Known by many as the godfather of modern youth ministry, Mike Yaconelli was involved in a fatal car accident late Wednesday night outside his hometown of Yreka, in northern California. He passed away on Oct. 30.

Yaconelli was the owner and co-founder of Youth Specialties, an organization dedicated to equipping and training youth workers through events and resources. He also was the founder and general editor of The Door (formerly The Wittenberg Door) and the author of numerous books, including Dangerous Wonder and Messy Spirituality. Yaconelli was a contributing columnist to Youthworker journal, which is part of the Salem Publishing family.

Reflecting on the man who was his boss and friend, Will Penner, editor of Youthworker journal, told Crosswalk.com, “Mike is the epitome of what it means to be a godly man. He is, without a doubt, the reason that I personally went to work for Youth Specialties and he has been a hero of mine ever since I became a youth minister.”

According to Penner, because of the kind of person Yaconelli was, and because of his vision for youth ministry, Youth Specialties has been able to wipe out denominational lines. “One of the things that is amazing about what he has done is that he’s brought everybody who is crazy about kids and crazy about Jesus under the same roof.”

Yaconelli was a man who lived “every bit” what he wrote, says Penner. “He writes about life with Jesus as being exciting and fulfilling and messy and scary and difficult and hurtful and beautiful and magnificent and it’s all that stuff wrapped into one.”

Penner most admires Yaconelli’s humility and service. “Here’s a guy who’s running a company that is impacting 100,000 youth workers a year. But just as much of his energy was poured into his little community church in Yreka that had 60 members in it, or pouring his heart into the Young Life club at the high school in his city.

“He was just that kind of guy. He’s the kind of guy who lived what he preached. He was probably the kindest man I’ve ever met,” Penner adds.

In remembering his last encounter with Yaconelli on Monday night, Penner describes how this busy and important man spent an evening with his staff, “taking a minute or two with each person and telling them how important they were to him, how valuable they were as a member of the team and personalizing it all. I’ve never seen somebody in such a powerful position be so humble.”