Articles for tag: Les Christie

July 26, 2018

What 50 Years of Youth Ministry Have Taught Me

By Les Christie Who would have thought 50 years would pass by so quickly? I was born in Liverpool, England, and came to West Los Angeles, California, with my parents and sister by ship and train when I was 5 years old. I did not grow up in the church, I’m sorry to say. I started attending the small Cardiff Avenue Christian Church in West Los Angeles during my junior year of high school. My friend Buckley Simmons invited me. Jim Irby was the part-time youth minister—he was terrific. Harry Bucalstein, the pastor, suggested I go to Pacific Christian College

May 17, 2017

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Youth & Children's Ministry

The Best Youth Ministers

By Les Christie A youth-ministry expert tells why and how the church must partner with parents to bring their kids to spiritual maturity. Fifty years ago youth leaders in churches were still largely volunteers, many of them parents of teenagers. When I was in high school and attending Cardiff Avenue Christian Church in West Los Angeles, I remember Mrs. Curry (who turns 100 this year and still drives a car””yikes!) was a parent volunteer in the youth department. Jim Irby was our part-time youth minister. Both strongly influenced my early years, and I still stay in touch with them. Churches

November 1, 2006

Christian Standard

Family & Relationships Parenting

Keeping Kids When They Become Young Adults

By Mark A. Taylor When teenagers are active in church but then graduate from high school and disappear, unfortunately most of us aren’t surprised. In fact, at least one youth ministry expert thinks it may even be normal. “It’s the rubber band syndrome,” says Les Christie, youth ministry professor at William Jessup University in Rocklin, California. “College students are stretching away from home. They’re testing their independence. But they usually come back, especially after they’re married and have kids.” Christie quotes the familiar Proverbs 22:6, emphasizing one word: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he