Denny Rydberg, President of Young Life

Denny Rydberg took office as Young Life’s fifth president in July of 1993. He was the first Young Life president to come from outside the organization.

During his 12 years: outreach has increased so that Young Life now has an impact on an estimated one million kids annually; the mission has gone from outreach in 1,700 school communities to more than 4,450 school and other outreach ministries worldwide; our staff has grown from 1,432 to 3,171; summer camping has grown from 23,085 to 43,500; we have added seven camps: Rockbridge (Virginia), Crooked Creek (Colorado), Wildhorse Canyon (Oregon), SharpTop Cove (Georgia), Timber Wolf Lake (Michigan), Lost Canyon (Arizona) and are building one in the Carolinas — Pinnacle Point.

Before joining Young Life, Rydberg served as director of University Ministries at University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Wash. He has also ministered on church staffs in Tacoma and San Diego. In addition, Rydberg has served as the vice president of Youth Specialties, director of operations for Inspirational Films and the editor of The Wittenburg Door. He has ministered as chaplain for the University of Washington basketball team and the Seattle Supersonics. Rydberg and his wife, Marilyn, have also been involved in the Women’s Professional Golf Fellowship — a ministry to professional women golfers on the LPGA tour.

He is the author of 10 books including Beyond Graduation, How to Survive in College, Twentysomething, Building Community in Youth Groups and Youth Group Trust Builders.

He graduated from Seattle Pacific University in 1967. In 2000, he was named the Alumnus of the Year. He also attended graduate school at Western Washington University.

The Rydbergs have four children: Heather, Josh, Jon and Jeremy.