Spotlight: Sheri Perenon - From a Nudge to a Network

Sheri Perenon, Youth Pastor, Redwood Chapel Community Church + Leader, Bay Area Youth Coalition

Sheri Perenon describes her teen years as her dark past, yet one bright light during those challenging times was the hours she spent attending youth group.

“I loved everything about the youth ministry and the people who were mentoring me at the time. They taught me not only how to love Jesus, but what relationships and family should look like.”

It was during high school that Sheri became a Christian having endured abuse as a foster kid and in her adoptive family. “I’d never been part of an environment like church,” she recalls. “It radically changed my life.”

It also stoked an unquenched fire to work with youth that’s continued to burn for more than twenty years. Sheri serves as the Minister to Middle and High School students at Redwood Chapel Community Church in Castro Valley. “I started volunteering in our high school ministry when I was 20 and now I lead our student ministries. I love helping young people experience how God can change their lives like He has mine.”

Ministering with Maturity

Youth ministry can take a physical toll and while Sheri confesses that her body has definitely changed, her passion for serving has only deepened. “When you’re a youth pastor in your 20’s you relate to students differently than when you’re in your 40’s. I walk with students now with a maturity I didn’t have before.”

With maturity comes responsibility to also care for the staff and eighteen volunteers who serve the 90 students involved at Redwood Chapel.

“I’m passionate about training up the leaders who are training up the future leaders.”

And it’s not only the leaders at Redwood Chapel; in 2012 the Lord laid a call on Sheri’s heart to unite the church in the Bay Area. “I remember thinking that if something bad happens here -- a natural disaster, a shooting on campus -- the Bay Area churches need to be united. We need to be together.”

She began by creating an organization called Illuminate that culminated in Redwood Chapel hosting an annual conference for girls from throughout the Bay Area. “It was so encouraging to have girls from all over worship, learn about, and celebrate God together.”

Going Bigger to Unite Bay Area Youth

In 2015 the Lord started nudging Sheri to go even bigger. “I was really struggling with this. I didn’t feel equipped, but I still really wanted to unite the churches.”

She stopped the girls conference and developed a gathering for youth pastors, “these are my people!”

One hundred churches and a number of youth organizations participate in the Bay Area Youth Leaders Coalition covering a swath of geography from San Jose to Richmond and Livermore to the San Francisco Peninsula. A leadership team of nine is committed to responding to the needs of local youth ministers. “We look at how we can make our youth leaders feel connected and cared for as we continue to unite the churches.”

The coalition is only two years old; “we’re still in the building stage, but right now we’re helping to provide opportunities for training, encouragement, connecting, and networking.”

Storytelling Meets Youth Pastors’ Greatest Need

         “Youth pastors really struggle with this feeling of am I doing enough? Am I doing it right?” says Sheri. “I think the greatest need for us is to be around other youth pastors, to feel heard, and to listen to each other’s stories. Hearing stories is just so life-giving.”

Recognizing that equipping volunteers to work with you is critical to ministry, the Coalition is training small group leaders. “One of our biggest needs in youth ministry is volunteers. Every youth pastor dreams of having a great volunteer staff, so we’re helping to equip these small group leaders who are freely giving their time. They are hard to find.”

Reaching Students During COVID-19

Reflecting on the past twenty months, Sheri comments, “It’s weird, but youth ministry was great during the pandemic. One of the struggles most youth pastors have is apathy among students. When the pandemic happened something shifted in our culture. We went from a program-driven ministry to a small group-driven ministry and that created more of what students need – a solid community.”

Redwood Chapel started connecting students virtually through Facebook Live and Instagram, but as Sheri says that got boring quickly for students so they shifted to small group meetings both online and eventually in person with appropriate social distancing.  “It really gave students a place where they could feel safe, feel comfortable, and know that they are loved. The leaders could walk with students in ways they couldn’t walk with them before which made stronger bonds”

Post-Pandemic Challenges

In the shadow of the triple whammy of pandemic, political tension, and racial reckoning students are questioning their faith. Sheri explains the challenges youth pastors now face.

“This is so different from all the twenty-four years I’ve done youth ministry. We’re asking, ‘how are we going to share the gospel with a generation that has a view of Christianity that’s hostile?’ Walls are up with how our youth are thinking about Christianity and the church.”

Sheri’s response is to point to relationship; “I want to show students through my actions who Jesus is before I explain who Jesus is.”

Contact Sheri to learn more about the Bay Area Youth Leaders Coalition, sperenon@redwoodchapel.org.