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For Chisago Lakes Young Life, it’s a historic moment. For the youth of the Chisago Lakes High School, it’ll be something that organizers hope catches on and spreads quickly. And for the newly-hired director of the local ecumenical program, Dan Charpentier, it’ll be like putting on a comfortable pair of loafers with new souls (pun intended).

Charpentier is the local Young Life chapter’s first director. With a passion for instilling a Christ foundation in youth, the self-professed 43-going-on-18-year-old is busy working on details for the first of the weekly “club” meetings held at various houses in the community. Armed with a tried-and-true Young Life meeting protocol that mixes song, skits, games, and a message, Charpentier expects to begin that nurturing process of reaching out to the un-churched youth of the community through their church-going friends.

Those unfamiliar with Young Life might wonder whether there’s room for this new Christian ministry among the already-established church youth groups. Charpentier points out that Young Life complements rather than competes with the area youth ministries. In fact, many local pastors and youth directors are aware of and have lent their support to the local chapter’s development because they are aware of its ministry focus of the un-churched or “fringe” youth.

For Charpentier, Young Life is an “old friend.” Having experienced Young Life in high school in Forest Lake, it was there that he learned that merely attending church with his family didn’t constitute a relationship with Christ. After high school, he tried his hand at many things before establishing himself as a self-employed carpet-laying professional. He didn’t encounter Young Life again until the pastor of his Scandia church (Elim Lutheran) needed a chaperone to accompany church youth to camp. Later, Charpentier recalls, his pastor happened to mention that it was Young Life camp.

“My eyes just lit up and I couldn’t speak because I was so excited,” said Charpentier.

When the youth returned from camp, “they wanted more” he recalls and so he started a weekly meeting at his home. First there were about a dozen. Then 20, Then 30.

That success caught the attention of Stillwater’s Young Life director Vern Hill, who encouraged Charpentier to take those magnetic youth skills to Forest Lake to re-establish Young Life there. After a couple of years leading youth meetings at his home, Charpentier was able to re-ignite Young Life in Forest Lake. Through a church partnership with Elim, he was able to work part-time as youth director at the church as well as the Young Life director.

“It balanced out (for time and responsibilities) fairly well,” he recalls of the shared position.

Without an established advisory board and a consistent funding source, however, the funding dried up. With a growing family, Dan needed to give up his ministries and return to carpet-laying. With his business now well-established, Charpentier chose to once again seek out youth ministry.

“When I heard about the opportunity in Chisago Lakes, I felt God nudging me to apply,” says Charpentier. “I am not only thrilled but extremely blessed to be invited back into ministry for youth. With an advisory board already in place, I’m excited about Young Life’s potential in Chisago Lakes.”

Charpentier and his wife Martha live in Scandia; they have three children, ages 20,19, and 15. The middle child of the three, Amy, is following in her father’s footsteps by working as a volunteer leader for the Stillwater Young Life chapter.

“We’re truly excited about having Dan as our first director,” said Donna Turnquist, chair of the local advisory board. “We pray that God will use Dan and the vehicle of Young Life to touch the lives of many Chisago Lakes youth in powerful ways. A key component in the growth and nurturing of Young Life will be in the support of the community through their prayers, their help, and their financial support.”

Young Life is a nondenominational Christian youth ministry that was established in 1940, and is now active in over 900 communities worldwide, involving about a million kids each year. Young Life programs have been in the Twin Cities for more than 40 years. As an outreach ministry, Young Life’s purpose is to come alongside kids of all kinds (with a special focus on disinterested or uninvolved kids who are not connected to churches) and offer them genuine friendships and engaging programming, ultimately pointing them to the relevance of the Christian faith to their world, and encouraging them to be active participants with a local church body. Young Life complements, rather than competes with, the youth ministries of local churches. Chisago Lakes Young Life will focus on youth in grades 8-12.

For more information on Chisago Lakes Young Life, contact any of the following Advisory Board members:

•Donna Turnquist

[email protected]

•Karla Waddell at 257-6027

•Connie Eastman 257-8709

•Terry Kopp 257-8526

•Craig Stockel 257-9394

•Andy Wilkerson 257-5575

•Judy Weiler 213-6854

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