristics of an Effective Young Life Capernaum Board

The Characteristics of an Effective Young Life Capernaum BoardEffective boards lay the groundwork of prayer and support for the dynamic ministry that will push into new geographies, winning the hearts of kids for Christ. But what defines an effective board?

Here are some of the basics principles for an effective board and specific details to help the Young Life Capernaum Board to be its most effective.

Effective Boards ...1. Are built on the right foundation.2. Have goals and action plans for success.3. Are structured to accomplish goals and plans.4. Ensure adequate financial support.5. Understand the authority and decision-making process in Young Life.6. Plan and hold effective meetings.7. Appreciate, celebrate, and say thanks.8. Evaluate themselves.

(Additional resources are available on the Young Life Staff Resources site at staff.younglife.org. The website will supplement this handbook, offering you more details and regularly updated information. The Capernaum office can help you get access to the Staff Resources site.)

1. Effective Boards Are Built on the Right Foundation: Adults who are committed to reaching every kidWhat is the difference between an area committee and the Young Life Capernaum Board?Like local committees, the board should be a blend and source of the three W’s: wisdom, workers, and (access to) wealth. It’s healthy to have a good mix of new and “veteran” Young Life board members.

LOCAL YOUNG LIFE COMMITTEES: Members are adults who are committed to providing every kid in their community the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ in terms they can understand. Committee members pray for Young Life, promote the ministry in the community, care for the local staff and volunteer leaders, as well as ensure the financial health of the ministry.

FOCUS MINISTRY BOARDS: Young Life has now designated “Focus Ministries” with boards that serve in an advisory capacity. The designation “board” is being applied to the groups of adults specifically coming alongside a particular focus ministry of Young Life (e.g., YoungLives, Capernaum). Many of the same committee functions apply to the board: to pray for Young Life Capernaum, promote the ministry in the community, care for the staff, as well as ensure the financial health of the ministry.

Effective Committees Evaluate ThemselvesThe Characteristics of an Effective Young Life Capernaum Board

YOUNG LIFE BOARD OF TRUSTEES: The board of trustees works to oversee the whole mission of Young Life with the president of Young Life.

The connection between the Young Life Capernaum vice president and the Young Life Capernaum Board is informal and not legally binding. While Young Life boards are more advisory in nature and have no formal authority, they have significant influence and are critical to a strong and lasting ministry.

The Young Life Capernaum Board plays a crucial role in supporting the vice president. Their insight and input is essential to creating a strong, effective Young Life Capernaum presence in reaching every kid with a disability.

While the local areas are responsible for all the day-to-day operations of the ministry, the Young Life Capernaum Board and missionwide staff collaborate to establish long-range goals and action plans for building healthy Young Life Capernaum ministry.

Experience has taught us a strong Young Life is dependent upon strong adults standing behind it. The relationship between the missionwide staff and board should be characterized by trust, partnership, and collaboration, as the task to be accomplished requires the full engagement of the body of Christ. Young Life Capernaum struggles when staff members take too much on themselves and neglect the giftedness of the willing adults surrounding them. Similarly, Young Life Capernaum struggles when boards begin to supervise staff or manage outside their areas. The beauty of having a board is to maximize the gifts of both the board members and Young Life Capernaum staff.

The Young Life Capernaum Board members share ownership of the ministry with the missionwide staff, divisional coordinators, local and regional staff, leaders who volunteer, and local committee members.

The Young Life Capernaum Board’s role is to:

• Help create the vision to reach every kid (particularly focusing on those with a disability) in each middle school and high school in the nation and the world.

• Pray for all facets of the ministry.• Ensure the integrity of the ministry, nationally and internationally.• Promote Young Life Capernaum ministry.• Raise and/or give funds to guarantee the Young Life Capernaum budget.• Monitor the financial affairs of the ministry.• Support and assist Young Life Capernaum Missionwide staff, coordinators, and area staff and

leaders who volunteer.• Provide Young Life Capernaum staff with input and advice.• Maintain the continuity of Young Life Capernaum.


Why We Pray …We pray because we must!

• The promise of prayer grants to us as believers the assurance that we can approach our Father freely, without doubt or fear. God longs for this intimate communication with us, His own. God longs to hear our hearts’ desires and to answer us, according to His will.

• The Bible, our life guide, speaks often of prayer. • We know from reading how and where we should pray, for whom we should pray, and that we are

heard by God.• We know that God hears before we even speak, and even when our hearts are too heavy to speak at

all. God tells us to call upon Him and He will answer; He wants to give us the desires of our hearts.• In ministry, we must enter into an intimate relationship with our God, through His Spirit, in

order to effectively find our way to share our faith and our beliefs with those to whom we are commissioned to reach for His Kingdom.

• We dare not attempt this task alone, in darkness, bereft of contact with God our Father. We must instead seek Him in all things, in all ways and at all times. In essence we walk with Him in ministry partnership, committing all to Him on behalf of our friends, their families, our staff, our leaders and volunteers, our buddies, and all others who help in this ministry we call Capernaum.

• It is by God’s mercy and grace that we have had success and that our friends are learning of the love that is available to them through fellowship in a relationship with Him.

We pray because we must!

Capernaum Board Morning of PrayerEvery spring, during our board meeting, we devote a morning to prayer. We do this to acknowledge our need for God in our ministry and our lives, collectively and individually.

We pray for a season to seek His face and to praise Him for His goodness to us and to Capernaum. We confess and seek God’s forgiveness for our own inadequacies and praise Him for walking with us into the various places where our friends are found. We are nothing without God, and our ministry folds without prayer.

This gathering together, this precious time set aside just to worship and pray, binds us to our ministry and to one another. It brings many things as we surrender our need for God’s presence with us, all together. Perhaps it is comfort, or affirmation, or a need for His embrace. Whatever it is we need, God meets us here and satisfies our needs as individuals, as board members, staff members, and guests. Most of all, God loves it when we pray together for a common purpose, our love for and commitment to, Capernaum.


2. Effective Boards Have Goals and Action Plans for SuccessBoard StructureSimilar to local committees, the board has a chair, treasurer, and generally, six to 20 board members and staff.

Young Life Capernaum Board sub-committees are established to do specific tasks.

Examples of Young Life Capernaum sub-committees include:

• Prayer.• Finance and Fundraising (Taking Donors Seriously® “TDS” team).• Adult Guest/Doctor summer camp focus.• Staff and coordinator care.• Board member development and recruitment.

Board Responsibilities and Leadership PositionsThe Young Life Capernaum Board is a team of caring adults from around the country who make a three-year commitment to support the vision and priorities of Young Life Capernaum.

We look for four specific commitments from board members at this level, similar to those of a board of directors:

• Pray for the work regularly.• Offer counsel and share ideas. • Invest in Capernaum financially.• Promote Capernaum through one’s own network of relationships and activities.

RESPONSIBILITIES — BOARD MEMBERS WILL:

• Attend the two board meetings held each year and plan to be there the whole time. (Efforts will be made to arrange dates and locations to accommodate the board members.) Travel expenses are the responsibility of the board member.

• Participate in conference calls throughout the year as opportunities and challenges arise. • Support missionwide staff, coordinators, and local area staff and leaders who volunteer.• Take a leadership role in activities that support Young Life Capernaum (e.g., prayer team, camping,

and local activities, if available).• Support Young Life Capernaum financially. (The target for board members is a minimum of $2,500

a year to be raised or given. You are obviously free to decide your own level of giving.)• Pray for the ministry regularly.• Attend at least one Young Life activity like club, camp or Campaigners, each year (we know many

of you do so much more, and we’re grateful!).• Make a three-year commitment.


Board Growth InitiativeThe board will help develop a larger and more diverse donor and board base in order to develop a supportive community around our missionwide staff and to ensure the longevity of this ministry.

3. Effective Boards are Structured to Accomplish Goals and PlansTerms of Service for Young Life Capernaum Board:

• Each new member will serve for one (1) three-year term.• At the end of that term, the commitment to service on the board is evaluated and, if desired by mutual agreement of the vice president, board chair, and board development and recruitment chair,

an additional three-year term is served.• After a maximum of six years, the member will rotate off the board for at least one year.• After the one year sabbatical, the member may be invited to serve for another three-year term at

the request of the vice president, board chair, and board development and recruitment chair, with mutual agreement by the member.

• At the end of 10 years, board participation will be revisited by the vice president, board chair, and board development and recruitment chair on an individual basis. It is hoped that by rotating members off the board after their term of service is completed, new people with hearts to serve will have an opportunity to carry on the work of Young Life Capernaum.

While the board may name several individuals to positions with distinct functions, the board chair and treasurer hold the responsibilities described in the following paragraphs.


The Board ChairThe chair greatly influences the character and ef-fectiveness of the board. Understanding the quali-fications and functions of the board chair will help identify the right person for the job.

QUALIFICATIONS — THE BOARD CHAIR SHOULD BE:

• Walking faithfully with Christ.• Confident that God has called him or her to

this role.• A leader and a motivator.• Known and respected in the community.• One hundred percent sold on Young Life

(and Young Life Capernaum with its specif-ic focus on kids with disabilities) and totally convinced of what we do and how we do it.

• Experienced enough in Young Life to appreciate our strengths and understand our weaknesses.• Able to lead and facilitate meetings effectively in agreement with Young Life’s statement of faith

and conduct policies.

FUNCTION — THE BOARD CHAIR WILL:

• Provide spiritual leadership, along with the vice president, for the board.• Lead in developing a vision for Young Life Capernaum’s potential in the community.• Represent the board to the community-at-large.• Maintain close relationships with the staff so they can communicate needs and problems, as well as successes.• Act as a liaison and advocate between staff and board.• Communicate issues of accountability from the board’s perspective.• Build trust in the ministry.• Provide leadership in the recruitment, selection, retention and retirement of board members.• Help place board members in positions to utilize their talents.


The Board TreasurerLike the chair, the board treasurer dispenses certain specific responsibilities that require a unique set of qualifications, experiences and gifts.

QUALIFICATIONS — THE BOARD TREASURER SHOULD BE:

• Walking faithfully with Christ.• Confident that God has called him or her to this role.• Honest and trustworthy.• Talented with finances, budgeting and/or accounting.

FUNCTION — THE BOARD TREASURER WILL:

• Together with the vice president, assume administrative responsibility for funds involved in board projects.

• Review income and expenditures for the board (accountability).• Communicate financial report to the board.• Submit annual financial report on Young Life Capernaum and initiate preparation of the budget for

the next year.

Recruiting New Board MembersThe Board should have an intentional process in place to recruit, select and train new members.

Consider the following qualifications of board members, and be prepared to share the expected responsibilities with prospective members.

QUALIFICATIONS — BOARD MEMBERS SHOULD BE:

• Walking faithfully with Christ. • Confident that God has called him or her to this role. • Interested in Young Life, and specifically, Young Life Capernaum and its particular call to the

focused ministry of loving and serving kids with disabilities. • Willing to share time, talents and resources. • Involved and respected in the community.

POTENTIAL BOARD MEMBERS ARE FOUND THROUGH:

• Adult guest program. • Donor lists. • Former Young Life Capernaum volunteer leaders. • Community of church leaders who support Young Life Capernaum or disability ministries.


• School administrators or special education teachers. • Members of Young Life areas with Young Life Capernaum. • Parents with students who have been touched by Young Life Capernaum. • Former board members’ recommendations.

The Recruitment Process• Look for and pray about prospective board members. These are people who have shown an extraordinary interest in Young Life Capernaum. Remember, some of these interested folks may

not have teenaged kids in their homes. • Anyone who identifies a prospective board member should complete a “Capernaum Board Recommendation Form” (available through the national office) for each prospective board member

and submit to the Capernaum national office. Please make sure to discuss the recommendation with the individual and make sure you have his or her permission.

Process of Board Invitation• The vice president and board chair will review all recommendations to determine a fit with the current board. • A “Prospective Capernaum Board Packet” is mailed to the individual for his or her review. • If the person still desires to be part of the board, a phone call with the prospective member, the vice

president, and the board chair will be scheduled. • Vice president will invite prospective board members to be guests at the next Young Life Capernaum Board meeting. Spend time, fellowship, and educate prospects about the board purposes and member expectations. • Give them time to pray about their

involvement. • Vice president contacts the

prospects for their final decisions. • New members then attend the

next board meeting as a full board member.


4. Effective Boards Ensure Adequate Financial SupportFinancial Support Over the years, local fundraising has happened primarily through relationships with those who support Young Life and fundraising events (golf tournaments and banquets).

Since the board is focused missionwide, the primary strategy has been to develop relationships with those who support the ministry of Young Life Capernaum as well as develop resources through foundations and grants.

The board’s financial support involves establishing a financial strategy to ensure that the Young Life Capernaum budget has been raised for the current fiscal year.

Board members will partner with the Young Life Capernaum staff in:

• Developing a vision for Young Life Capernaum and then establishing an annual operating budget.• Implementing Young Life’s Taking Donors Seriously (TDS) program of generating funds. This

involves tasks like managing the top 20 percent of donors, creating an effective communicationsstrategy, and facilitating support.

• Making a personal financial commitment to give or raise a minimum of $2,500 annually to supportYoung Life Capernaum missionwide.

What is TDS — Taking Donors Seriously®?TDS is a set of principles and methods to fund ministry in a relational manner. The goal is to seek out people in the community who have the same objective as staff and volunteers — to give every kid an opportunity to know Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior. We seek to approach those donors in the same relational style that is effective in ministry with kids; we take donors seriously and earn the right to ask them for financial support. TDS offers a set of principles that applies to all donors and prospective donors, and a program to ensure the application of those principles in a given area or region.

THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF TDS THAT SHOULD BE FAMILIAR TO ALL BOARD MEMBERS:1. Prayer2. Case Statement3. Leadership4. Priority Prospect List5. Strategy6. Financial Master Plan7. Prayer

(For more information, check out the TDS eLearning course at staff.younglife.org by typing “TDS eLearning” in the search feature.)


Young Life Capernaum Annual BudgetThe board and missionwide staff need to raise approximately $500,000 each year to sustain the focused Young Life Capernaum efforts. This money is used to fund office, travel, research and training of our staff and volunteers. It pays for the production of needed training resources and enables the support a fruitful camping ministry. All of these are lasting investments that reproduce fruit exponentially!

• Our staff labors diligently to raise personal support to help supplement our budget.• Young Life’s president also helps fund our office.

$573,000 — SAMPLE 2014 ANNUAL BUDGET

• 44 percent goes to missionwide staff ($254,000) [vice president, administrative assistant and transition specialist (full-time positions)].• 21 percent training ($124,000).• 15 percent goes to coordinators ($100,000) (part-time positions).

MISSIONWIDE DONATION NUMBER — MISSION UNIT 1172

Capernaum Giving and the Local AreaPeople who give to Capernaum (or any other focus ministry) and those who volunteer in such ministries are generally not the same people who donate or lead traditional Young Life clubs. In fact, Capernaum often draws new people and new donors, and we are privileged to introduce an entirely new group of individuals to the Young Life family who may have never gotten involved in Young Life otherwise. Capernaum is a great avenue for collaborating with churches. Often, churches will have members who get excited about the mission of Capernaum, and this will result in new volunteers, new donor and prayer support, and lots of new relationships!

5. Effective Boards Understand the Authority and Decision- Making Process in Young LifeWho Makes Decisions? (see organizational chart for reference)In Young Life, the president of Young Life oversees the entire mission. For field staff, the senior vice presidents oversee regional directors, who oversee area directors, who oversee staff associates.

The lines of authority for “focused ministry field staff” (like Capernaum or YoungLives) are the same as traditional Young Life – they report to their local area and regional directors just as in traditional Young Life.

Personnel matters fall under the purview of the regional director and the local area. Hiring and firing authority rests with regional directors and with the area directors involved as appropriate.

In Young Life Capernaum, the vice president oversees the missionwide ministry of Capernaum but does not directly supervise Capernaum field staff.

Since the Young Life Capernaum divisional coordinators are part time in their Capernaum roles, they report to both their divisional senior vice president and to the Young Life Capernaum vice president.


How Does Capernaum Fit Into the Overall Structure of Young Life?

Board of Trustees

President

President’s Office Operations

FieldInitiatives

DevelopmentServices Finance

Staff Care and Enrichment Programs

U.S. Ministries

Int’lMinistries

All Staff Conference

YL75Training

Administration Services

Camping

Communications

Human Resources and

Benefits

Information Technology

Senior Mission Specialist

Young Life Military Ministry

Amicus

Capernaum

DGL

Int’l Schools

Young Life College

YoungLives

Finance and Accounting

Interal Audit

Real Estate

Midwest Division

NorthwestDivision

SouthernDivision

SouthwesternDivision

Greater New York Division

Eastern Division

Small Towns

InternationalSouth

InternationalFSU

International North

InternationalAfrica

Student Leadership

Project

Denny Rydberg — PresidentJohn Vicary — Executive V.P. U.S. Marty Caldwell — Executive V.P. International

Chad Edwards — Field Initiatives V.P.(Capernaum, College, YoungLives, Developing Global Leaders, Amicus, International Schools

for International)

Young Life Capernaum Team (specific job descriptions are listed in the back)• Vice President — Pam Harmon• Eastern Division Coordinator — Brad Mowry• Midwest Division Coordinator — Lyn TenBrink• Northwest Division Coordinator — Jodi Green• Southern Division Coordinator — Suzanne Williams• Southwestern Division — Christen Morrow• Transition Specialist — Christen Morrow• Missionwide Capernaum Administrative Assistant — Amira Corby


6. Effective Boards Plan and Hold Effective MeetingsYoung Life Capernaum board meetings convene twice a year in the spring and fall, with conference calls in between meetings. The upcoming board agenda is established and sent to board members in advance of the meeting. The board chair plans the meeting with the vice president and the treasurer.

Meeting Components:

• Spiritual or devotional time.• Ministry updates on Young Life Capernaum by division, transition specialist and International

Ministry.• Review completed projects.• Discuss upcoming issues projects/events.• Provides a time when Young Life Capernaum staff, leaders or guests share where and how God is

at work in their midst, particularly in Young Life Capernaum. It’s an opportunity to be reminded of the larger and eternal purpose of serving on the board and to be encouraged by the reward of your investment.

Young Life Capernaum Board Meeting Schedule:

• The board meeting begins Thursday evening and starts with dinner and time to get acquainted and/or reacquainted followed by a brief meeting.

• Friday is a full day of meetings with an evening fellowship time.• Saturday morning finishes up by noon to help facilitate airline schedules (if at all possible, please

make plans to stay for all of the meeting on Saturday morning).

Holding an Effective MeetingLeading an effective meeting that strikes a balance among spiritual, social, and task-oriented elements is more art than science.

The board chair will:• Start and end on time.• Let members talk and share ideas.• Allow members to develop relationships and contribute their unique skills and dreams.• Utilize process strategies.• (Gently) Keep the meeting moving!


7. Effective Boards Appreciate, Celebrate and Say ThanksServing is far more rewarding in an atmosphere of appreciation and gratitude. There is much to be grateful for and celebrate in Young Life Capernaum. The board can:

• Affirm the staff so they can carry on their critical jobs, reaching lost kids for Christ.• Help with TDS initiatives.• Pray for the ministry and the personal joys and concerns of leaders.• Celebrate every accomplishment! (Remember, nothing is too insignificant to celebrate!)• Say thanks often and sincerely.• Help to remember and support our designated Young Life Capernaum field staff (and typical field

staff who include our high school friends with disabilities) as well as our camp staff who work so hard for our friends.

Leader Care Initiative There is a board leader care initiative that takes donations annually to be distributed twice a year as a special thank you to our missionwide Young Life Capernaum staff. (But feel free to be creative! Appreciate our leaders and staff throughout the year!)

8. Effective Boards Evaluate ThemselvesThe board goal-setting process, even if exemplary, is incomplete without dedicating time and energy to evaluating the progress toward area goals each year. The measurement of progress should occur at two levels, at the individual project — or tactical — level as well as at a broader — or strategic — level.

The board will set aside time periodically, for a “State of the Board” time, to evaluate where we are and where we are going.

Additional Support and InformationIf there were another “Characteristics of Effective Boards,” it would be “Effective Boards Know How to Ask for Help.” If the board has questions, or simply needs additional information or support, help is just a phone call or a click away.

• Call or email the Young Life Capernaum vice president’s office.• Visit the Staff Resources site at staff.younglife.org for additional information updated throughout

the year. The Young Life Capernaum administrative assistant will issue you a username and pass-word to access this special content on the Staff Resources site. (Issuance takes a day or less.)

• Don’t hesitate to ask for help! Your questions or issues and the resulting resolution can enrich the entire ministry.

Effective Committees Evaluate ThemselvesJob Descriptions

Job DescriptionsThese are here for you to see some of what is expected of our staff and coordinators — we are privileged to have these folks in Young Life Capernaum!

JOB TITLE: CAPERNAUM DIVISIONAL COORDINATORREPORTS TO: DIVISIONAL SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CAPERNAUM VICE PRESIDENTEssential Duties:1. Ministry Supervision

• Work with the divisional team, comprised of the senior vice president and regional directors, to resource the Capernaum ministry.

• Participate in planning/implementation of Capernaum training on an ongoing basis in addition to planning and leading an annual summit or conference-type event in each division.

• Assist in annual Capernaum camping vision for division (inclusion trips, Capernaum-focused with discipleship week and day camps).

• Provide initial assistance to new Capernaum startups with visits, email and phone call contact, and may raise matching funding to help startups through divisional account.

• Optional, at the discretion of the senior vice president: Oversee local or regional Capernaum ministry.

• At a minimum, serve as a volunteer in a local Capernaum ministry.

2. Relational Parameter

• Supervised by the field senior vice president and vice president of Capernaum.• Serve on Capernaum mission steering committee with divisional counterpart, which will have

monthly conference calls and meet in person twice a year.• Work with regional directors in the division pertaining to Capernaum ministry.• Work with new communities, area directors, and regional directors to help begin and encourage

new ministry.• Meet with each regional director in the division every year. • Visit area with every Capernaum staff person in the division at the average rate of one visit per month.• Be available to supervisors of Capernaum staff, offering pro-active training in coordination with the

senior vice president and divisional training coordinator.• Available to Capernaum staff in the field providing guidance and encouragement, in contact at least

once a month with all Capernaum staff, area directors, and regional directors who have Capernaum ministry in their areas.

Job Descriptions

3. Key Concepts

Each divisional coordinator will serve on a missionwide steering group to provide key elements of:

• Training.• Camping.• Materials and resources development.• Each divisional coordinator will develop a core group (one member identified by regional director

from each region) to assist him or her with growth, training and camping within their division. This core group will participate in monthly conference calls, one annual brainstorming meeting and help lead the Annual Capernaum Divisional Summit/Conference.

Education:

College degree preferred.

Experience Required for the Job:

• Commitment to a growing and deepening relationship with Christ and ability to communicate and train others accordingly.

• Demonstrated ability to clearly communicate the Gospel and call kids with disabilities to a lifelong commitment to Christ.

• Understanding of the unique issues of working with kids with disabilities.• Proven relational skills with both kids and adults.• Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills.• Ability to maintain confidentiality.• Oversight and involvement in local or regional Capernaum ministry desired.


JOB TITLE: CAPERNAUM TRANSITION SPECIALISTREPORTS TO: CAPERNAUM VICE PRESIDENTEssential Duties:

Mission/Authority

The transition specialist for Capernaum will serve, in accordance with the objectives, policies, and procedures established by the board of trustees and mission leadership, to pursue the maintenance and development of Capernaum ministry.

Ministry Supervision

• Work with the missionwide Capernaum team including vice president of Capernaum, divisional Capernaum coordinators, and local areas to facilitate transition of older friends into churches where they can be with their same-aged peers, exercise the gifts God has given them, and experience a faith community that they can participate in for the rest of their lives.

• This will be done through research, training, networking, and collaboration around events of common interest to Young Life Capernaum, the local church, and Joni and Friends ministries, and other like-minded organizations as identified.

• Participate in planning and implementation of Capernaum on an ongoing basis including Young Life Capernaum coordinator meetings annually, in addition to divisional summits.• Serve as a volunteer in a local Capernaum ministry.

Relational Parameter • Supervised by vice president of Capernaum. • Serve on Capernaum mission steering committee with divisional counterparts, which will have

monthly conference calls and meet in person twice a year. • Work with Capernaum divisional coordinators pertaining to local Capernaum ministry transition.• Be available to Capernaum staff and their supervisors and to divisional coordinators offering pro-active training in coordination with their identified needs.

Key Concepts

Transition specialist will provide key elements of:

• Research.• Networking.• Training.• Collaborative events for Capernaum, local churches, Joni and Friends, and Capernaum Divisional

Summit/Conference. • Materials and resources development when needed.

Education:

Master’s degree preferred.

Job Descriptions

Experience Required for the Job:

• Commitment to a growing and deepening relationship with Christ and ability to communicate and train others accordingly.

• Demonstrated ability to clearly communicate the Gospel and call kids with disabilities to a lifelong commitment to Christ.

• Understanding of the unique issues of working with kids with disabilities. • Proven relational skills with both kids and adults. • Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills. • Ability to maintain confidentiality. • Oversight and involvement in regional or national Capernaum ministry desired.• Unique understanding of disability and the Church, parachurch and theological issues, as well as

familiarity with Joni and Friends’ mission, resources and programs.


JOB TITLE: VICE PRESIDENT OF CAPERNAUM MINISTRIESREPORTS TO: VICE PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL FIELD INITIATIVESEssential Duties:

Spiritual Leadership

• Ensure that all Capernaum Young Life ministry is designed and carried out with a dependence on prayer that takes place out of the overflow of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

• Assist in leading the direction and vision setting of Capernaum ministry with youth and young adults with intellectual and/or physical disabilities throughout the U.S. and internationally.

Kids

Volunteer in a local Capernaum Young Life club.

Ministry Management

• Interact with the Service Center regularly.• Communications.• Camping.• Training.• Risk Management.• Attend cabinet meetings at the invitation of the president of Young Life.• Work with the administrative assistant of Capernaum ministries to prepare agenda for monthly

conference calls with divisional coordinators.

Mission/Authority

Working with missionwide board, the vice president of Capernaum ministries has responsibility to oversee and carry out all things pertaining to the operation of Capernaum Young Life ministry.

Financial Management

• Oversee development and management of the budget with the missionwide Finance committee.• In conjunction with missionwide Finance committee, responsible for approving all expenditures,

transfers and any other decisions to financially support Capernaum work in the field.

Board

• Reports to the board and senior vice presidents to communicate needs and successes as needed.• Recruit strategic new members of missionwide board according to identified needs.

Camping

• Develop and implement camping to maximize Gospel proclamation for campers with intellectual and/or physical disabilities.

• Provide quality summer staff, work crew, doctors and adult guests for summer camps.

Job Descriptions

• Develop and implement three kinds of camping: 1. Inclusion Camp — Respond to questions regarding inclusion week details.2. Capernaum-Oriented weeks — Communicate with property staff and assigned teams for

Capernaum-oriented weeks. 3. Other — Day camps and more.

With Divisional Coordinators

• Strategize and implement initial and ongoing training within each division and missionwide.• In co-operation with regional directors and area directors, ensure good Young Life ministry with

Capernaum kids.

Communications

• Ensure communication to all appropriate entities within and outside of Young Life.• Basic communiqués to Service Center about any operation of Capernaum ministry.

Education:College degree preferred.

Qualifications Required for the Job:• Proven relational skills with both kids and adults.• Demonstrated public communication skills in speaking, teaching and representing the ministry.• Experience, passion and leadership in ministering with teens and young adults with disabilities.• Ability to maintain confidentiality.• Experience as a team leader — a good listener and mediator of differences.• Proven organizational leadership and management skills for developing ministry strategy.• Proven experience in the development and management of a budget.• Ability to work within a team setting as well as having served as a team builder.

Effective Committees Evaluate ThemselvesYoung Life Glossary

Young Life GlossaryLike many organizations, Young Life throws around a lot of acronyms and terms. Here is a small list of some of the terms used in Young Life. (Note: This is an unofficial list that is a “work in progress” and not to be distributed without permission.)

AAdult Guest: Adults invited to see Young Life camp in action. Hosted by couples or an individual at a beautifully appointed adult guest lodge, guests can experience their own “best week,” (see Best Week of Your Life).

Adult Guest Host: Person who acts as “leader” for the adults visiting camp.

Adult Guest Lodge: Place where adults can stay while visiting the camp.

Alumni: Individuals are considered alumni of Young Life if they have ever been involved with Young Life by attending camp or club, volunteering as a leader or committee member, or support Young Life as a donor. “Alumni and Friends” often also refers to the department that communicates with and serves our alumni.

Amicus [uh-MEE-kuhs]: Young Life’s student exchange program through which students come to the United States and live with Christian families. During their stay, students are exposed to the Gospel through host-family relationships, host family churches, local Young Life and camp.

Area Director: Paid staff person who is responsible for local area management and ministry.

Area: An area is made up of at least one club and as many as 15 or more clubs. Small cities are usually one area; large cities may be several independent areas. An area is a subset of a region.

Assigned Team: Young Life staff members and their families who spend a summer session at one of Young Life’s camps to lead in service to campers and leaders (aka “A Team”).

BBest Week of Your Life: The most common saying of kids who have spent one week at a Young Life camp is, “It was the best week of my life!” (This phrase has been said for decades and is still said around the world when kids attend Young Life camp.)

Board: A group of adults who serve as advisors and supporters of focused Young Life ministries.

Board of Trustees: The board of trustees works to oversee the whole mission of Young Life with the president of Young Life.

Buddy: Capernaum term (Campaigner or typically developing high school friend who comes alongside his or her peers).

Young Life Glossary

C5 C’s: The time-tested methods by which Young Life introduces kids to Jesus Christ:

1. Contact work — Building authentic friendships with kids by going into their worlds (see Incarnational).2. Club — A “party with a purpose” to gather kids for fun, which includes a simple message on what

we celebrate every day.3. Camp — Resort-quality properties where kids experience the Gospel (see Best Week).4. Campaigners — A weekly gathering for those who want to go deeper in their faith, capitalized

because the word derives from the Young Life Campaign, our original mission name.5. Committee — Adults who love Christ and kids, and advocate for and support Young Life in their

local communities.

Camp: Young Life owns resort-quality camps worldwide. They are places where leaders can bring their high school friends to have “the best week of their lives.” Camp is a place where kids can get away from the pressures of everyday life, have fun with friends and their Young Life leaders, and hear the message of God’s love in terms they can understand. The Young Life Camping department is responsible for managing the camping resources of Young Life. The goal of camping is to create an excellent platform for the proclamation of the Gospel at Young Life’s camps, as well as managing a variety of camping programs that occur at facilities not owned by Young Life.

Camp Director: Person who is responsible for the overall camp experience; often the speaker.

Camp Staff: Any individual working as a full-time or part-time paid staff at a Young Life camp is referred to as camp staff. These individuals manage camp resources and facilitate an excellent year-round camping experience for Young Life staff, leaders and kids, as well as a variety of camping activities for church groups and parachurch ministries during the school season (aka property staff).

Campaigners: A small group Bible study with students led by a Young Life leader. There is often a group for each grade, and set apart by gender. It is for “club kids” who want a deeper study of the Bible and of Jesus.

Camper: Young person who attends camp.

Camping Staff: Paid staff who live at the Young Life camps.

Capernaum [kuh-PUR-nee-uhm]: Focused ministry for kids and young adults with disabilities.

Capernaum Club: A time where we get together with our friends twice a month to share a meal, sing songs, play games and hear a message about Jesus (also known as reverse inclusion where typical folks participate in club where the majority of kids have disabilities).

Capernaum Campaigners: A time to get to know our friends with disabilities in a small group setting. This allows for more in-depth conversations and stronger relationships formed.

Capernaum Day Camp: An alternative to going away to camp. We long for our friends with disabilities to attend Young Life camp for what we believe will be the greatest week of their lives. The challenge comes when we know that a week away from home isn’t always the best option for our friends due to their disabilities, medical conditions, mom and dad’s fears, or their age. So we bring camp to them!


Celebration: Also known as All-Staff Conference, the quadrennial gathering of staff in one location for the purpose of thanksgiving, equipping, rejoicing and renewal.

Club: Young Life uses “club” to refer to our “open-to-everyone” gathering of kids (or meeting), often weekly. It’s a gathering of high school kids to hang out and have fun, sing songs, play games, get to know each other, and hear a short talk from the Bible by a leader.

Committee: Adults who volunteer and serve Young Life in their community by loving and serving in their local area. They collaborate with Young Life area directors and staff members to set the tone for growth and sustainability through fundraising, prayer and support.

Contact Work: When leaders go into the “world” of students, either to school during lunch, or to a school event just to spend time getting to know the kids.

DDivision: A geographic unit of regions within the framework of Young Life. As of this date, there are 11 divisions in the Young Life mission: six United States divisions and five international divisions. Divisions are led by a vice president.

Donors: Essential partners in ministry with local areas around the world. Regional and area staff are responsible for raising 100 percent of their budgets, and donors allow staff the freedom to focus on kids and not on finances.

E“Earn the right to be heard”: The demonstration of sincere affection, authentic faith and trustworthiness that, over time, inclines the hearts of kids to listen to and receive the Good News of Jesus Christ. (Also expressed as “Winning the right to be heard” and “earn a hearing.”)

Every Kid: Young Life’s mission is to seek out every kid, everywhere, because every kid has the right to know the truth about Jesus Christ.

Expeditions: One-week to three-months-long short-term volunteer opportunities for groups and individuals to serve in countries where Young Life exists or is developing.

FField Ministry: The “work” of Young Life is done in the field, reaching kids for Christ. Field ministry refers to the work conducted out of Young Life divisional, regional and area offices, local clubs, as well as ministries such as YoungLives, Multicultural and Urban, Capernaum, Small Towns/Rural, Military and College.

Field Staff: Any individual working as full-time or part-time paid staff in support of Young Life outside of the Service Center is called “field staff.” This role is sometimes a volunteer role. These individuals primarily work with leaders and team leaders.

Friend (the purpose of Young Life!): A middle school, high school or college-age young person. In Capernaum, a friend with a disability (their name first!) or typically a developing high school friend.

Fun: A defining attribute of Young Life and by-product of Young Life activities. Founder Jim Rayburn said, “It’s a sin to bore a kid with the Gospel.”

Young Life Glossary

Furthest-out kid: The least receptive, most disinterested kid in the room, school, camp or community whom we seek to love.

GGlobal Leaders: College students around the world who are supported through our sponsor-based, tuition-funding and mentoring program to raise indigenous leaders who are making an eternal impact in their communities.

Gospel/Good News [synonyms]: The greatest story ever told; the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Growth Initiative: Growth in number of students reached and in depth of relationship. Our desire is that Young Life Capernaum becomes included in every Young Life area around the world.

H Head Leader: Camping term. Person responsible for the overall well being of the campers.

IIncarnational (ministry) [in-kahr-ney-shuh-nal]: The essence of Young Life’s approach to ministry, modeled by Jesus Christ, who “became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood” (John 1:14, The Message paraphrase).

Inclusion Club and Camp: Traditional Young Life club and camp where friends with disabilities are included.

Intern: Supervised paid staff person, full or part time.

JJesus: “Not just what Young Life is all about, but ALL that Young Life is all about.” — Jim Rayburn, Jr.

KKid: Term of affection used to describe our friends in Young Life.

LLeader: Adults who come alongside their high school (middle school or college-aged) friends to love and care for them and earn the right to share the Good News of the Gospel.

Leadership Training: A training time with all the leaders from the area to fellowship, worship together and be encouraged in ministry.

Young Life Glossary

MMission: A term used by Young Life staff and volunteers synonymous with “Young Life.”

Major Events: Banquets, golf tournaments (done locally and used for fundraising), staff conferences and training schools, volunteer conferences, special donor events.

Minutes: The predecessor to today’s club skits, because all clubs in the day had meeting minutes. Minutes always involved the kids with the use of their names and a review of weekly school events. Young Life club minutes were humor-infused and set the tone for the laughter that is characteristic of clubs everywhere.

Missionwide: Refers to Young Life’s ministries in the United States and internationally.

Multicultural and Urban: For kids of color and kids in under-resourced communities.

NNight that never ends: Camping Term. The midweek dress-up-for-dinner night (to a camp theme, like a 50s night or western) that typically includes elements like the “tableau,” an opera, a carnival, and a square dance. Usually follows the “sin talk” in the proclamation progression. It allows a release from the weight of reckoning with sin, a time to bond with leaders, more clean fun than kids have ever had, and in this way, it is a foretelling of the Good News of the cross that will be shared the next day.

OOpera: Camping term. Complex musical drama at camp featuring characters appearing throughout the week and a dilemma, like camp solvency, that is resolved in this great operatic act.

PProgram: Umbrella term for the combination of mixers, skits, (sometimes) gross games and clean humor at club, weekend and summer camps that together captivate the most disinterested and “furthest-out” kids, and everyone in-between.

Program Team: Camping term. Those who provide the humor and program for the camp.

Property Manager: Person responsible for the camp management and operations.

RRegion: Geographic unit that contains from 10 to 30 areas and is led by a regional director.

Regional Director: Paid staff person responsible for all the areas in the region.

Rides: Camp term. The high-adventure assets that invite kids to take physical risks, together as a cabin, even as each one takes the personal risk of exploring the condition of their hearts. These could include water sports like skiing, parasailing and tubing, or opportunities to complete a ropes course, go horseback riding, rappelling, go-cart racing and mountain biking.

Young Life Glossary

Run-on: A skit that is played out in scenes over many clubs, or nights at camp.

Reverse Inclusion Club and Camp: Focused Capernaum Club where most of the friends have disabilities and where typically developing high school friends (Campaigners) are welcome and often attend as Buddies.

SSay-So: The opportunity for kids to declare to friends, leaders, and fellow campers that they have made a decision to follow Jesus Christ. See Psalm 107:2, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”

Second Timer: Camper who has attended camp before.

Senior Vice President: Paid staff person responsible for the various divisions and is on president’s cabinet.

Service Center: The equivalent of Young Life’s corporate offices and is charged with handling the administrative duties required to run the mission successfully, as well as empowering and equipping the field with the training, tools, and time required to invest their lives into kids. Most but not all offices at the Young Life Service Center are in Colorado Springs.

Small Towns: For kids in rural areas.

Staff Associate: Paid field staff working for Young Life, full or part-time.

Student Staff: College-aged, paid Young Life staff, full or part-time.

Summer Staff: A volunteer experience at a Young Life camp for those who have completed one year of college or who are college- or post-college-age, in positions requiring maturity and a strong non-verbal witness.

Summer Staff Boss: The assigned team person who is responsible for the college students serving for the month.

TTableau: Camping term. From the French, “Tableau vivant,” meaning “living picture;” in a setting from the past (e.g., a soda shop or old west town), a scene enacted silently by motionless work crew and summer staff attired in costumes and with props who strike story-telling poses. Together, the effect is to have entered another world. On cue, the actors spring to life and act in character, as campers watch and then enter the scene, attired in their dress-up costumes.

Twenty Minutes: Camping term. Following the message about the cross and resurrection, a time of silence for campers to consider in solitude what the message means to them.

VVice President: Paid staff person responsible for divisions, focused ministries, international countries, and various offices. On the president’s cabinet.

Volunteer Leader: The lifeblood of Young Life; a person who volunteers his or her time to build relationships with kids in the local community.


WyldLife: Some elements similar to traditional Young Life but tailored to the needs of the middle school student.

Young Life: Name of the global ministry as well as our program for high school students.

Young Life College: Some elements similar to traditional Young Life but tailored to offer community and leadership opportunities for college students.

Young Life Military — Club Beyond: For kids on military installations around the world, offered in partnership with MCYM, Military Community Youth Ministries.

YoungLives: For teen moms.

WWork Crew: Volunteer experience for students who are in high school to serve their peers at a Young Life camp, which deepens faith through service and community.

Work Crew Boss: Assigned team person who is responsible for the high school students serving for the month.

YYou Were Made For This: Young Life’s tagline and a reminder that 1) We were all made for a relationship with Jesus Christ; 2) Young Life is tailor-made for young people of any stage and age; 3) Also a statement of fact for those who love Jesus Christ and kids and who have dedicated themselves to the mission of Young Life, believing they were made for this.

younglife.org

young life - capernaum board handbook

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