Looking to contact the NFCLYO?  Click Here for contact info.

About the NFCLYO

Begun in 1971 as a ministry of the Niagara Frontier Conference (NFC), the Lutheran Youth Organization (LYO) has been ministering to junior and senior high youth and countless adult youth workers and those whom these groups all affect for over 38 years.

The NFCLYO today is a full time ministry program of the NFC, serving youth in 50 ELCA Lutheran churches in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area of western New York State.  The NFCLYO also partners with Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center (LCLC) in southwestern New York, supporting outdoor and camp ministries there year round.

Youth events and more

The NFCLYO plans, coordinates and holds several youth ministry events during the year, including a summer field day, overnights at Lasertron in Amherst, volleyball marathons, a fall overnight at an inner-city retreat center, winter snow tubing and more.  The NFCLYO supports and sponsors church youth events as well.
(Find out how the NFCLYO can support your church youth event...click here for info on promoting your event, or see how the CORE Team can come to your church!)

The NFCLYO CORE team

It is through the dedication of the youth that are on the NFCLYO CORE team that many of these events are planned and operated each year.  This unique team of senior high youth, now in its seventh year, are excited and faith-centered, eager to show their peers that yes!, their faith is at the center of their lives, and they are NOT afraid to witness that faith to other youth, adults, and others that they see a need in.  The CORE team not only lends support to events, they travel to churches to talk about what it is they do, getting them fired up about youth ministry, camp, and being involved in the church.  They help youth groups just starting out, or are in need of fresh ideas.  CORE also takes part in servant ministry trips to programs serving the disadvantaged and those in need, be it local or as far away as Chicago or the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Youth Worker training and support

The NFCLYO is a firm believer in supporting and training youth workers, from professional full-time people to volunteers just starting out.  The NFC Youth Ministry Network holds youth worker support group meetings, training events, and also advertises quality youth worker training events held throughout the country, from weekend seminars to full-blown higher education degree programs.

NFCLYO leadership

	Rick Mollenkopf-Grill NFCLYO Director of Youth Programming (716) 465-1321     rick@nfclyo.org Rick has been the director of the NFCLYO since the summer of 2006.  He plans and oversees the leadership of event ministries, is the lead CORE Team advisor, and runs the day-to-day ministry and business functions of the NFCLYO.  Rick also visits churches, promoting the NFCLYO, supporting Lutheran Charities and the St. John's Board, and finds himself at Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center several times a year (that last one must be a perk). When not directing or travelling this way and that, Rick lives in Amherst, NY with his best friend and wife Serena, and two amazing children, Laura and Jonathan.  Rick loves to root for the Sabres, Bills, Bisons and Yankees (while booing profusely the Ottawa Senators and Boston Red Sox), and enjoys spending time with family, travelling, yard work, and once in a blue moon sleeping in. Rick comes from and grew up in Rensselaer, NY and the Albany area, where he attended and graduated from Hudson Valley Community College and the University at Albany.  He also was an active youth group member and leader, and spent 15 years at the Hudson Mohawk Conference Senior High Camp, all experiences through which Rick sensed his call to minister to youth and make a positive faith-filled difference in their lives, just as he was ministered to as a youth.
	Chris George 2009-10 Youth Ministry Assistant Chris is spending the 2009-10 school year as a Youth Ministry Assistant with the NFCLYO.  He is acting in two roles: as a youth ministry intern, learning the ins and outs of youth ministry, and also reaching out to outlying churches in the NFCLYO, helping to create and sustain youth ministry programs within smaller, resource-strapped churches. Chris joins the NFCLYO thanks to a grant provided by Project Connect, a program that helps young adults discern their calling to public ministry as a profession through hands-on and practical experience. Chris is a lifelong resident of Western New York, living in Cheektowaga, NY and is a member (and council member) of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Depew, NY.  Chris has long been involved in the NFCLYO and Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center as a youth, and now as camp counselor, CORE Team advisor and youth worker at St. Nicodemus Lutheran Church in Marilla, NY.  Chris graduated from Maryvale High School in 2007, and currently is attending Hilbert College in Hamburg, NY.
	The NFCLYO CORE Team advisors The NFCLYO CORE Team is led and advised by a dedicated team of young adults who form positive relationships with youth members, and guide them and the program in the ministry they perform each year.  All CORE Team advisors were members as youth and carry that experience with them to lead the group forward on its faith journey.
	The NFCLYO Council This team is the "board of directors" of the NFCLYO.  It consists of the conference dean, representatives from Lutheran Charities and the St. John's Board, and a parent of an NFCLYO youth.  This council oversees the official and financial operations of the NFCLYO, and ensures the integrity of those operations.
	The NFCLYO Support Team This team supports, guides and advises the Director of Youth Programming in the ministerial and programmatic functions of the NFCLYO, and personal faith journey and well-being of that person.  This team is made up of various combinations of youth workers, youth, parents and clergy.

Our generous supporters

The NFCLYO is funded through the extreme generosity of Lutheran Charities of Western New York and the St. John's Lutheran Home for Children, both long-time and faithful supporters of the NFCLYO.

We welcome your suggestions

As always, the NFCLYO is interested in any comments, suggestions, support or other advice you may have to improve, develop or further advance the mission of the NFCLYO.  Feel free to contact the NFCLYO if you have something to say!

Please keep the NFCLYO, its leaders, the youth that it serves, and all who support it in your prayers that they may faithfully carry out some awesome youth ministry programs well into the future!!!

Questions?  Comments?  Email the web servant.

© 2010 Niagara Frontier Conference Lutheran Youth Organization
A ministry supported by Lutheran Charities of WNY & the St. John's Lutheran Home for Children