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Youth Explosion — Still Quaking after 10 years!
By Jeremy | November 27, 2006
This weekend I had the pleasure of attending Youth Explosion's 10th anniversary celebration in Glendale, Queens -- an original musical called The Stoop.
Ten years ago, Adam Durso was vacuuming his father's office at Christ Tabernacle when he felt God calling him into youth ministry. Only 19 at the time, and newly restored to faith after years of prodigal living, the church pastors confirmed the call and commissioned him to run with it. Adam and a team of youth leaders -- most of them teenagers -- began to pray, and hosted an evangelistic concert Thanksgiving weekend. With a hand drawn flier and hand-to-hand marketing throughout the neighborhood, they filled the 1,000 seat auditorium and Youth Explosion was born.
The tenth anniversary celebration exceeded even that original effort. Five hundred people were turned away from Friday's opening night performance of The Stoop. Four Sunday shows were again filled to capacity, with two encore performances scheduled for Tuesday and Friday of this week. I went on Friday; Diana and the kids and Boom 2 and Bill came with me on Sunday. If you're free, go see it.
I'm YE's biggest fan for several reasons. First, they get it. Pastor Adam, Ralph Castillo, and their team understand how to fish for kids, and they're doing it every day, by any means necessary.
Second, they don't let their events get in the way of relationships. The brilliance of their ministry is that young people are engaged throughout the ministry's functioning, even at the "senior" church level. Youth leaders are now the church's executive pastor, its public relations director, its multimedia department, and vital to just about everything else. That's not to say it's a youth church. Hardly. But it's become a model for intergenerational mentorship that actually works.
Third, they're great friends. I first met Ralph when he was a freshman at NYU and I was a senior. He used to crash at my dorm room when he was working late at the computer lab; I even helped edit one of his Writing Workshop papers. Now he's writing original musicals. Rogers and Hammerstein, anyone?
Fourth, something special happens when you pray for people, and a joy unspeakable overtakes you when those prayers are answered. One night in my dorm room, Ralph and I were up late talking about life. He told me about his best friend Adam, a PK who had backslidden hard. Brokenhearted yet loyal, he asked if we could pray for his friend. Now Adam pastors the largest youth group in New York City.
Fifth, they let kids shine. The highlights of The Stoop for me were a song performed by a 15 year old who wrote the song when her older sister was killed; a dance sequence that featured at least 30 different dancers; and a story that emphasized the power of Christ's everyday incarntation in our neighborhoods.
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Topics: adam durso, ralph castillo, the stoop, youth explosion | 1 Comment »
November 27th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
Jeremy
Thanks for the kind words…it was great seeing you and the fam this weekend…after my return from an undisclosed location i hope to connect! =)
Ralph