{"id":3408,"date":"2026-04-02T14:07:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aflc.org\/youth\/newdirector-2\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T14:16:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:16:42","slug":"ymdirectorupdate","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.aflc.org\/youth\/ymdirectorupdate\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth Ministries Director Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

PRESS RELEASE
\nAFLC Youth Board Moves National Youth Director Position to Three-Quarter Time
\n<\/strong>Thursday, April 2, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plymouth, MN \u2014 The AFLC Youth Board has made the difficult decision to move the Director of Youth Ministries position from full-time to three-quarter time, effective July 1, 2026.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a financial decision,\u201d said Rev Ryan Tonneson, Youth Board Chair. \u201cLately, our budget has not been in line with the historic giving of our AFLC\u2014and we need to be faithful with the resources that the Lord (and you) have provided. Over the years we\u2019ve \u2018trimmed the fat\u2019 and gotten rid of as much excess as we can. We\u2019ve been able to float a deficit for a number of years, yet the reality is that it is becoming increasingly more difficult to make ends meet.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The board emphasized that this change reflects the current situation, rather than a reduction in ministry impact. \u201cThe reality is that our director has been three-quarter time since we hired him in 2023,\u201d Tonneson said. During seminary and his internship year, Director Adam McCarlson served in a part-time capacity for Youth Ministries. The move to three-quarter time \u201creflects the recent situation and is fiscally responsible.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The board continues to express deep gratitude for its staff and countless volunteers who continue to serve the Lord and the congregations of the AFLC.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

McCarlson has accepted the updated call. \u201cAfter prayerful consideration, it is with joy and confidence that I accept your call to serve as Director of AFLC Youth Ministries at \u00be time,\u201d he wrote. Providentially, McCarlson begins a quarter-time role as Associate Pastor at an area AFLC church (details coming soon) on June 1.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

AFLC Youth Ministries remains committed to its mission: encouraging local congregations to WIN teens to Christ, BUILD teen believers in God\u2019s truth and love, EQUIP teen workers to live and share their faith, and MULTIPLY maturing disciples in Jesus Christ. The Youth Board thanks the AFLC for continued prayerful and financial support.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because He lives:\u00a0
\n<\/span>Rev Ryan Tonneson, Youth Board Chair\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>pastorryan@goodshepherdcokato.com<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PRESS RELEASE AFLC Youth Board Moves National Youth Director Position to Three-Quarter Time Thursday, April 2, 2026 Plymouth, MN \u2014 The AFLC Youth Board has made the difficult decision to move the Director of Youth Ministries position from full-time to three-quarter time, effective July 1, 2026.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThis is a financial decision,\u201d said Rev Ryan Tonneson, Youth Board Chair. \u201cLately, our … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","tve_updated_post":"","tve_custom_css":"","tve_user_custom_css":"","tve_globals":{},"tcb2_ready":0,"tcb_editor_enabled":0,"tve_landing_page":"","_tve_header":"","_tve_footer":""},"class_list":["post-3408","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","no-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aflc.org\/youth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aflc.org\/youth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aflc.org\/youth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aflc.org\/youth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aflc.org\/youth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aflc.org\/youth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3408\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aflc.org\/youth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}