For the last five years at Passing the Baton we've sought a restoration of the ancient art of life-on-life mentoring as the best way to prepare disciples to pass on God's good news of redemption to the ends of the earth.

Our team has been honored to serve more than 1,500 Christian schools and churches around the world, and we're thrilled that the need to "pass the baton" is now commonly discussed in the general Christian culture.

Well, in God's grand plan there is now another sort of baton-passing taking place.

You've probably heard me talk about Summit Ministries, the highly-respected organization that trains young adults to resolutely champion the biblical worldview and become thought leaders in every aspect of the culture. Over the last five decades, Summit has:
•    Conducted life-changing programs that have trained 30,000 young people who are now business leaders, doctors, political leaders, professors, best-selling authors and journalists.
•    Developed and distributed biblical worldview training courses to hundreds of thousands of young people and adults in multiple languages all around the globe.

All of this has taken place under the leadership of two truly wonderful people, Dr. David Noebel and his wife, Alice. Rather than putting themselves in the spotlight, David and Alice have sought to turn the church's attention to an ideal: young Christians can understand and defend a Christian worldview and reflect the character of Christ in culture.

This month the Noebels have finalized plans for a well-earned retirement, and they have asked if I would accept the baton of the Summit Ministries presidency beginning this October. I have said "Yes," and my family and I look forward to joining an outstanding team in Colorado as we prepare to run the next lap in Summit's storied history.

 

America's most widely respected Christian leaders have spread the word about Summit, and even entrusted their own children to its training. To me, that speaks volumes. A foundation leader told me last year, "Whenever I see something done in the area of worldview, and it is high quality, Summit's fingerprints are all over it." Chuck Colson has called Summit the "gold standard" in training youth in a biblical worldview.

Here are just two of the encouraging notes to Dr. Noebel about the transition

From Josh McDowell, Founder, Josh McDowell Ministries: "David, in an age when many ministries falter during the transition, I'm thrilled to see how well you're passing the baton to Jeff Myers, a man who is 100% sold out to preparing the next generation to reflect the character of Christ in the culture. Well done, my friend!"

From Tim LaHaye, best-selling author and pastor: "My friend David Noebel has made a careful and God-directed choice in passing the torch of leadership of Summit Ministries to Jeff Myers. Jeff is a rare find.... All who appreciate the effects of the Judeo-Christian worldview on America's greatness should applaud this decision."

 

I'm excited to announce that the boards of Summit Ministries and Passing the Baton have unanimously agreed to merge both ministries under Summit's umbrella. There is a great synergy between the two: Summit champions the development of a biblical worldview, and Passing the Baton helps parents, teachers and church-goers do that in the context of godly mentoring and coaching relationships.

I pledge to you that in my leadership I will stay focused on keeping Summit strong and expanding Dr. Noebel's legacy. I will also strive to keep the great work of Passing the Baton alive as Summit moves into the future and the two ministries join hands.

 

The most important thing you can do right now is send students to study with Doc Noebel and me at the Summit summer conferences. Every Christian young adult ages 16-21 will benefit tremendously from Summit's life-changing two-week program. Go to www.Summit.org to download an application and act quickly to reserve a spot in one of our upcoming programs in Colorado, Tennessee and Wisconsin!

I'll still continue sending the Get Ready to Lead newsletter so we'll be able to stay in touch. Meanwhile, thank you for your continued support of me, of the work that Passing the Baton has done and will now do under the Summit name, and of all those who will ultimately benefit from this ministry.
 
Blessings!

Dr. Jeff Myers