History of YouthCon

History of the National Youth Conference of M.B. Churches

Teenagers of the United States Mennonite Brethren (USMB) Convention began meeting together in the 1970s. Every four years they would gather together from all over the nation to listen to challenging speakers, worship and enjoy activities. These youth conventions have been the largest gatherings of MBs in North America!

The conventions were primarily held at Estes Park, CO, and occasionally hosted at Glorieta, NM, as well. A change came after Estes 03 when USMB Executive Director Chuck Buller began dreaming with some youth leaders about a new model for the convention. The USMB board appointed Rick Bartlett, Wendell Loewen, and Tim Neufeld as a task force to investigate the issue. Upon further discussion and consultation with a large sample of MB youth leaders from across the nation, it was decided to hold the 2007 convention at the Hilton Hotel in Anaheim, CA. One of the key goals of the convention was to move students into an environment where they could learn about and experience holistic ministry in an urban context. Each teenager was given the chance on the third day of the event to move into the city and minister in the name of Christ. The planning team felt that this was a great way to pass along an important Anabaptist/Mennonite value. The conference was a success and set the precedent for future national MB youth gatherings in an "urban" setting.  This was successful for the next three conventions (2007, 2011, 2015).  

After NAMED2015 the planning team prayed and evaluated the convention and God gave them a new vision of the future.  Out of this evaluation time came the new vision of USMB Youth. This new vision included three parts.  First, the team decided the urban setting was no longer valuable enough to justify the rising cost of the event.  The value of serving is still a crucial element of YouthCon, but rather having teenagers serve during the convention the team developed Project: Serve where teenagers can serve in their local communities.  Second, part of the vision was developing a Youth Worker Network to build the connection between conventions.  Third, the planning team one of the weaknesses of an urban setting convention was the space for natural community.  By not having meals together or a free space (other than a hotel lobby) it was hurting one of the core values of USMB Youth: bringing churches together.  So with a stronger desire for community and no need for an urban service project a camp setting was chosen for the next YouthCon.  Glorieta camp in NM was chosen based on its location, price, and recreational benefits.  By having at Glorieta we have included everything in an all-in-one package with programming, housing, and now it includes all food and enough fun things to fill up multiple “fun days” that several groups went on the day before NAMED2015. 

The final change was renaming the event.  The title of the National Youth Convention doesn’t bring about much excitement, and in the previous conventions, the city and year were emphasized more.  So the event was changed to YouthCon which gives it a permeant title and help with continuity.  A theme will still be chosen at each convention.

Here is a Brief Rundown of Every Convention: