An Open Letter in Support of Youth For Christ in Leland
Initial Comments After the Postponement of the 12/3 Public Hearing
In Continued Defense of YFC:
Many have been keeping up with the controversy surrounding Youth For Christ (YFC) and their presence in Leland. You can read my comments in an open letter (below). But I have more thoughts.
There are three passages of Scripture that we must consider in regard to this issue: James 2:9 (no partiality or favoritism), Romans 13:4 (government protects good and punishes evil), and Matthew 12:36 (every word matters).
A public notice was posted early November 2025: “The Planning Commission of Leland Township will conduct a public hearing for the application of a special use permit. It is a proposed lease for a portion of the North side of the building to be used as a club center for the Youth for Christ (YFC) program beginning in December 2025.”
This debate is strictly about zoning. And yet, it’s an open-and-shut case. YFC maintains the legal right to apply for a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) to operate as a “private club” in Leland’s Commercial District. Under the terms of the C-1 ordinance, private clubs are an explicitly permitted use by SLUP, and The Lighthouse meets both the spirit and the letter of the ordinance: modest scale, compatible use, minimal external impact, and continuity with existing downtown activity. Nothing about the application exceeds the scope or intent of the zoning district.
For that reason, it is essential that the Planning Commission ground its decision in zoning criteria—not in public sentiment, online speculation, or the heat of local controversy. Much of the chatter amounts to nothing more than gossip, slander, and false accusations. Planning bodies are obligated to apply the law neutrally, consistently, and without bias. Public hearings often surface strong emotions, but neither suspicion, accusations, nor disproportionate fear can constitute a legally valid basis for denying a permit.
RLUIPA—the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000—is a federal civil-rights statute that protects religious organizations from discriminatory or burdensome land-use decisions. It applies whenever a local government (1) uses a zoning or permitting process and (2) makes decisions that affect religious assemblies or religious exercise. Under both Michigan zoning law and RLUIPA, religious clubs must be treated on equal terms with comparable secular clubs. Therefore, any decision influenced by disagreement with YFC’s beliefs or discomfort with its religious mission would be both legally impermissible and indefensible.
Once YFC is permitted to operate in the district, any religious activity is obviously protected under the First Amendment. Therefore, the debate is not over Christianity, it’s over zoning. Yet, the controversy reveals a recoiling against Christianity, which is disheartening.
The task of the Planning Committee is not to evaluate the theology of the applicant, nor the popularity of their ministry, but the compatibility of the proposed use with the zoning code. And on that question alone, the answer is clear: this application fits the district, aligns with the ordinance, satisfies the criteria, and merits approval.
God bless Leland.
Open Letter
To Whom It May Concern,
My name is AJ Garcia. I am a local pastor in Northern Michigan—West Side Community Church in Traverse City, to be specific. A beautiful 20-minute drive to Leland. I have the honor and privilege of teaching, leading, and caring for hundreds of families, many of whom live in Leelanau County. For the last ten years, I have enjoyed supporting students of my congregation who attend Leland Public Schools in their athletics, creative arts, and education. I’ve lost count of how many musicals I’ve attended, sandwiches I’ve shared at Fishtown, or trips to Madcap I’ve made with family and friends. One of my great joys as a pastor was being invited to pray with students, parents, and faculty at the school a few years ago. Suffice it to say: I care about Leland because I care about the people who call this place home.
It has come to my attention that Youth For Christ (YFC) has faced opposition from some in the community. The ministry has been called a cult. The character and integrity of Micah and Kya Cramer have been questioned. And perhaps most significantly, the public witness of Christianity in Leland seems to be receding. While disappointing, I am not surprised. Jesus warned that his followers would face misunderstanding and resistance: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). For all these reasons, I offer my support for YFC Leelanau and their use of The Lighthouse, the Cramers’ faithful obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, and the importance of a Christian presence in the Leland community.
Since the earliest days of our nation, faith-based organizations have been integral to public life—building hospitals, founding universities, supporting families, caring for the poor, and meeting the needs of their neighbors. This reflects the biblical call to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Youth For Christ stands firmly in that lineage. Founded in 1944 with Billy Graham as its first full-time evangelist, YFC has spent eight decades investing in young people across the nation and around the world. Today, it operates in more than 100 countries. My purpose in highlighting this history is simple: what Micah and Kya are doing is not a novel idea.
It is the ordinary work Christians have carried out for generations—gathering young people, opening the Scriptures, creating safe and welcoming spaces, and pointing students toward a hope greater than what the world offers. Scripture commands this generational responsibility: “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts” (Psalm 145:4). Nor is it unusual for this work to take place in the center of a community. Historically, Christian ministry has stood in the public square for the common good because “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof” (Psalm 24:1).
The Lighthouse stands in that tradition—a visible, accessible presence for any student who freely chooses to participate. And from my years of working with students, I can say confidently: when youth are offered guidance, friendship, accountability, and the gospel of Jesus Christ, it strengthens—not weakens—a community. Many have preconceived notions or self-gathered conclusions of what Christians believe, but if you’ve never had someone present what we call “the gospel” to you, consider reading this helpful explanation.
To suggest that the Cramers’ work is extreme, coercive, or dangerous is to misunderstand eighty years of YFC’s ministry and two thousand years of Christian mission. The reaction to their presence appears wildly disproportionate and shows little good-faith effort to understand what YFC seeks to accomplish. Frankly, what Micah and Kya are doing in Leland is exactly what countless Christians have been doing for centuries around the world. They are being obedient to the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20).
I am personally invested in this kind of ministry because I encountered the hope of Christ in my public school. I did not grow up in the church or in a home that valued or upheld the teachings of Jesus. Everything changed in 8th grade when a few students and teachers came alongside me and encouraged me to explore questions of faith. I was not groomed; I was not pressured or indoctrinated. I was welcomed, taught, and invited to seek truth wherever it might lead—and that search led me to Christ.
My faith became an anchor in some of the darkest seasons of my teenage years. It steadied me when my first youth leader died in a tragic car accident the day after his wedding. It gave me hope when my second youth leader was arrested for molesting my best friend. And it sustained me when my youth pastor was fired for inappropriate relationships with young women in our church. Those painful experiences did not drive me away from Jesus; they deepened my conviction that young people desperately need healthy, accountable, Christ-centered ministry. They convinced me that the answer to brokenness is not the absence of Christian witnesses—but the presence of biblical, faithful, and trustworthy ones.
Parents have the unquestioned right to guide and monitor their children’s involvement in any activity (Deuteronomy 6:6–7). An essay by the ERLC explains that "Scripture and the Christian tradition affirm that the family—not the state—is the ‘pre-political’ institution entrusted with the spiritual, moral, and educational formation of children.” I am confident the Cramers and YFC leadership would affirm that wholeheartedly. As someone shaped by both the pains and blessings of youth ministry, I take the safety and security of children very seriously. At the same time, Youth For Christ—as a peaceful religious organization—has a constitutional right to assemble, to speak, and to minister. These freedoms do not diminish parental authority; nor does parental oversight diminish YFC’s religious liberty. Both can coexist—and both should be respected.
Beyond legal and historical realities lies a deeper one: the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for the young, the old, the weary, and the searching. Integrity, courage, humility, repentance, and self-control are biblical virtues that ought to be instilled in the next generation (Galatians 5:22–23; 2 Peter 1:5–7). In a time when many voices pull our youth toward confusion, isolation, and despair, I am grateful for anyone willing to stand in the gap and offer clarity, conviction, and hope. Micah and Kya are doing just that.
The Christian faith is built on the proclamation that Jesus Christ is Lord—that He died for sinners, rose from the dead, and offers forgiveness and new life to all who repent and believe (Romans 10:9; Acts 2:38). This message has rebuilt lives, healed families, and carried countless young people through suffering, doubt, and sorrow. Leland does not need less of that hope; it needs more of it.
My hope for Leland is simple: that this community would continue to be a place where young people are loved well, families are strengthened, and Christianity is welcomed rather than resisted. We stand at an important moment—not just deciding the use of a building, but the posture of a community. We can respond with suspicion and push away those seeking to do good, or we can respond with wisdom and welcome those who strengthen our youth and our shared life. I believe Youth For Christ and the Cramers are offering exactly that.
For the sake of the students who are searching for truth, longing for belonging, and hungry for hope, I pray that Leland embraces this ministry as a partner in the flourishing of the next generation. To turn them away would not be an act of neutrality—it would be a failure of courage, a refusal to recognize what is good, and an abdication of our responsibility to steward the hearts of the young.
Consider the words of Asaph in Psalm 78:4-8: “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.”
For all these reasons, I offer my full and unwavering support for Youth For Christ and the Cramers. Their ministry is good, right, and deeply needed. I stand with them, and I pray Leland will do the same.
Respectfully,
Pastor AJ Garcia
West Side Community Church
