History
Youth ministry networking has taken place in Portland since the late 1970s; as with many things in youth ministry, it has ebbed and flowed over the years. During an "ebb" season in the early 1990s, over 40 youth workers from across the city began meeting on a regular basis as the Youth Committee for the upcoming Portland Billy Graham Crusade. After the September 1992 Crusade, the Committee met to debrief their experience. They made the following observations: (1) over a thousand decisions for Christ among young people were made at very well-attended pre-Crusade rallies before Billy Graham even got to town; (2) research showed that the age group making the most first-time decisions at the Crusade was teenagers, which was somewhat surprising since most teens don't have George Beverly on their ipod playlist, and the Crusade "youth night" was pretty tame; (3) the city unity represented around the table at Youth Committee meetings was unprecedented and powerful, and the Committee wanted to continue meeting and exploring that unity in
some form.

Thus was born the Mission Portland Youth Network, which became the Portland/Vancouver Youth Network, the Portland Regional Alliance of Youth, and finally (changing names is pretty common in youth work too, huh?) the Portland Youth Network, which is part of the Portland Youth Foundation. Over the ensuing years, even though our constituency has turned over many times (the nature of youth ministry, unfortunately) our vision, mission, values and priorities have remained remarkably consistent. We tend to keep a low profile; we value relationships and prayer; we do an annual youth worker luncheon, and a prayer event now and then, but our focus is much more on growing healthy youth workers, and youth worker networks, than on doing events. We are an umbrella under which love and unity are explored and collaborations forged as the Spirit leads. There are over 450 of us on the mailing list, and we represent virtually every stream of the body of Christ in the Portland metropolitan area. We are not the whole body of Christ, but we are a strategic part of it, trying to reach an emerging generation in our city that is, in many ways, far beyond at-risk. And we are doing it together, believing this pleases our Lord greatly and attracts His blessing (Ps. 133).

Mission
We exist to serve the development of a united, prayer-driven, sustained citywide movement in the greater Portland area that takes the whole gospel to the 200,000+ youth who live here, and has a transformational Kingdom impact upon the culture of our city.

Vision
We believe that the will of God is the radical coming of the Kingdom of God to Portland, resulting in the evangelization of an emerging generation and citywide transforming revival.

Values
1. Love and unity expressed. (Jn. 13:34-35; Jn. 17; Ps. 133)
2. Prayer-driven strategy development. (2 Chron. 20)
3. Relational, prayer-focused regional networking. (1 Cor. 1:10-13)
4. Individual church and ministry effectiveness. (1 Pet. 5:1-4)
5. Persistent, prevailing united prayer. (Jn. 14:12-14; 1 Thess. 5:17; Phil. 4:6)
6. Faithful shepherding. (Ezek. 34)
7. Relational, incarnational evangelism and discipleship (Matt. 28:18-20; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Thess. 2:8)

Priorities
1. Supporting, encouraging, resourcing, networking, and otherwise serving youth workers in the Portland metroplex.
2. Intentional unity building across barriers (denominational, organizational, ethnic, economic, gender, etc.) that have historically divided the Church of the city.
3. Strategic united prayer initiatives that focus on youth.
4. The encouragement and support of strategic collaborations that further our Vision and Mission.