History

The first ever Youthsurge event was held at Homebush, Sydney, in 1999.  The event was a prayer Surge with 500 teens attending from various youth ministries across Sydney.  The event was the brainchild of Ken Moser who at the time was working part time as a youth ministry consultant with Anglican Youthworks and part time for Oakhurst Anglican Church as the Youth Minister. 

Due to the overwhelming response of this first Youthsurge it was decided in 2000 to conduct similar events in different parts of Sydney.  Ken continued to play a key role in the development of this ministry until he eventually left his position at Anglican Youthworks.  Having left Youthworks Ken then led Youthsurge events as well as consulting, writing, leading a local church youth ministry with his wife Julie.  Ken's leadership saw Youthsurge grow to approximately 24 events in different areas of Australia, attended by youth groups from many denominations and church groups. 

In October 2004 Ken & Julie Moser left Australia to take up a strategic youth ministry position in Vancouver, Canada.  Ken Moser was replaced by Steve Jeffrey as Director of Youthsurge.  At that point Steve had been a staff member of Norwest Anglican Church for approximately 9 years. With the help of help of the Senior Minister and Parish Council of Norwest, Youthsurge became an ministry of the church which allow Steve to continue ministering at the church level and directing Youthsurge part time.

Since the beginning of 2005 Youthsurge has been going through a significant phase of growth from a part time ministry into an established ministry with fulltime staff, and a Board of Management that oversees it's legal and financial procedures and responsibilities. 

There were a number of significant challenges for the Youthsurge staff and Board from 2005-2007 as the ministry continued to grow but with all staff being part time and involved with other ministries.  As the ministry opportunities continued to increase it necessitated the move to fulltime staff positions to deal with the work load; the first of these happened in December 2007 with Steve moving into the Director's role fulltime. 

The Youthsurge team is excited as they move into this next phase of life for the organisation.  Although there was a transition in leadership in 2004 Ken & Steve continue to have a close working relationship and partner in ministry on a number of levels around the world, not the least the publishing of Ken and Julie's youth ministry resources. 

Youthsurge continues to maintain its focus on revitalising local church youth ministries and working with a variety of churches, denominations and organisations around Australia.