YouthLead: Finding identity in Christ

Ella Brinkman shares what she learned following a training session at the 2024 YouthLead gathering in St. Louis. At left is Makayla Martin, and at right is Adam Beadle. All three attend Risen Savior Lutheran Church, Chandler, Ariz. (LCMS/Frank Kohn)

By Sarah Reinsel

For over 40 years, Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) youth from around the country have gathered each spring for YouthLead (formerly Lutheran Youth Fellowship), a youth leadership training retreat.

This training, which is hosted by LCMS Youth Ministry, took place on Feb. 29–March 3 at the Pallottine Renewal Center in St. Louis. A total of 85 youth and adults attended.

“What I love about YouthLead is that it’s a place where high schoolers that are really motivated in their faith and in their church [can] come together [and] see that there are other students … motivated to be leaders in their church,” said Dane Wolfgram, director of Christian education (DCE) at Living Christ Lutheran Church, Chanhassen, Minn.

The Rev. Brandon Metcalf, associate pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Bethalto, Ill., wrote this year’s curriculum, titled “Filtered: Finding Your Identity and Purpose through Christ.” It focuses on the “I am” statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John, with the end goal of helping youth deeply understand their baptismal faith, develop a resilient identity in Christ and live out their unique vocation.

“Our first curriculum session was all about how you can find your identity in other things, but that is not as important as our identity in Christ,” said Abbie Kollbaum, a member of the YouthLead Executive Team and a freshman at Concordia University, Nebraska, Seward, Neb. “A lot of people find their identity in their sports, their friends, their popularity. But that’s not going to matter because God is … where we find our identity.”

Youth leading youth

YouthLead’s leadership training helps youth to become leaders in their congregations and reach out to their peers with the love of Christ.

“One of the values of YouthLead from the very beginning was that it not just be youth-focused, but youth-led,” said DCE Julianna Shults, program manager for LCMS Youth Ministry.

The Executive Team, which is made up of six members who are elected by YouthLead attendees every three years, is in charge of teaching the curriculum to attendees. Then, having experienced the curriculum firsthand, attendees are trained to lead the curriculum back home at their congregations.

“It is much easier for a young leader to step out of their comfort zone when they see it modeled by someone else,” said Shults. “Having young leaders demonstrating up front and learning as they do is a great way for youth and adults alike to be more confident engaging back home.”

“It’s definitely a learning curve, going from being a participant … and flipping around and becoming the teacher,” said Kollbaum. “This experience has made me want to become a teacher. I enjoy getting to teach … and hearing the questions and getting to answer those questions for [attendees] about our identity in Christ.”

Adam Beadle, another Executive Team member, explained his approach to teaching: “I encourage [participants] to be the ones who are speaking and talking. So, a lot of the planning [involves] creating questions that might be more engaging to the group. How can I better reel them in and [get them] to connect with each other?”

Beadle is a high school senior and a member of Risen Savior Lutheran Church in Chandler, Ariz.

Attendees praised Executive Team members for their warmth and enthusiasm.

“I think the leaders are doing a good job. Both of my leaders have said some really cool stuff that was helpful to me,” said Chloe Butler, a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Bourbonnais, Ill.

Forming future church workers

For many Executive Team members and YouthLead attendees, this formative experience can lead to a career in church work.

“I went from being a participant in high school to being one of the [Executive Team] leaders for a few years,” said Wolfgram, who is now a full-time DCE. “And it was a great experience to be able to lead and [pass on my] faith to peers. … It inspired me to want to go into church work.”

“We can track our alumni all over the LCMS as both lay leaders and church workers today,” said Shults. “They are in congregational leadership, on district staff, professors at Concordias as well as our seminaries. We even have parents who attended a training who are sending their teens because it was such a powerful, positive experience for them.”

Planning out how to teach the curriculum back home — whether at a youth retreat or during weekly youth group meetings — also helps attendees visualize what it is like to be a church worker.

“Learning more about my identity in Jesus … is what I’m excited to take back and teach … to the younger people at our youth group,” said attendee Tommy Campbell, a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Staunton, Ill. “I’m excited to be here and [learn] how to be a better leader at my congregation. … I want to be a pastor … and coming to this event has just solidified it.”

Any high school youth who is an active member of an LCMS congregation and desires to be a leader can attend YouthLead, along with adults who desire to mentor young leaders. The next YouthLead training will be held March 8–11, 2025, in St. Louis. Learn more at lcms.org/youthlead.

Posted April 4, 2024