Renée Ghobrial Challenges Today’s Teens To Experience Genuine Christian Life

Renée Ghobrial and Allyson Clark worshipping at YEC 2023

A New England native with family roots in Egypt and an abiding love for mentoring teenagers and young adults, Renée Ghobrial has been serving BCNE churches since January 1 as the leader of Next Generation Youth Ministries.

Ghobrial will succeed Allyson Clark, who is transitioning toward retirement at the end of the year. Clark has served the BCNE for over two decades and plans to stay part-time, guiding Next Generation Collegiate and Youth Ministries.

Ghobrial will lead the annual Youth Encountering Christ (YEC) conference in January, the Quest leadership-development missions experience each February for high school juniors, the CrossWalk summer camp (CW), and the CheckPoint fall retreat for youth ministry leaders. She will also consult with church leaders from across the region on youth ministry.

Renée on Quest 2006

A lifelong resident of Greater Boston, Ghobrial came to faith at a young age and is an alumna of every youth ministry and missions experience the BCNE offered. Some twenty years ago, she attended her first YEC conference and CW summer camp. “I remember having the best time meeting so many other kids my age who were Christians too and making friends. When I went to public school, it felt like I was the only Christian kid in my school, so it was amazing to see hundreds of peers gathering together every winter and summer to worship.”

Beth Thomas, a youth leader and mentor at Ghobrial’s home church, recommended her for the Quest team that traveled to the Dominican Republic in 2006. Neither of them realized then how much of an impact that experience would have on her young life.

“I remember being pushed and challenged to share my faith publicly and to be real with my fellow peers. I’d never had that experience before. Coming back, I felt like a different person. I was less shy and was excited to jump back into my youth group and share what I’d learned.” Six years later, she traveled as a Quest faculty member to South Africa.

Renée and Fady

Ghobrial’s grandparents, Hanna and Faiza Ibrahim, and her parents, Sylvia and Ashraf Selim, immigrated from Egypt to Boston in the 1970s. Following in their legacy of faith as the third generation to continue ministry in New England, Ghobrial has spent years leading youth and young adults at Arabic Baptist Church in Newton, where she met her husband, Fady, and where they have served together.

Ghobrial graduated from Boston University (BS, 2011) with plans to pursue a law career, “but I quickly realized that didn’t quite fit my passions and strengths,” she commented. “I love working with teenagers and mentoring them,” a realization which led Ghobrial to study at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA, and receive a Master of Mental Health and Marriage/Family Counseling degree (cum laude, 2015).

Mental health is “a huge issue for teens right now,” she said. “I’m hoping I can use some of the things I’ve learned to help encourage and equip youth leaders as they work with their students with those issues. I’m also looking forward to building new bridges and relationships with youth groups across New England, with new church plants and established churches that have never been involved in BCNE opportunities.”

Renée and Fady serving with Arabic Baptist Church’s youth group

Before joining the BCNE staff, Ghobrial worked with Christian Union as a ministry fellow at Harvard College, where she and Fady mentored, discipled, and taught the Bible to undergraduates. In 2022, she was also the BCNE’s Communications Director.

Now, Ghobrial challenges today’s youth to experience the same genuine life in Christ that she experienced through YEC, CW, Quest, and her home church.

“It’s a surreal, full-circle moment to have the opportunity to lead and organize these experiences where students will meet God and grow in their faith, just like I did as a teenager. I’m excited for what God has in store for the future.”

A Massachusetts native and a New England Baptist since 1970, Dan Nicholas is the BCNE managing editor.