The Youth for Christ Movement as an Educational Agency and Its Impact upon Protestant Churches

405 Pages·2017·12.73 MB·English

by  Mark. Senter

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1989
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Mark. Senter
Loyola University Chicago
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Copyright © 1989 Mark. Senter
THE YOUTH FOR CHRIST MOVEMENT AS AN EDUCATIONAL AGENCY
AND ITS IMPACT UPON PROTESTANT CHURCHES: 1931-1979
by
Mark Houston Senter III
A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate
School of Loyola University of Chicago in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
March
1989
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The writer would like to acknowledge with gratitude the
members of his at Loyola University, Dr. Gerald
coro~ittee
Gutek and Dr. Joan Smith and particularly Rev. Michael
Perko, S.J., chairman of the committee, for his insightful
comments and helpful editing of this dissertation.
Reverend Dick Wynn, president of Youth for Christ,
U.S.A. and his secretary, June Thompson, as well as Mr.
Douglas Burleigh, president of Young Life, and his
secretary, Suzie Coddington, provided unconditional access
and willing support in locating and using the historical
materials of their respective organizations.
To the archives and library of the Billy Graham Center,
the Youth Ministry and Theological Schools Project, Union
Theological Seminary, funded by the Lilly Endowment Center,
and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, the author would
like to express special appreciation for making this
research possible.
ii
VITA
The author, Mark Houston Senter III, is the son of Mark
Houston Senter and Alice (Watkins) Senter. He was born 8
December 1943 in Warsaw, Indiana.
His elementary education was obtained in the public
schools of Greenville, South Carolina. His secondary
education was completed in 1961 at Hampden DuBose Academy in
Zellwood, Florida, where he was the president of his
graduating class. At commencement he was named the recipient
of the Wilson Reed Christian Character Award and Pierre W.
DuBose Athletic Award.
In September 1961, Mr. Senter enrolled at Moody Bible
Institute, receiving a diploma from the Pastor's Course in
June 1964. While enrolled at Moody Bible Institute he was
elected president of the freshman class and president of the
Missionary Union during his senior year.
In September of 1965, Mr. Senter transferred his
credits to the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle and
received the Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in history in
August 1968. During these years he served as the Youth
Director at Cicero Bible Church in Cicero, Illinois.
Mr. Senter enrolled at Trinity Evangelical Divinity
School in Deerfield, Illinois, in September 1968 and
received his Master of Arts degree in Christian Education in
iii
June of 1971. During these years and continuing until July
1975, he served as Youth Pastor at the Arlington Heights
Evangelical Free Church, Arlington Heights, Illinois.
In July 1975, Mr. Senter became the Associate Pastor
for Christian Education at Wheaton Bible Church, Wheaton,
Illinois, where he served through August 1982. Mr. Senter
was ordained to the Christian ministry at the Wheaton Bible
Church in November 1976.
In September 1982, he was named Assistant Professor of
Christian Education at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School,
Deerfield, Illinois, where he is currently employed.
Mr. Senter is the author of .The. Ad: Qf. Recruiting
Volunteer~, published by Victor Books in 1983 and a co
editor of The Complete liQ.Q.k Qf. Youth Ministries, published
by Moody Press in 1987.
iv
CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS • ii
VITA . . . . • • • . . • . • . . • • • . • . • iii
. . . .
CONTENTS • • • • v
Chapter
I. Introduction 1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Purpose . . . . . 4
Definition.s . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Process 11
II. Protestant Youth Ministry in Social Context • 16
Emergence of Adolescence in the Late
Nineteenth Century • • • • • . . • 19
The Concept of Youth Movements • . . . • 23
Context for Youth Movements • • . . • . 26
Functions of Youth Movements • • . • . . 36
Conclusion • . • . • • • . . • . • • . . 40
III. Protestant Youth Ministry in Historical
Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Period of Preparation (before 1851) •. 49
Period of Discovery (1851-1860) .••• 54
Period of Expansion (1860-1881) ••.• 57
Period of Church Appropriation
(1881-1889) • • • • • • • • • • 63
Period of Differentiation (1889-1912) 72
Period of Diffusion (1912-1931) . • 88
Conclusion • • . • • • • • • • • • • 101
IV. The Development of the Youth for Christ . .
Movement • • • • • • • • • • . 109
The Condition of Aging Youth Societies • 112
The Rise of the Youth Rally 129
Conclusion • • . • . • • • • • • • • • • 154
v.
The Rise of the Para-Church . . . . . . . . .
Clubs: 1933-1949 ••••• 162
Evelyn McClusky and the Miracle
Book Club • • • • • . • . . 164
v
Jim Rayburn and Young Life Clubs •••• 180
Chicago Teachers' Fellowship
and Hi-C Clubs • • • • • • • • 188
Jack Hamilton and the Youth
on the Beam Clubs • • . • • . . • • 19 6
Brandt Reed and Hi-B.A. Clubs • • • 202
Other Club Movements • • • • • • • • • • 205
Criticisms of the Youth for Christ
Movement • • • • • • • • • 209
Conclusion • • • • • • • • • • • • • 211
VI. The National Club Program Years: 1950-1979 • 220
Context of the National Club
Program Years • • • • • • • • • • • 221
The Youth for Christ Club
Years: 1950-1968 ••••••••• 231
The Campus Life Years of Youth
for Christ: 1968-1979 •• • • • 251
The Young Life Club Approach • • • • 269
Conclusion • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 27 9
VII. Contributions of the Youth for Christ
Movement to Local Church Youth Ministry • • • 288
Redefinition of Christian Values •••• 290
Creation of a Profession • • • • • • • • 313
Innovations on Youth Ministry
Methodology • • • • • • • • 32 6
Conclusion • • • • • • • • • • • 3 4 6
VIII.Conclusion • • 3 57
Evaluation • . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
The Future . . . . . . • . . • . . • 364
Conclusion • . . . . . . . . . . 37 5
. . .
BIBLIOGRAPHY • • 37 8
. . . . . . . . .
APPENDIX A • • • • • • • 3 91
. . . . . . . . . . . .
APPENDIX B • • • • 395
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
APPENDIX C • 397
vi
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
"There are very few things today done in youth work
that were not pioneered in Youth for Christ or Young Life -
be it in Christian camping, various small group activities
1
or music." This quotation, attributed to Jay Kesler,
former president of Youth for Christ International, was
cited by Thom Schultz in an article entitled, "What's
Happened to Young Life and Campus Life?" If pressed to
explain what he meant by the statement, Kesler may have been
willing to concede that he overstated his case a bit. Yet
the question remains, what was the contribution of Youth for
Christ and Young Life to youth ministry in the local church?
This same question may be applied to a number of other para-
church agencies which arose in the period from 1931 when
Percy Crawford founded the Young People's Church of the Air
until 1979 when the National Network of Youth Ministries was
established for fellowship among local church youth
ministers.
Confusion over the contribution of such agencies was
further evidenced when the sociologist Tony Campolo wrote an
article in YouthWorker entitled, "Success Can Be Dangerous:
1
2
2
The Professionalizing of Youth Ministry." Attempting a
sociological analysis of the history of youth ministry,
Campolo made numerous factual errors about its development
as a profession. When questioned about these inaccuracies,
the sociologist frankly confessed that accurate data was not
available to him and so he leaned more heavily on his theory
than on the historic information.
Unfortunately, Campolo presumption about the avail
ability of historical data is correct. Careful studies of
the contributions of recent parachurch organizations to
youth ministry in the local church have not been written.
One has to look back to the 1930s and before to find such
3
works.
Admittedly, there are numerous house histories which
report the facts about specific youth ministry organiza-
tions, usually as understood by a person favorable to those
4
organizations. Little research has been done, however, of
a scholarly nature. One could only surmise that the people
most closely associated with the various youth ministries
were so busily involved in doing the work of ministry and
producing materials which contributed to their ministries
that they did not take the time to step back and examine
what was taking place through the means of careful research.
Similarly, denominational youth ministries have
published materials which have documented their historical
development. Using statistics and archival material
3
available from their various headquarters, these histories
have tended to justify the validity of denominational youth
programs. Since most denominations are associated with
seminaries and their scholarly activities, it is not
surprising that dissertations have been written about
various youth ministries associated with denominations.
Denominational publishing houses have been anxious to
publish the story of what their particular denominations
have been doing with youth. Thus, there is a body of liter
s
ature focusing on denominational youth ministries.
Unfortunately, little research has been done to provide
a perspective on the nature of youth ministry in local
protestant churches and how that youth ministry relates to
either the culture at large or the specific antecedents in
youth ministry. The most extensive work that has been done
in recent years is that of Judith Bowen Erickson, a
sociologist at the University of Minnesota. Building on her
masters thesis, "American Youth Organizations: An
Etiological Approach," Erickson has identified and provided
information about fifteen different types of adult-sponsored
organizations which work with adolescents, one of which
6
deals with protestant organizations. Dr. Erickson's work
provides a theoretical base from which to further examine
the nature of protestant youth ministry and then to examine
the contribution of the Youth for Christ movement to youth
ministry in the local church.