History of the YLCF

The ministry of the Young Ladies Christian Fellowship as we now know it began back in January of 1991, with cousins Melissa Brink (then 6 years old) and Gretchen Glaser (then 7 years old)… Melissa's family was visiting Gretchen's family, and the girls got a lot of opportunity to play with each other and come up with fun ideas. Their brothers had a "club" for boys that they called the "Tardogs," and the girls decided they should have their own girls' club, too! Since both Melissa and Gretchen really liked cats, they decided upon the name "Purry Kittens."

The PK's started with five members that first year, and increased slowly for the next few years. In January of 1996--the fifth anniversary of the Purry Kittens--there were a total of 20 members. The newsletter was originally called "P.K. News." In December of 1996 Gretchen started a separate newsletter for younger girls, "Kitties Korner," and one for teen girls called "The P31." And in September of 1997, she started another called "Wonderful Books for Girls."

In June of 1997, with thirty members, the "club" underwent some major changes—it got a new name (Young Ladies Christian Fellowship), and most everything else changed, as well! Eventually, Gretchen took responsibility for all the editing, and each of the separate newsletters was combined back into "The YLCF Newsletter."

In 1998, the YLCF went online. In spring of 1999, the YLCF Journal grew to 28 pages and published quarterly. By September 2003, the final issue--number 32--of the YLCF Journal was printed and Gretchen moved on to other responsibilities.

By the end of 2005 Gretchen was preparing to transition into married life and leave the ministry to be continued by her friend Natalie with help from the new YLCF Team. Natalie Nyquist began to take over the website and in early 2006 the entire website received updates and a new look. YLCF merged with HeartThoughts Publications, which provides books on purity for young women. The daily blog took over where the YLCF Journal left off, providing daily articles, commentary, and interaction with other young ladies.

In 2008, Natalie handed the reins back over to Gretchen. And once again, the YLCF is getting a makeover! Stay tuned.