In 1938, Jim Rayburn, a young Presbyterian youth leader and seminary student in Gainesville, Texas, was asked to develop ways of contacting kids who had no interest in church. (Editor’s Note: Jim Rayburn was brother to Bob Rayburn, a BP, EP, RPCES and PCA minister and the founder and first President of both Covenant College and Covenant Seminary.)

On Tuesday night, more than 200 high school students from Hough, Hopewell, Lake Norman Charter and Community School of Davidson gathered at Joe Gibbs Racing for an area Young Life meeting.

When the doors opened at 7:30 p.m., students were waiting to invade the premises. Once they descended into the theater, music and lyrics were projected onto the big screen, and the room erupted with song and animated energy. The room was electric – voices raised, hands in the air and a sense of community and unity among the four high schools represented.

The one-hour meeting boasted music, comedic sketches, games and teaching about faith. Young Life meets in the Lake Norman area at different locations.

In 1938, Jim Rayburn, a young Presbyterian youth leader and seminary student in Gainesville, Texas, was asked to develop ways of contacting kids who had no interest in church. (Editor’s Note: Jim Rayburn was brother to Bob Rayburn, a Bible Presbyterian, Evangelical Presbyterian, Reformed Presbyterian Church, Eevangelical Synod, and Presbyterian Church in America minister and the founder and first President of both Covenant College and Covenant Seminary.)

Rayburn started a weekly club for kids. There was singing, a skit or two and a simple message each week. After graduating from seminary, Rayburn and four other seminarians launched Young Life on Oct. 16, 1941.

By 1946, Young Life had a new headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo. Volunteer leadership began at Wheaton College in Illinois in the late 1940s, and today, Young Life clubs depend heavily on 19,000 volunteer leaders spanning the globe.

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[Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced in this article is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]