Youth Specialties' 30th Anniversary (1999)
Also read Yaconelli, the Early Years

"Years ago I was drowning in my youth ministry. No one appreciated me, I didn't think I was making any difference with my kids, and I wanted to quit. I gotta say YS saved my life! You encouraged me and equipped me. And you told me the truth even when the truth wasn't easy to hear. Thanks!"
--a seasoned youth pastor

“Youth Specialties isn’t about numbers, it’s about souls,” says Mike Yaconelli, owner of San Diego-based Youth Specialties. “We do what we do to give youth workers what they need—encouragement to help them get up in the morning, and the training and resources they need to help them change the world, one kid at a time.”

Back in the late '60s—think Woodstock, moon walk, Kent State—very few churches took youth ministry seriously, and fewer still had youth ministers on staff. That is, until God somehow sparked a vision in two 20-something youth workers. That's when Mike Yaconelli and Wayne Rice decided to risk it all and make a difference. They set out to convince senior pastors and church boards that youth ministry was absolutely vital if the church was to remain strong. They determined that there was a dire need for relevant, fun, truth-telling youth ministry resources—and that youth workers needed help in connecting with kids in a real and relevant way. So Mike and Wayne borrowed money from their in-laws and self-published their very first resource (titled Ideas—what else?) off a press in the garage. They took the books on the road, sold them for five bucks a pop, and held seminars to show youth workers how to use them to reach kids. And people actually showed up.

Youth Specialties was born.

“YS was radical, naive, anti-institutional, wild, smartalecky, outside the lines—and passionate about Jesus,” says Mike. The first annual YS National Youth Worker's Convention in 1970 reflected what became a YS trademark: off-the-wall and slightly irreverent humor, yet dead serious about encouraging, training, and equipping youth workers.

“One of the speakers that first year was an atheist,” recalls Mike. “We wanted to challenge people to think about their Christian assumptions. Then Francis Schaeffer agreed to speak at our second Convention, even though he wasn't accepting speaking engagements anywhere in the U.S. It was an interesting time. His knickers were interesting, too.”

Youth Specialties' passion for youth workers caught the attention of Zondervan Publishing House in 1974. “Zondervan came to YS and said, 'You guys are weird and unpredictable. We want to put your books in bookstores,” recalls Mike. “Zondervan was very Dutch, very Grand Rapids, very conservative—but hey, they believed in our mission!”

“I’m bullish on Youth Specialties! Their creativity is a breath of fresh air in the church and their heart and passion for youth workers is unmatched.”
-Dr. Howard Hendricks

Today the YS-Zondervan partnership has published more than 200 resources that help youth workers connect with kids and help kids experience the adventure and excitement of faith.

To help career youth pastors even further, YS began Youthworker journal in 1984. This bimonthly journal (now published through CCM) addresses the professional and personal needs of career youth workers with in-depth articles written by their peers.

“Youth workers’ hearts are tugged into this ministry,” Yac says. “They love kids and they love Jesus. They communicate faith through actions more than words. They know what it's like to observe as God plants a seed of faith and begins to transform a life. When I'm in a room full of youth workers, I know I'm in a holy place.”

Youth workers apparently feel just as strongly about YS. The San Francisco earthquake of 1989 shut down the Convention that year and threatened to close down YS entirely. “But the youth workers and their churches rescued us,” said Mike. “They believed so much in the work of YS that most didn't ask for their money back—and others who weren't even there donated money when they heard the news. Those were incredible acts of grace. And the letters they sent were an unforgettable affirmation of this ministry.”

“YS wants to help youth workers everywhere embrace the kind of passionate, wild ride with Jesus we're called to,” Mike explains. “Youth workers pour out their lives loving young people into God's kingdom. It's a privilege to serve them.”

“YS has totally been a God thing,” says Mike. What started in a garage is now serving more than 100,000 volunteer and career youth workers every year. The scope of the ministry has grown to three national conventions, 100 one-day training seminars, four contemplative Sabbath retreats for youth workers, and one national convention for pastors—in addition to books, CD-ROMS, videos, Youthworker journal, and a very active Web site (www.YouthSpecialties.com). YS has partnered with over 500 Christian bookstores (YS Certified Dealers) and is supporting ministries in South America, India, Cuba, and Northern Ireland.

“We sure didn't know where youth ministry or our little company was headed,” says Mike. “All we knew was that God was somehow inviting us into this thing. It's been a wild ride—and one that I hope continues for a long, long time.”