Feature
Fostering Faith That Lasts
At St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Bourbonnais, Ill., four congregations have come together to build a flourishing youth ministry.
On an August night in Bourbonnais, Ill., 32 youth — seventh-graders through seniors from four different congregations — ate walking tacos while listening attentively to the Rev. Roger Drinnon lead a devotion on Psalm 61.
“All of our enemies in this life — sin, death and the devil — Christ defeated them on the cross. We don’t have to worry about them anymore. And the battles that we fight in our lives are in the shadow of Christ’s victory on the cross,” said Drinnon, associate pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School in Bourbonnais.
It was St. Paul’s Back-to-School Bash, an annual event launching youth ministry for the school year. Several minutes before, these young people had been chasing each other with pool noodles and bouncing in an inflatable castle in the school gym. Now, they sat pondering Christ’s victory over death. People who have been involved with youth ministry are familiar with this joyful contrast — the extreme silliness and the extreme sincerity and depth of which young Christians are capable.
Several years ago, youth ministry at St. Paul’s was floundering. Volunteers, mostly parents, planned events. But with little central organization, and little leadership on the part of the youth themselves, it was a heavy lift.
Then, Drinnon was called to St. Paul’s and tasked with revitalizing the youth ministry. With the help of many volunteers, Drinnon and his wife, Katrina, have transformed it into a thriving program. Key to this has been the guidance of LCMS Youth Ministry’s Seven Practices of Healthy Youth Ministry. The parents and other invested volunteers on St. Paul’s youth board have read the book together repeatedly, and implementing its strategies has borne great fruit.
Youth Take the Lead
“What we’ve built as a team here together has really turned into something that the youth are leading and driving,” said Katrina Drinnon, director of the congregation’s youth board.
In 2023, she took three of the congregation’s youth to St. Louis for LCMS Youth Ministry’s YouthLead program. The impact on the congregation’s youth ministry went beyond just those who attended.
“You could see the shift in them mindset-wise, from seeing themselves as kids to stepping into a leadership role. And that then rubbed off on their peers. The kids are becoming more comfortable leading a game, praying out loud, leading Bible studies, thinking up discussions, encouraging others to talk as well,” said Katrina Drinnon.
On the car ride home from YouthLead, those three youth planned a Bible study, which they presented at youth group that same evening.
“That is how much confidence [YouthLead] gave us — that we were able to quickly turn around and make a Bible study ourselves and feel confident enough to share it. I thought that was amazing, because I had never seen myself do anything like that,” said Alena LaGesse.
Soon, older youth were asked to lead small groups as part of St. Paul’s regular youth nights, which happen twice a month.
“Opportunities to serve and lead” is one of the Seven Practices, the ultimate goal of which are to raise up youth who will remain in the faith. Two of last year’s graduates, both of whom served as small-group leaders, are enrolled in church work programs at Concordia University Chicago (CUC) this year.
LaGesse, now a freshman in CUC’s Lutheran Teacher Education program, said that her experience in youth group helped confirm her desire to become a teacher.
“My senior year as a small-group leader, it was so great to be able to see the seventh- and eighth-grade kids come in and see them grow up and to be able to help them,” said LaGesse.
Serving Together
The youth at St. Paul’s also have opportunities to serve through the Mission and Ministry Center, housed in the congregation’s old school building in Kankakee, Ill.
This center is the hub for the youth ministry’s “Be the Church” week each summer, where they carry out service projects, such as making care packages for the congregation’s shut-ins.
On Sept. 20, the building also became the newest location of Phil’s Friends, an LCMS Recognized Service Organization that provides cards of encouragement and care packages to cancer patients.
Youth also have opportunities to serve at church: as acolytes, lectors, ushers and more.
“It helps the faith of our youth be ‘sticky’ — faith that will last — if they have opportunities to apply it well,” said Roger Drinnon.
Faith Friends
Another one of the Seven Practices, “supportive adults,” has inspired the Faith Friends program at St. Paul’s. At confirmation, all the youth are paired with adults who pray for them, write notes of encouragement and meet with them. They are paired with a new adult each year. By the time they graduate, they will have had five adults supporting and encouraging them.
Having a vibrant, engaged and visible youth population has been beneficial to the congregation as well as the youth.
“It gives the congregation confidence that God’s Word works. Oftentimes, congregations see students who go through confirmation, and then they never see them again. And by having an active youth ministry program, we have an on-ramp to retain them beyond confirmation. We’re able to keep them … tied with the life of the church, and it gives a good morale boost to the congregation,” said Roger Drinnon.
Building Resilience
The Seven Practices encourage congregations to help their youth “develop a resilient identity in Christ” and “deeply understand their baptismal faith.”
St. Paul’s youth group has a lot of fun together: In addition to the Back-to-School Bash, they have an annual lock-in, host a trivia night and play games regularly. And at the heart of their gatherings is prayer, reading of the Bible, and discussion about serious topics of faith and life.
“It’s been wonderful to get a chance to talk about Jesus with people our age, with no distractions,” said Layna Rahn, who is going into eighth grade.
This year, St. Paul’s youth ministry theme is “God’s Word versus Satan’s Lies.”
“We try to not ignore the fact … that they are going to face the struggles and the temptations and the sins that they’re facing,” said Ashley Porter, a member of the youth board and mother to a freshman and a senior in the youth group. “Our goal with this theme is to give them the tools that they need … to face those temptations and see … what God wants them to do. Because some of them might not know. So, we’re hoping to foster those morals in a fun way, with that battle theme each night.”
This is a heavy theme, but one that resonates with today’s youth. The theme of this year’s LCMS Youth Gathering was “ENDURE,” and discussions about Christian endurance and the fight to be faithful in an increasingly godless world resonate strongly.
“We have a lot of good talks about the faith,” said senior Luke Werner. “One of my favorite topics is endurance. It’s nice to know that we’re not alone, and that Jesus is there for us.”
Werner was one of 15 youth from St. Paul’s youth group who attended the Gathering this year. The congregation makes sending youth to the Gathering a big priority, with multiple fundraisers held throughout the year to support the trip.
“I think that one of the biggest benefits of the LCMS Youth Gathering for our youth is that they get to see the wider church. They get to see that they’re not the only Lutherans that exist. [It’s] a big boost in terms of encouraging them to continue on in the faith,” said Roger Drinnon.
“We went to the Superdome and had a huge gathering of thousands and thousands of people — and seeing all of those people happy and eager to worship God, you don’t usually see that in kids our age,” said Werner.
‘Better Together’
As St. Paul’s youth ministry got off the ground, the youth board realized that they had an opportunity to bless area congregations that did not have the numbers, the volunteers or the facilities to keep up a youth ministry.
Today, St. Paul’s youth group includes youth from Risen Savior in Manteno, Peace in Beecher and Zion in Chebanse. Those congregations also contribute — the Rev. Benjamin Hayter from Zion, for instance, leads the games during youth nights.
Traditional youth group activities can feel daunting for a small congregation with few youth or volunteers. The Northern Illinois District’s convention theme this summer was “Better Together,” and Roger Drinnon emphasized that this has certainly been true when it comes to their youth ministry.
He wants other pastors and church leaders to know that they are capable of youth ministry. “We’re in this by the grace of God alone,” he said.
Learn More
- Learn more about LCMS Youth Ministry
- Support the Synod’s national mission work
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Stacey Eising
Managing editor for The Lutheran Witness.
