About 40 local teenagers of Young Life’s Coronado club turned up for “Tacky Prom” on May 21 at Coronado High School’s multi-purpose room. What will surely have contrasted with the high school’s official prom at the Westin Gaslamp Hotel featuring “A Night at Gatsby’s,” Young Life’s event boasted thrift store looks, pepperoni pizza, tri-colored streamers, balloons, party games, and a photo booth. There were no promposals or #islanderasks, no dates, and no exorbitant ticket fees; Young Life weekly club events are free.
Young Life brands itself as an unaffiliated, “non-profit, Christian outreach organization” with a mission of “introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith,” according to their brochure. Funded by private contributions, and with a current, local annual budget of $125,000, it casts a wide recruitment net aimed at ensuring that “[e]very adolescent will have the opportunity to meet Jesus Christ and follow Him.” The long-term approach to recruitment and retention is strategic and roots itself in Acts 2:47 “And the Lord added to their number daily,” as quoted in their divisional map showing their presence throughout the world.
The Coronado chapter’s only full-time staff member, Area Director Kelsey Berger, is proud of the tight, positive, and supportive community that has emerged among participants and leaders. She describes the nature of what she does as “contact work” that drives her to “meet kids where they are” and offers them pathways to build and deepen an identity around faith as experienced within the group. And that resonates with the teens.
Coronado High School senior and Young Life Leader Lance Lorenz, who recently enlisted with the U.S. Army and will begin basic training in mid-July, joined the group last year and attended its famed summer camp. Before taking the controls as the prom’s disc jockey, he shares that “school can be super fun or super rough. This club is a really cool, really awesome way to be involved, meet new people, have fun activities in a fun, Christ-centered atmosphere.”
“These people are my family,” gushes Madden Hundley, a junior at the prom with two of her friends. “I had a rough time freshman year.” She credits her growth and sense of belonging to her experience at summer camp, where she notes that “people have big breakthroughs. It’s transformative.” On how she initially became involved with Young Life, Hundley explains that “leaders pursue you, do one-on-ones with you, ask you what’s going on, connect.” High School senior Emma Cleveland adds: “You can just talk with leaders like your normal friends.”
Such friendships may seem organic, but they are based on relationships that trained, vetted, and background-checked adult leaders initiate with peers and younger kids. The interactions consistently circle back to spreading and deepening each other’s faith, as stated in the brochure: “We’re with kids for the long haul; [sic] showing them unconditional love as they take their first steps of faith.” Berger clarifies: “For kids, we tell them we’re just hanging out, but for us it’s really intentional.”
Dana Allen, a parent of a Coronado Young Life teenager, refers to these relationships as older kids “taking social responsibility for taking taking care of others.” Berger holds a “come as you are” policy. When asked whether that policy applies to youth of other or non-faiths, or who identify as LGBTQA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Questioning, or Allied), Berger emphasizes that “Young Life is for every kid regardless of their background.” Whether that openness still applies when kids in those communities want to train and serve as Young Life leaders is unclear (The Coronado Times reached out to various sources, but received no comment as of press time). Discrimination based on the sexual orientation of leaders is a controversial topic for Young Life nationally, with stories emerging of leaders from LGBTQA communities being banned from leading Young Life students and told that their identities run counter to the faith.
Back at “Tacky Prom,” when asked what she would like the broader Coronado community to know about Young Life, Katy Bradford, a senior, states, “it’s not a cult. It’s an outreach. We’re pretty well-known on campus. Give it a chance.” Senior Emma Cleveland said that Young Life is “my second family. It’s never going to waver.”
With an increase in mass school shootings, a decrease in privacy and self-esteem due to the proliferation of activity on social media, and rising standards of achievement that feel just out of reach, it is no wonder that teenagers feel more anxious, depressed, and insecure than ever. Ultimately, the larger issue that Young Life Coronado believes it is trying to address through faith is what young people in this community need in order to feel safe, heard, and supported on their journey towards adulthood. With an eye towards expansion, Berger would like to reach as many teens and kids as possible, and she constantly asks “Who is the next kid? What is the next school? We are continuing to establish roots. We want to get better at what we do.”
Currently, Young Life Coronado is seeking more support from local parents who can offer donations and space for events.
To contact Coronado Young Life, go to:
Instagram: @NadoYL & @NadoWyldlife
Facebook: Coronado Island Young Life
Website: coronadoisland.younglife.org
