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About L2L
Click below to find out more information about Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes
Dr. Jack Zorn
Founder, Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes
1934-2021
Dr. Jack Zorn was born on November 8, 1934, on a sharecropper’s farm in Geneva County, Ala. His father suffered from alcoholism, and his mother struggled to instill Christian values in the family.
As a young boy, he struggled in school because he often had to work the farm instead of attend classes. Stuttering badly, he dropped out of school and went to work.
In 1951, he was baptized during a gospel meeting held by Bill Hatcher. A student from Alabama Christian College encouraged him to come to “college” to get help finishing high school and begin college. Dr. Rex Turner, Sr. put him to work and enrolled him in college. There he met Sarah Frances Johnson, who became his wife in 1956.
Without any grants or scholarships, Dr. Zorn worked his way through school. He earned a B.A. from Alabama Christian College, an M.A. from Harding Graduate School and a Doctorate of Religious Education from the International Bible Institute and Seminary.
In his 21 years of full time preaching, he served local congregations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Louisiana. While preaching at Warner Robins, Ga., he was asked by the elders to develop a leadership training program for the youth at the congregation. He envisioned what today we know as Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes. What started with eight boys in Georgia has now grown to thousands of participants in churches of Christ across the United States and several other countries.
In the November 1999 issue of the Gospel Advocate, Dr. Zorn was named one of the 100 Trailblazers in the church of Christ, along with brotherhood greats like Gus Nichols and Marshall Keeble.
His lovely wife, Frances, passed away on July 15, 2017. Her dedication to Dr. Zorn and the Lads to Leaders program through its early years was instrumental in the success and growth of the program. They were active in their local congregation, Hollins Church of Christ for many years. Dr. Zorn, even in poor health mentored young people until the time of his death. His life’s work was to prepare others for service in the kingdom of God. He passed away in 2021.
Why Choose L2L?
- The oldest and largest leadership training program used by the churches of Christ
Congregations that incorporate L2L events (especially year-round) report youth retention rates of 85% or higher ten years after graduation.
Has over 50 years of proven methods, with three generations now trained to be servants in the church.
Teaches God’s Word with no agenda—and stays out of the ditches, left and right (2 Chr. 34:2).
Offers a wide range of books, materials, and curriculum for year-round use.
Produces great materials by sound, respected authors that teach biblical concepts on timely subjects.
Brings the whole congregation together: adults participate with children in completing events and activities (Tit. 2:2-4).
Offers competitive and non-competitive events (26 events are completely non-competitive)
Bartimaeus events for special needs participants of all ages and abilities.
Events available for all ages…everyone ages 3 to 103.
Participants learn to deal with competition in a Christian manner.
We work through every aspect at the planning
Our Team
Our L2L staff works hard behind the scenes to make sure conventions, events, and publications are ready to help!
Our company history and facts
I should be incapable of drawing a single stroke at the present moment; and yet I feel that I never was a greater artist than now.
Our History
Beginning in Warner Robbins, GA
Some events in history have humble beginnings, but monumental impacts on people! Not much has had more impact on the Church of Christ than Lads to Leaders. In the fall of 1968, the elders of Warner Robins Church of Christ in Georgia went to their preacher, Jack Zorn and asked him to help their young men to develop speeches. Jack was young with a wife and three little girls. He prayed fervently for wisdom in this task and came up with a system of acrostics to help them develop their speeches. The young men, with his help developed their speeches and began studying their Bibles seriously as well. Soon, they began to give their speeches in Bible classes. Members were impressed! They started asking the young men to give those speeches at civic clubs and community events.
Soon, Governor Jimmy Carter learned about the skills of these eight young men, and he invited them to visit the Georgia Legislature. One young man, Randy Rowen, quoted the sermon on the mount to the Georgia Legislature. Thus, began Lads to Leaders.
L2L began to grow as other churches heard about the great things happening at Warner Robins Church. Jack was invited to do gospel meetings and bring his young men with him so the church could see what they were doing.
First Convention at ACC
In 1976, the first Lads to Leaders Convention was held at Alabama Christian College in Montgomery, Alabama (now Faulkner University), with 60 in attendance.
Growing L2L in faith
Jack went on to earn his doctorate and moved around the country continuing to grow L2L. In the late eighties, while teaching at Alabama Christian College, Dr. Zorn decided to leave his paid employment and walk out on an act of faith to work full-time growing L2L.
In the early convention years, he, and Frances (his wife) would mortgage their home to have the money to buy awards and supplies for convention and would use the registration fees to pay the mortgage each year. Frances worked three jobs during this time: Bell South, Kmart and L2L. She would personally handle registering every participant (along with Jane Skelton, Olivia Burt, and Dianne Reid Thompson). This was before computers when everything was done by hand, and it would take weeks.
Encouragement to Continue L2L
There were wonderful and heartbreaking times for those who love L2L. It was wonderful as more and more churches began to train their people, but then in 1986, there was a major split in L2L when a group tried to take over L2L and take it in a different spiritual direction. When their plan did not work, they splintered off and started their own organization. This broke Dr. Zorn’s heart, and he never got over it.
Dr. John Simmons sent letters of encouragement, spent many hours on the phone with Dr. Zorn, and helped encourage him to move on from the heartbreak. Had it not been for Dr. Simmons, L2L might have ended there.
God’s word doesn’t change depending on location, so L2L doesn’t change either. L2L has continued these strict standards so no matter which site you attend convention, L2L is consistent and true to God's word.
Passing the Torch
L2L grew pretty rapidly in the late 1990's and in 2003, and there were now two convention sites. During this time, Dr. Zorn had several health issues and retired. There was an interim director for a short period, and in January 2003, Dr. Roy Johnson took the position as Executive Director for L2L.
The convention events were going strong, and membership was growing! Dr. Johnson saw a need for year-round events to be done at the local church, so he began incorporating events that further strengthened participants throughout the year and not only for convention.
Currently, this trend has grown, and three-fourths of the L2L events are year-round and non-competitive.
Adding Curriculum for Churches
In 2004, L2L decided to add curriculum for churches and homeschooling. The Pearls book was created, which is a yearly curriculum published so students can learn the meat of the Bible bowl book for the convention. Since 2004, there have been yearly Pearls books published.
In 2008, the Junior Leader series begin. Currently, there are three available: JL 1, 2, and 3 for grades K-5.
In 2010, we added The Field Book of Leadership.
In 2019, Speech and Debate was added as an event.
In 2020, Phil Sanders developed "Sower: Evangelism Training for Everyone" as a series that focused on personal evangelism for all ages.
In 2021, Dr. Justin Rogers wrote "Courage2Lead" for our first adult leadership curriculum.
Our focus with curriculum has been to provide sound, engaging material to help train students and adults to be leaders in the church, home, and community. We continue to add publications eac year!
Rebounding Post-Covid
Over 20,000 were registered for the U.S. convention locations prior to the Covid outbreak in 2020. However, due to the outbreak and various issues with assembling, all conventions were canceled.
While conventions were canceled, our participants continued to carry out their year-round events at home, and we have quickly rebounded in the years following.
Continue Growth for L2L
In 2023, L2L had a 19% growth in attendance at nine convention locations.
IN 2024, we started our tenth convention site in Oklahoma.
The Future of L2L
The last 20 years have seen unprecedented growth in L2L. We have grown from two convention sites in 2003 and a little more than 8,000 participants to ten convention sites in the U.S. and convention sites in other countries, including the Bahamas, Guyana, India, the Philippines, Romania, and South Korea. (Coming soon...Peru and Columbia).
The “L” symbol of L2L is one of the most recognized logos in the churches of Christ. The future is bright for L2L!
The staff and Board of Directors of L2L are continually looking for ways to provide meaningful events and curriculum for participants.
What Do We Offer?
Along with multiple types of events that can be integrated into a congregation's program, we also produce Biblical materials for class or individual study. Check out what we offer below and see how we can help your congregation!
Events & Activities
Along with multiple types of events that can be integrated into a congregation's program, we also produce Biblical materials for class or individual study. Check out what we offer below and see how we can help your congregation!
Pre-Convention Events
Pre-convention events occur in conjunction with and in preparation for the annual conventions. These include multimedia, digital art, Bible Bowl test, Pearls test, and Wilderness Challenge and are submitted for judging before convention.
Year-Round Events
Year-round events occur at the home congregation between conventions. Events for students and adults encourage participation among the entire congregation. Year-round events are recognized during the Friday night award ceremony at convention, but it is not required that people attend convention to participate.
Convention Events
Convention events occur at the annual convention and provide an avenue for students who have practiced and trained all year to show their developing skills and talents. Most events are judged so that those who excel may be recognized for their hard work.
Books & Curriculum
Each year we publish new books, studies, and bible bowl questions that can be used in group or personal study.
a new version of our Scripture-based study book, "Pearls." In the Pearls series, sound authors give an in-depth study of the Biblical truths found in the Bible Bowl book(s). Many churches use these excellent materials to involve the whole congregation.