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Joe Coughlin: A Vision for Boys
Joe Coughlin turned a Sunday School class of sixth-grade boys into a Christian youth work that mobilized young people for Christian service. Today, Joe’s dream has been fulfilled many times over in Christian Service Brigade and Girls Alive.
Joe was born on May 23, 1919 in Hampton, Virginia. Before he was a year old, his father died. The fact that Joe never knew his father profoundly influenced him later. “I felt that not having had a father as a boy somehow became a contributing factor in my own interest in boys,” he once said, “I desperately wanted a dad. When I discovered John 1:12, I found that I did have a Father.”
As an 8-year-old, Joe became a Christian. Four years later, he decided to be a missionary. When he graduated from high school, he was eager to serve the Lord. Therefore, Joe enrolled at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He volunteered for a Christian service assignment at a Methodist church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, to teach a Sunday School class of boys. Joe diligently prepared his lessons and took the boys on outings. But, he knew he had to do more to show these boys the excitement of the Christian life. He decided to start a weekly meeting with games and Bible study as the main activities and Christian service as their main goal. The early meetings of Joe’s group will be remembered most for the “Story of the Torch.” Joe placed a sword, a torch and an open Bible before the group as he told an ancient Scottish tale. The objects he used formed the elements of the Brigade shield.
In 1939, Joe was conducting a Brigade summer camp at Indian Lake, Pennsylvania. He had a significant encounter with God. “I had been counseled to enter boys’ work, but I didn’t know of any organization where I could apply. On early Thursday morning, I awoke before sunrise and saw the shimmering northern lights. I’ve always believed that God threw them in to confirm his presence. It made that moment very precious to me. I confirmed my life to him right then, sensing his calling to give my life for boys.” Joe graduated in 1940. That same year, the student-led Brigade organization established a board of directors. Joe set up an office at the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago from where he directed the growing network of units. Not only was Joe leading numerous Battalions in the Chicago area, but he also directed a summer camp program. The first camp was held in Wisconsin in 1939. A year later, Joe selected the Algonquin word “Kaskitowa” (which means “He has accomplished the work") for the camp’s name. Each summer, more weeks were added and more boys attended. Joe’s camps were known for their adventure and excitement, ideally suited to the teenage boy.
In 1945, Joe recruited a group of Christian teenage boys to travel with him promoting the Brigade program and conducting camps in the Northeast and Midwest. He called this team the Frontiersmen. They became a highly visible symbol of Brigade and demonstrated the pattern of well-rounded, effectively planned Christian camping for boys that Joe had started at Kaskitowa. The direct result of this Frontiersmen program was a host of Brigade camps which took root where Joe had been. The custom of voluntary offerings by boys (called shares) was established early in the ministry. The Brigade board of directors determined to send these shares to a youth camp in Costa Rica sponsored by the Latin America Mission. Eventually, Joe himself went to Costa Rica to explore the possibilities of establishing boys’ work in a Latin American culture. He returned for several summers to lead the Frontiersmen team, but by 1950 he decided to remain in Costa Rica permanently. Then, he married one of the missionaries he met there, Ruth Petty, who worked with him in directing Camp Robleato. Joe soon created a program for Costa Rican boys called Escuadron de Servicio Cristiano, a Brigade-style youth work with numerous adaptations to fit the unique customs and traditions of these youth. By 1959, there were 12 active groups in operation under the supervision of church leaders in Costa Rica.
In 1958, his wife died of cancer, leaving him with his 7-year-old daughter, Sara. Joe himself had been stricken with polio a few years earlier and was hospitalized for periods of time. He went on furlough and completed a Master’s degree in Christian Education at Wheaton College, in which he examined the phenomenon of Christian boys’ work and its relation to developing leadership for the church. He also met Betty Correll, the widow of a missionary killed in Africa. The two were married in 1960. That same year, he was invited to rejoin the Brigade staff in Wheaton to establish a department for promoting boys’ work worldwide and stimulating missions awareness among boys. He established contacts with missionaries and national church leaders in 14 countries.
By the late 1960s, Joe was pursuing doctoral studies at the Michigan State University and left the Brigade staff in 1970 to finish this academic work. He then taught adolescent psychology and education at Houghton College in New York and Covenant College in Tennessee, where he touched the lives of many students. In 1976, he accepted the pastorate of a small Congregational church in rural New Hampshire. There he lead a Battalion group. In vintage Coughlin style, he had the boys of his unit demonstrate the “Story of the Torch” by running with torches over the New England hills by night. When Joe retired in 1984, his ministry continued. He taught a men’s Sunday School class once a month.
“The Lord both launched and sustained the work of Christian Service Brigade,” Joe said. “I was simply privileged to be there at the time.” Joe Coughlin passed away October 2, 2005. Joe expressed his great desire and determination to serve the Lord faithfully to his last breath. A man of God, with great vision and valor, finished his course and kept the faith. Joe requested that memorial gifts be directed to Christian Service Brigade. His legacy includes countless men and boys who took seriously Paul’s exhortation to Timothy: “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:1-2). Joe Coughlin planted seeds which have borne much spiritual fruit for eternity.
Will you take up his legacy, dedicating your time and energy to impact youth? Contact CSB to explore ways in which God might direct you to participate in this exciting ministry.
