Young Life draws fire over new ministry guidelines: A narrower method of gospel presentation
New “nonnegotiable” guidelines for evangelism at Young Life ministries has led to the closing of a North Carolina office of the group and the claim by a national expert on youth and religion that the organization is moving in a fundamentalist and authoritarian direction.
Young Life, based in Colorado Springs, has had significant achievements as an evangelical ministry that took a “big-tent, pragmatic approach,” said sociologist Christian Smith of Notre Dame, who directs the ongoing National Study of Youth and Religion.