Young Life College Podcast

For college-aged students, Summer Staff is the experience of a lifetime. Encouraging them to sign up, however, often takes consistent and intentional effort on the part of YLC staff and leaders. On this episode, John Byard (Point Loma), Billy Jack Blankenship (San Diego State), and Ryan Buskirk (Grand Canyon University) share their most valuable tips and tricks from their Summer Staff recruitment strategy for Young Life College. 

From staying connected to current students to meeting incoming freshmen, summer plays an important role in the annual rhythm of Young Life College ministry. Balancing fall planning, support raising, and assignments within these can prove challenging, not to mention taking time off after the school year! YLC Staff Hannah Maddock (Mizzou) and Caleb Hodder (Houston) join us for this episode to share best practices for summer orientations, adventures, and how to innovate summer strategies to continue to reach the next generation of college students and invite them to experience community, adventure, and significance.

In this episode, Young Life College staff Holli Hennigan (Nashville) and Ben Boelter (Fresno State) return to the podcast to share their best practices on Leadership Training and recruitment. Whether we send college students to lead their peers through YLC leadership, or we send them out to surrounding high schools and middle schools, students who come through leadership training should experience deeper community, excitement for the adventure of leading, and be propelled to live a life of significance.

In this episode, Kevin and Maggie Tietz from the University of Kansas join Jason Rinne for a deep dive conversation into the topic of spring ministry. Through shared adventures like Spring Break trips and the day-to-day faithfulness of contact work and developing student leaders, our hope in the spring is to create spaces for students to have threshold moments to plant seeds, cast vision, and consider their next steps in following Jesus. These moments allow us the opportunity to invite students into a life of community, adventure, and significance.  

Pressure, anxiety, technology, pandemic: these factors and more contribute messy layers to the mental health of our college-aged friends. We invited Ann Shackelton, Vice President of Human Resources Mission Care and Enrichment, to join us for a special episode of the podcast to address the current state of mental health among students and remind us of our role as their Young Life Leaders. Through knowing our boundaries and resources, we can feel equipped to invite college students carrying mental health struggles to take their next steps in knowing and following Jesus.

John Byard and Anne Pinkerton walk Young Life College staff and leaders in a breakout session at the Summit through the foundations of effective gospel proclamation in a Young Life College Club and share how and why clubs at the college level should look different than a traditional Young Life Club.

In Young Life College, our hope is that students know they belong before they consider believing. Emily Kiaha, area director supervising ministry at The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, shares a “TED Talk” at the YLC&U Summit that challenges whether or not we are keeping lost and disinterested students as the focus of our ministry, from contact work and weekly events to how we celebrate students. Jesus modeled the kind of ministry Young Life strives to have: a ministry for the unreached.

Pete Hardesty, Eastern/Northeastern challenges staff and volunteers with the question "Who is your one or two that you are pouring your life into?" and shares how Jesus modeled effective discipleship through multiplication.

Effective multi-ethnic ministry goes deeper than strategy and best practices. In this "TED talk," YLC Director in the Bronx, urges us to see that college students of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds are waiting to be seen in the darkness. Our relationship with Jesus qualifies us to step beyond our clubs and share the light of Christ with every kind of student. As we consider cultural competency, Shanay reminds us to move from knowledge to empathy, and from conviction to loving kids well. 

Chris Cockerham and Kelly Coleman present a seminar on Engaging Generation Z. Young Life College staff and leaders are encouraged to learn about the unique differences that set Gen Z apart and how to think about ways to shift our leadership strategies so we can share Jesus to the next generation of students with more relevance and significance.

“Prof Rah” outlines how we will communicate the gospel effectively to the next generation by engaging in a truth-pursued approach to evangelism. Presentation slides here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1PjO-HOfw6Nt7kepSEiTD0rLUEx7qnCRXISlvIZDjUtw/edit?usp=sharing

A guided meditation and invitation to time with Jesus. Created for the 2021 Young Life College & University National Summit at LoneHollow Ranch. 

As adolescent culture changes, we must become experts on that culture. As we look to the next decade of college ministry, Generation Z will demand us to flex our ministry methods to reach more students on our campus. In this episode, Chris Cockerham and Kelly Coleman preview content for their upcoming Gen Z seminar at the YLC&U Summit. This information will give us context as we shift our leadership strategies and share Jesus to the next generation of students with more relevance and significance.

Get your student leader team together to listen to this special episode! Is your team recruiting students to join a club or inviting them into a community of adventure and significance? YLC staff Alyssa Beaubien (Florida State) and Brad Akin (Ole Miss) join us along with Grace McKissick, a YLC student leader, to talk Welcome Week from the student leadership perspective. Student leaders invite peers to take their next steps in following Jesus--all while together having the ultimate “college experience.”

This episode features a Welcome Week presentation by John Byard (Divisional Coordinator) and Billy Jack Blankenship (San Diego State) to the Southwest Division. As they dive into best practices, John and Billy Jack remind listeners how crucial the first two weeks of the semester are for incoming freshmen and cover everything from events to tabling to engaging existing students in your community. Welcome Week is the foundation of an entire school year of inviting students to experience community, adventure, and significance.

Rachael Plyler (Arizona State) and Marc Vinzon (Chapman University) join us in this episode to continue a race conversation from the AAPI perspective. Rachael and Marc offer their own experiences and challenge listeners to have the courage to be curious and call out stereotypes our culture has towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. As we build relationships with college students, it's this same curiosity that earns us the right to be heard and helps students take their next steps in following Jesus.

What role can you offer Alumni in reaching the next student on their campus? In this episode, Anthony Adamson (Houston) and Robyn Stutts (Arkansas) share the importance of having organized systems in place that continue to foster relationships among Alumni, inviting them to give back and take ownership of the ministry that impacted them. Whether Alumni decide to lead, serve, give, or pray, our invitation is that even after graduation, they continue to experience community, adventure, and significance.

As we show up on campus and walk alongside our student leaders every day, how are we investing in those that may be feeling called to Young Life staff? Anthony Adamson (Houston) and Heath Sizick (West Virginia) join us in this episode to share about their respective Student Staff programs, offering transferable principles for developing leaders. Ultimately, our role in students’ lives who have the potential for staff is the same: help them take their next steps in following Jesus.

After conducting a nationwide survey of YLC student leadership teams, Billy Jack Blankenship of San Diego State and Sara Cummings of James Madison share their findings. The top theme across 160 surveys was student leaders' uncertainty of contact work on a college campus. Billy Jack and Sara dive into how we can cast vision to student leaders to build relationships with disinterested peers on their campus, clarify contact work, and ultimately invite more students to take their next steps in following Jesus.

What training have you had when it comes to developing a College Committee? Is your Committee ready for another year of ministry? In this episode, Chris Cockerham (Southeast Divisional Coordinator) and Karmen Johnson (YLC staff in Las Vegas) share about the importance of developing Committee now and laying roots for sustainable ministry through the YLC Committee Cohort. A healthy College Committee enables staff to spend the best of their time inviting students to take their next steps in following Jesus.

Jen Banagas and Chaská Moore return for a follow up episode to talk more about reaching indigenous students on your campus, who face pressure to preserve their traditions after much loss during COVID-19 plus continued anxiety around generational trauma from a dark American past. As we show up in the lives of students from all cultures, we must educate ourselves, listen, learn, and raise awareness to the truths of those we walk alongside, ultimately taking our next steps in following Jesus together.

Jen Banagas and Chaská Moore join us for this episode on the first of a two-part series sharing about their experiences as indigenous persons growing up in America on and off the reservation as well as serving on Young Life Staff. In this conversation, Jen and Chaská remind us that beyond all stereotypes, discrimination, and differences, we share one thing in common: our humanness. From this place, we begin to invite students of all cultures and nations to take their next steps in following Jesus.

John Byard and Sarah Foster host Derek Walne of Ohio State and Anne Pinkerton of Missouri State to dive into the final “S” of Successful Spring Ministry: Squad. Whether your leadership team is all students or a mix of adults and students, you will be encouraged by what these veteran staff share about student leadership. As we build trust and cast vision to our student leaders, we help equip them to invite their peers from every area of campus to experience community, adventure, and significance.

Do your small groups fill a night of the week and lack consistency, or are they a community of students that live life closely and seek their next steps with Jesus together? Sam Moore and Lauren Bratcher of the University of Texas join us in this episode to share a small group system and approach for building a sustainable small group ministry that develops and builds a disinterested college student to a discipled graduate that thrives spiritually and seeks to serve the kingdom in every area of their life.

In a season of limited travel and complicated logistics, University of Memphis College Director Blake Spann and YLC student Bryce join the podcast to remind us why—even now—it’s worth it. The story of Blake and Bryce’s spontaneous trip to the beach reveals students’ desperate need for community, adventure and significance—and there is simply no better way for them to experience this than to invite them to take a risk out of their comfort zones, to get off campus and be changed by an adventure of a lifetime.

In the first of a 4-podcast series, Ben Boelter of Fresno State and Andi Seaton of Cal State San Marcos talk Social Media, a platform where they have met and engaged with hundreds of new students. While painting a picture of community, adventure and significance, they also relentlessly interact with followers to make the invitation personal. In a culture where social media is a dilemma, YLC staff can redeem this tool, enter into the world beneath, and invite students to take their next steps in following Jesus.

Do we care more about our thriving ministry, or our own soul? In this episode, Donna Hatasaki joins Kenny Nollan and Jason Rinne to remind us that the greatest gift we can give God this advent season is our unedited, unvarnished self. This takes time and significant effort to stop and be still. As we invite desperate students to take their next steps in following Jesus, we must first experience what it’s like to be on our knees, desperate ourselves for intimacy with Christ. We must take our next step, too.

Jason Rinne and Kenny Nollan host Alberto Cuellar, Director of Diversity Initiatives & CQ Training, and Bridget Chacón, YL Area Director in El Paso leading YLC at UTEP, to talk race from the Latino perspective. Many Latino college students are walking away from faith amid tension of embracing their roots and pressure to assimilate into American culture. Bridget and Alberto share their own experiences and encourage staff as we invite Latino students into una vida en comunidad, aventura y significancia.

In this episode, Kelly Coleman at Texas State University and Nate Roser at the University of Cincinnati share how building trusted relationships with student leaders and creating a culture of accountability helps motivates students in peer-to-peer ministry. Our student leaders must live a life of community, adventure, and significance in order to invite their peers to experience the same. YL College staff ultimately have the privilege of helping our student leaders take their next steps in following Jesus.

Jason Rinne, Sarah Foster and Connor Saben host college directors Tamra Roland (Central Florida) and Ben McGill (Nebraska-Lincoln) to hear what’s worked and what hasn’t as they innovate ministry this semester. We’ve learned a lot about ministry during a pandemic, but one thing is for sure: students are showing up desperate for community and need us to keep showing up for them. Amid failures, we keep going, we try something new, and we continue inviting students to take their next steps in following Jesus.

John Byard returns to the podcast with Chico Area Director Joe Grap and Chico State College Director Kevin Reid. Joe and Kevin share how their volunteers, funding and Committee structures work together as a team under one area. While Episode 10 speaks to stand-alone college areas, this episode surrounds Committee support for YLC within a local area Committee structure. By unifying resources, ministries can be stronger together—ultimately inviting more students to take their next steps in following Jesus.

Does inviting someone into Committee feel like a jury duty ask? Or like you’re inviting them into a small group that laughs and prays a lot? Committee never screams for attention until it’s too late. In this episode, listen to John Byard and Kimberly Silvernale share their passion on prioritizing Committee as a college staff person and how to practically build one. Staff must ask for help and give things away – ultimately so that we can (for the long haul) invite students to take their next steps in following Jesus.

In this episode, Young Life College Divisional Coordinators Steve Millet and Chris Cockerham remind staff that “showing up” is the greatest role we have in Young Life. As we find creative ways to meet safely with students, the COVID-19 culture gives us an opportunity to pursue students individually and help connect them to other students. Staff must model this kind of contact work to their leadership teams so that we can continue inviting college students to experience community, adventure and significance.

Young Life College Divisional Coordinators Pete Hardesty and Cat Ryden encourage staff that focusing on excellence on a smaller scale through the multiplication of small groups can actually help build a more sustainable ministry. Whether focusing on outreach or discipleship, small groups create a space for students to experience community, adventure, and significance. During a season where large events cannot happen, we are reminded that programs don’t make disciples. Disciples make disciples.

Arthur, Shanay, and Ben dive into the white Christian’s role in a time of conflict and how white Young Life staff shouldn’t simply try to assimilate persons of color into their existing spaces but seek ways to give more ownership in the mission. Earning the right to be heard and developing leaders in diverse spaces takes committed prayer, action, and accountability. We humbly seek to become more diverse with a desire to grow our ministries more wholly into the image of Christ and reflect His Kingdom.

Shanay Scott returns and is joined by Ben Chambers and Arthur Satterwhite, Young Life’s Vice President of Multiethnic Ministries, for a second conversation around race, diversity, equity, and inclusion. In the first half of a two-part episode series, guests share personal and unique experiences as Black men and women in America and the importance of listening, learning, asking questions, and avoiding confirmation bias. With renewed minds and open hearts, we are encouraged to let Jesus speak in and change us.

How do we plan a Welcome Week when there’s likely no info fairs, no big events, and we don’t even know if students are arriving back to campus? Sarah Foster and Jason Rinne invite Tami Ostlund and Pete Hardesty of the Young Life College National Team to discuss contingency planning and remind us of our focus as we welcome an incoming freshmen class during COVID-19.

Young Life College staff Shanay Scott, Tanisha Walton, and Vince Gordon share their perspectives on recent protests and discuss racially driven terms such as white privilege, white supremacy, and systematic racism. As we minister to a generation that cares deeply about justice, Young Life College Vice President Kenny Nollan encourages all staff to humbly lean in, listen, wrestle, and reflect. Then as staff, discern how to take your next steps to stand in solidarity with our Black and Brown brothers and sisters and enter into the uncomfortable tension of these conversations with college students.

How do we help students take their next steps in following Jesus in the midst of social distancing, racial injustice, and unknown fall semester schedules? In this episode, listen to Vice President Kenny Nollan and Nashville College Director Holli Hennigan discuss with Jason and Sarah the Young Life College Summer Road Map and how we can make the most of this unique summer for personal and ministry growth.     

Jason and Sarah discuss with Steve Millet, college director at the University of Texas at San Antonio, what it looks like to show up for students in isolation through the lost art of a phone call. More real and present than text on a screen, when physical presence can’t happen, our voice is how we show up for college students and help them take their next steps in following Jesus. 

Jason and Sarah interview Billy Jack Blankenship, college director at San Diego State University, on innovating in isolation through simplicity and empowering his leadership team.