
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 and CEO of P.H.A.T. Star
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. 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. 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
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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.
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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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David Olshine's
heart is to evangelize and disciple the
youth culture. Raised in a Jewish family,
David's world was rocked by his parents'
divorce. During a time of turbulence in his
teen years involving drugs and rebellion,
David came to know Jesus as his Messiah.
Ever since, David's desire has been to help
seekers find Christ and train youth and
youth workers to reach the next generation.
A family man, David has two children, Rachel
and Andrew, and married "out of his league"
by finding and keeping Rhonda. As director
of the Youth Ministry program, David gets
very excited about teaching, mentoring and
speaking to youth. He has authored or
coauthored over 18 books. An avid sports
fan, David loves to play basketball and
tennis and to jog. He is constantly on the
hunt for the best Buffalo wings,
artichoke/spinach dip, and clam chowder as
he travels the United States.
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