Dr. David D. Rahn
Vice President, YFC/USA Ministries;
Director, M.A. in Youth Ministry Leadership

B.A., Huntington College; M.A., Wheaton College; Ph.D., Purdue University. 

Dr. Dave Rahn is the Vice President and Chief Ministry Officer for YFC/USA and the director of Huntington University’s M.A. in Youth Ministry Leadership.  He is a youth ministry researcher, author, speaker and leadership strategist.  He has been a contributing editor for YouthWorker Journal, The Journal of Student Ministries and writes the regular Outreach Notebook column for Group. 

Dave began teaching at HU in 1985, leaving his full-time role as a professor to return to YFC in 2007. Prior to that, he worked for 13 years in various capacities with Fort Wayne Area Youth for Christ.  Dave has over sixty published articles and a few books to his credit, including: Contagious Faith: Empowering students in youth evangelism (with Terry Linhart, Group 2000), Starting Right: Thinking theologically about youth ministry (co-edited with Kendra Creasy Dean and Chap Clark, Zondervan/Youth Specialties 2000), Youth Ministry that Transforms: A comprehensive analysis of the hopes, frustrations, and effectiveness of today’s youth workers (with Merton Strommen and Karen Jones, Zondervan/Youth Specialties 2001), 3Story: Preparing for a lifestyle of evangelism (curriculum co-credited with Youth for Christ, Zondervan/Youth Specialties 2007), and Evangelism Remixed: Empowering students for courageous and contagious faith (with Terry Linhart, Zondervan/Youth Specialties 2009).  Dave has led research projects to determine the effectiveness of DCLA, discover common qualities of outreach-effective student leaders, follow-up sexual abstinence commitments, map the landscape of Protestant youth ministers in America, learn common factors in youth evangelism stories, and measure the effectiveness of Urban Youth Workers’ Institute strategies.

Dave is a past president of the North American Professors of Christian Education and a founding member of the Association of Youth Ministry Educators in the United States.  His home is in Huntington, Indiana, where he lives with his wife, Susie, and cheers on the youth ministry careers of his two recently graduated children, Jason and Alison.  He continues to network with local youth pastors and—whenever possible—hangs out with high school students.  drahn@huntington.edu

Dr. René D. Rochester
President CEO URBAN S.E.T. INC.
Senior Director of Community Ministries for Youth for Christ/ USA

B.S., University of Texas at Austin; M.S., University of Texas at Austin; Ed.D., University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Rochester brings a wealth of experience in the area of urban youth ministry to the Youth Ministry Leadership program.  She has served as a consultant, guest lecturer, workshop facilitator, program developer and evaluation specialist for organizations such as Compassion International, Youth Specialties, Urban Outreach, Urban Impact and the Texas Department of Health: Center on Cultural Competency.  In 1997, Dr. Rochester presented "Meeting the needs of at risk adolescents in the state of Texas" to Governor Bush's senior staff.  She has served as an adjunct professor at North Park University and the Reformed Bible College.  In her current role at YFC/ USA, Dr. Rochester oversees Juvenile Justice Ministry USA, Teen Parent Ministry USA and City Life USA.  Her recent publications include: Reaching the Core  of Youth: Ministering to the hidden places of the heart;  PHAT STAR Community Collaborative Initiative (Journal of Youth Ministry, April 2005); No longer DMX but alive in Christ; It's All Good; and Positioned for the Exchange: Who will impact the next generation? 

Dr. Marv Penner
Professor of Youth and Family Ministry,
Briercrest College and Seminary;
Regular Visiting/Adjunct Faculty at a number of colleges and universities in Canada and the U.S.;
Director, Canadian Centre for Adolescent Research

Diploma, Pastoral Major, Briercrest Bible College; B.R.E., Briercrest Bible College; M.A., Grace Seminary; D.Phil, Oxford Graduate School

Dr. Marv Penner is a founding member of the Professional Association of Youth Ministry Educators and a frequent speaker at retreats, conferences and other events.  He is a Church Youth Ministry Consultant, trains student leaders, youth workers, and counselors internationally, and is on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Youthworker Journal.  In the past, Marv has invested in the lives of others as the Minister to Families at Bayview Glen Church and as the Program Director at Keswick Youth Camp.  In addition to his ministry roles, he has worked with the North York Fire Department, completed a few assignments as an undercover private investigator, and been a Brink's armored car guard and a water ski instructor.  He loves traveling, wildlife photography, scuba diving, motorcycle touring, downhill skiing and Monday Night Football.  Marv is the author of the Youth Worker's Guide to Parent Ministry, Creative Bible Lessons in 1 and 2 Corinthians; Help, I'm Working with Hurting Kids; and Parent Pains.  He contributed to Starting Right, Thinking Theologically about Youth Ministry; God's Word for Students; and Zondervan's Teen Devotional Bible.

Dr. Thomas E. Bergler
Assistant Professor of Educational Ministries,
Huntington University (2000)

B.S., University of Michigan; M.A., Wheaton College; Ph.D., University of Notre Dame

Dr. Bergler's ministry experience includes seven years with University Christian Outreach on the campuses of Michigan State, the University of Michigan, and the University of London.  He was also Director and Co-founder of the UCO Spring Academy, an annual conference intended to equip Michigan Christian undergrads to be salt and light on their campuses.  He has served as a consultant to Christian Youth Challenge, an ecumenical Christian youth organization.  He teaches in their summer internship program and Detroit summer outreach program.  He also is a member of the Link Institute team.  Dr. Bergler has written articles and chapters in several books and encyclopedias.  His research interests include the History of Youth and Youth Ministry.   tbergler@huntington.edu

Dr. Philip J. Collins
Associate Professor of Christian Educational Ministries, Taylor University

B.A., Taylor University; M.A., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; Ph.D., Purdue University.

After starting his ministry career with Youth for Christ, Dr. Collins spent ten years fine-tuning his ministry skills as a youth pastor in Indianapolis, Indiana.  He is a member of the North American Professors of Christian Education and the Association of Youth Ministry Educators.  Currently, Dr. Collins is an associate professor in the Christian Education program at Taylor University.  When not in the classroom, he enjoys woodworking, sailing, and spending time with his wife and two children.  

Dr. Scott Larson President and Founder of Straight Ahead Ministries Adjunct Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Center for Urban Ministerial Education (CUME) B.A. South Dakota Stat University; M. Div. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; D. Min. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Dr. Scott Larson is president and founder of Straight Ahead Ministries, an international faith-based organization working with juvenile offenders in more than 400 juvenile detention centers in 14 states and three countries with a myriad of aftercare programs when youth return home.

Straight Ahead also provides mentoring programs and aftercare homes for youth after release from lock-up. The Larsons opened and lived in one of those aftercare homes with up to seven boys for nine years. The recidivism rate for youth going through that home was less than 10 percent. Their newest program is called Straight Ahead Academy, a residential program where youth can serve the last six months of their time.

Scott has been a speaker and trainer to those working with at-risk youth worldwide since 1986. He is also chairman of Reclaiming Youth International, a strength-based movement providing training and best practice models to programs serving high-risk youth around the world.

Scott has authored 10 books on working effectively with troubled youth and has been a speaker to youth, parents, teachers, social workers and youth workers since 1983 and is an adjunct professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Center for Urban Ministerial Education (CUME).

Scott and his wife Hanne reside in Northborough, Massachusetts with their two children, Sarah and David.
 

Dr. Dave Livermore Executive Director of the Global Learning Center at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary Assistant Professor, Intercultural Studies Co-Founder of Intersect B.A. Cornerstone University; B.S. Calvin College;  M.A. State University of New York; M.T.S. Grand Rapids Theological Seminary; Ph.D. ,Michigan State University

Dave is Co-Founder of Intersect, a ministry that provides leadership training and consulting to emerging leaders in ministries around the world. Dave is widely published on youth ministry, missions, and issues of contextualizing the gospel. His most recent book is Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence.

Dave has a heart for the globe and has had the opportunity to serve with national leaders in over 70 countries. Dave loves to take deep, theological truth and make it profoundly relevant to students and leaders.

Dave and his wife, Linda, live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, along with their two daughters, Emily and Grace. Some of their favorite family activities include traveling, biking, reading, eating Asian food, and walking to Jersey Junction--the local ice cream shop!

 

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Dr. David Olshine Bible College (Resident Faculty) Director of Youth Ministry Program B.G.S., Ohio University; M.Div., Asbury Theological Seminary; D.Min., Eastern Baptist Seminary

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