Marv is a veteran youth worker who has equipped and empowered young leaders for over 35 years. He has a special place in his heart for hurting kids and families. As an author, licensed clinical counselor, seminary professor, and ministry consultant he finds his greatest joy in seeing leaders thrive. He is the Executive Director of the Coalition for Youth Ministry Excellence and lives in the beautiful Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada.
Larry Acosta is the Founder of the Urban Youth Workers Institute and he believes in urban youth workers like crazy. While he has proudly passed on UYWI’s leadership, Larry’s vision for this next season of ministry is to train, mentor and mobilize urban leaders to plant multiethnic churches to reach the last, the lost and the least in our cities. Larry’s claim to fame however, is that he is married to Jayme, his bride of 28 years and they have four beloved children- Brock (23), Karis (22), Malia (17) and Diego (15).
Rich Van Pelt is author of The Youth Worker’s Guide To Helping Teenagers In Crisis, and The Parent’s Guide To Helping Teenagers In Crisis, and a convention and seminar speaker. Rich speaks globally on issues related to kids in crisis, poverty and world missions. He’s a skilled storyteller, with adventures from around the world that add color to his speaking. Rich’s stories resonate not only because of his passionate delivery, but because his heart for people and the gospel permeates everything. An ordained pastor in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Rich serves as Director of Ministry Relationships with Compassion International.
Rich is President of Youth Ministry Without Borders — a not-for-profit organization committed to training and resourcing youth workers and parents of adolescents in developing nations. He’s an associate staff member of the Center for Parent Youth Understanding, a speaker for Understanding Your Teenager Parenting Seminars, and he serves on the advisory board of LiderJuvenil (Latin Youth Worker Journal), The Center for Student Leadership, Rye, NH, and Noah’s Ark Adventure Company, Buena Vista, CO. He’s a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors and the National Network of Youth Ministry.
Professor Borgman founded and directs the Center for Youth Studies, a national and global network of those interested in research of adolescence and the youth culture. His areas of expertise include urban and cross-cultural youth ministry and the changing youth culture.
Professor Borgman brings valuable teaching and workshop experience to Gordon-Conwell. He taught history and social sciences at New Canaan High School and New York City Community College. In addition to teaching history, he was chairman of the social sciences division at Cuttington College in Liberia, Africa. He also served as educational director of street academies for the New York Urban League.
Professor Borgman is a leader in youth ministries. He established Young Life in New England and founded their Urban Training Institute. For eight summers, he directed and spoke at two of Young Life’s camps. He also worked to integrate young people’s involvement in Young Life and St. Christopher’s Episcopal Chapel. He has served on the Youth Board of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and the Youth, Urban and Spiritual Renewal Commissions of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.
Professor Borgman wrote “A History of American Youth Ministry” for Benson and Senter’s The Complete Book of Youth Ministries (1987). Since 1985, he has been writing for the Encyclopedia of Youth Studies (www.centerforyouth.org). His chapter, “Bridging the Gap: From Social Science to Congregations, Researchers to Practitioners,” appears in Eugene Roehlkepartain et al.’s The Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence (2006).
Professor Borgman is an Episcopal priest and was invited by Archbishop George Carey as youth ministry consultant to the 1998 Lambeth Conference. He and his wife, Gail, have four children: John, Deborah, Matthew and Christen, seven grandchildren, and reside in Rockport, Massachusetts.
Paul got his start in youth ministry as a part-time youth pastor, and later as a staff intern with Youth for Christ. He served for twenty years with Campus Crusade for Christ’s high school ministry (Student Venture), working with students locally and then nationally and serving as the director of a ministry to local church youth pastors. Paul co-founded the National Network of Youth Ministries (NNYM) in 1981 and served as its president until 2011. Since then he has been employed at NNYM as president emeritus.
Tony Campolo is professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University and a former faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania. For 40 years, he led the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, an organization which he founded to create and support programs serving needy communities. More recently, Dr. Campolo has provided leadership for the progressive Christian movement, Red Letter Christians as well as, for the Campolo Center for Ministry, a program which provides support to those the church has called to full-time ministry. He has written more than 35 books and can be found blogging regularly on tonycampolo.org and redletterchristians.org. Tony and his wife Peggy live near Philadelphia and have two children and four grandchildren.
In November 2012, Tony Campolo received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Youth Worker’s Convention. The wording on the award is: “Award of Lifetime Achievement is proudly presented to Tony Campolo who has defined and courageously pioneered what is means to encourage, care and lead students, possessing the qualities that inspire us and provoke us to continue the journey into the future with boldness and confidence. As a result of Tony’s life of ministry and leadership he has left a legacy of encouragement and hope to youth workers and students everywhere.”
Tic Long has spent most of his adult life in youth ministry and leadership. He worked at Youth Specialties for 34 years. Most of those years he spent leading the National Youth Workers Convention, which he was completely passionate about. He loved providing something special for youth workers. In 2011 he sensed God’s nudge to leave YS and become executive pastor of Journey Community Church in La Mesa, his home church. He stepped down from that role in April. He and his wife of 43 years, Terrie, have a son and two daughters, whom he loves like crazy. His two grandsons have him wrapped around their fingers.
Wayne has been active in youth and family ministry for over 50 years. He is the co-founder of Youth Specialties, creator of Understanding Your Teenager seminars, former Pastor to Generations at College Avenue Baptist Church in San Diego, and currently serves as Confeence Director for the Legacy Coalition.
Wayne has authored more than thirty books including Junior High Ministry (Zondervan), Reinventing Youth Ministry [Again] (InterVarsity Press), Generation to Generation (Standard), and Engaging Parents as Allies in Youth Ministry (Standard). He received the Gold Medallion award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) for his book Up Close and Personal: Building Community in Youth Groups (Zondervan). His most recent book is Long Distance Grandparenting (Bethany House).
Wayne is also a musician. He plays the banjo and guitar and was a founding member of the group Brush Arbor, voted Vocal Group of the Year by the Academy of Country Music in 1974. He has a weekly radio program on KSON-FM in San Diego featuring bluegrass music.
Wayne and his wife Marci live in Alpine, California. They have three grown children and five grandchildren. He also plays the banjo.
Mike Yaconelli was a writer, theologian, church leader and satirist. Co-Founder of Youth Specialties and The Wittenburg Door (sometimes just The Door), a satirical magazine. Yaconelli was also the pastor of a small church in Yreka, California – “the slowest growing church in America” as he called it. He and wife Karla used to share their time between Yreka and the Youth Specialties offices in El Cajon, California.