YouthLead
Youth Ministry • The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Teens leading teens
For 40 years, YouthLead (formerly Lutheran Youth Fellowship) has equipped teens to develop and use their leadership skills as they serve Christ within their congregations and communities. We offer resources and training to equip teens to lead and mentor each other.
Our annual leadership training event is facilitated by the teen YL Leadership Team. The event makes use of leadership resources developed to give teens the tools they need to mature in their faith, become leaders in their congregations, and reach out to their peers with the love of Christ.
YouthLead is now looking to the future with the development of additional resources aligned with the 7 Practices for Healthy Youth Ministry. This will include resources for adults who mentor and champion young leaders, potential regional conferences and connections to other programs like LCMS Servant Events and the LCMS Youth Gathering.
Join the YouthLead group on Facebook
YouthLead Training
This annual training event is led by our teen Executive Team. The event gives teens the tools they need to mature in their faith, become leaders in their congregations, and reach out to their peers with the love of Christ. We invite any high school youth who is an active member of an LCMS church and adult mentors to join us. Our next event is February 29th to March 3rd, 2024. Registration is open now. If you have questions about the event, you can reach out at youth.ministry@lcms.org.
Register for the training event
We will have a second training opportunity in 2024 at the National Lutheran Youth Worker Conference. High school leaders can attend alongside their adult mentors in New Orleans on July 21-24.
Teens will join with adults at some of the plenaries and will have workshops in each of those sessions lead by our young adult Executive Team. Teens will be free to eat meals with the adults from their congregation and explore the city with them.
YouthLead Workshops will be focusing on why we serve as Christians and how to expand service opportunities for their congregation. This will include topics like how to plan servant events, what God’s Word says about mercy work, and how to keep service focused on Christ. It will be a different curriculum than the one for the National YouthLead in St. Louis.
Depending on the size of the group, we will have several times where teens will have special events and meals (including potentially going off-site.) More details about their schedule will be made available soon.
Click Here to Register
Leadership Team: 2022-25
Leadership Team members for YouthLead were elected by their peers during the 2022 Teen Leadership Training.
- Adam Beadle — Chandler, Ariz.
- Abbie Kollbaum — Madison, Neb.
- Reagan Martens — Kansas City, Mo.
- Annaka Zaiser — Holly, Mich.
- Ava Dradzynski — Prattville, Ala.
- Austin Barber — Worthington, Minn.