Day #4 Wednesday August 10, 2011

Today we began reviewing some material authored by Dawson McAllister, the organization’s president. He wrote several books and study guides for students and youth leaders years ago. He is unquestionably an expert on young people, their issues, and their relationships. Many of the workbooks were designed for church youth groups. Our objective was to consider ways to utilize these publications for today's ministry, which reaches unchurched youth. Recent technological changes affecting youth culture also date these works. Nevertheless, they contain much truth, so we began to sift through them considering how to extract meaningful content.

Who is Dawson McAllister? Dawson started out as a youth pastor. He honed some impressive ministry skills speaking at large youth conferences, writing about youth issues, and sharing truth on the radio. In the early 1990’s, he began broadcasting his signature call-in talk show for teenagers known as Dawson McAllister Live. He quickly earned a reputation for his uncanny ability to develop instant rapport with callers and understand their issues. His giftedness marries effective ministry with captivating radio. DM Live soon aired every Sunday night on Christian radio stations nationwide. His organization also started the hopeline to help the overflow of callers. In 2005, DM Live moved to secular radio in order to reach more youth in crisis. Dawson’s coaching hallmarks are spiritual insight, logical reasoning, and straight talk.

After an enjoyable lunch courtesy of Terri, Kathy, and Taylor, Debbie reviewed some of the partner resources. Understanding the partner resources makes hope coaches more effective. findingbalance.com deals with eating disorders, everystudent.com deals with spirituality and sexual purity, and Truth Media provides e-mail mentors on just about any issue. In recent years, the hopeline has developed, from scratch, a significant group of quality partners. Kathy Cook explains why.



As the day ended, we drove the back road to Franklin, which sent us through a Civil War battlefield and the historic downtown. We walked some of the streets and walked into the lobby of the Franklin Theatre. We leave you with photos from Franklin.