Background

All individual Christians, believers, are part of the historical “Church” headed by Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:15). YFC individual staff and volunteers, as members of the Church, have the privilege and responsibility to minister.

Because the overriding religious purpose and mission of Youth For Christ USA is to communicate and introduce the Gospel of Jesus Christ to young people and their families, and in that regard to make, educate and encourage life-long disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is very important that every staff or volunteer in the movement of Youth For Christ be recognized as an associate minister of the Gospel.

As an staff or volunteer of Youth For Christ and an associate minister of the Gospel, YFC expects all staff and volunteers to:

• Seek God’s guidance and wisdom, through prayer and meditation, for the organization as a whole as well as for specific ministry initiatives.
• Participate and lead regular times of prayer, devotion and worship as a regular aspect of your role within YFC.
• Teach and preach from the Holy Bible at YFC staff meetings, conferences, camps and events.

YFC USA is classified as a 509 (a)(1) and 170 (b)(1)(a)(i) organization. This designation is a “church” in the language of the IRS. As such we are known as an Association of Churches. This status protects YFC to hire staff and accept volunteers who adhere to our Statement of Faith and affirm the Standards of Conduct: Living the Life of a Leader.

Youth For Christ USA currently offers a number of formal pathways for leaders to grow and be recognized for their professional preparation. One of the designations available is to be licensed as a YFC minister of the Gospel. 

When the qualifying criteria is successfully met by the applicant, full benefits of this designation according to the law, will be accounted to YFC leaders as licensed ministers. 

It has been deemed beneficial to extend Ministerial License designation to our leaders for the following reasons:

• Strengthen interdependency as licensed leaders are aligned by receiving the same training in theology, spiritual practices, and a mindset of shepherd leadership in ministry.
• Open more pulpits and opportunities to speak.  Some denominational pulpits are not accessible to non-licensed ministers so that becoming a licensed minister under YFC provides more opportunities to share the mission of Youth For Christ.
• May provide additional visiting privileges at hospitals and other institutions
• May permit use of Housing Allowance for tax advantages 

Ministerial Licensure

The YFC ministry license process includes stringent requirements to equip an individual for YFC ministry.  We chose a license process over ordination to avoid confusion.  Denominational ordination tends to have a variety of meanings depending on the context.  For many denominations, ordination infers various definitions, purposes and qualifications that are not part of YFC ministry.  In order to avoid misunderstanding and to provide credible standards, YFC USA has decided upon conferring licensure status rather than ordination.