NextGen Pastor Interview Assignment
Melodie Penland
CHMN 301: Foundations of NextGen Ministry
Vince only teaches the youth. The other ministry directors lead their departments. Vince
is kept aware of all that goes on in each ministry but is not hands-on. He attends children's,
college, and adult events but isn't the one to plan all of them. He also preaches sometimes on
Sunday mornings on occasion. He fills in for adult classes as needed.
As the Family Pastor, Vince was the Youth Pastor who oversaw birth through college-
aged students plus their families. He primarily taught the large youth group while equipping the
small group leaders for the boys and girls and breaking into age groups. Vince's church has a
Preschool Director, Children's Director, and College Director. Vince also coordinates with the
adult Sunday School departments, primarily the young adults with children at home.
My friend and former co-worker Vince Smith is currently a Senior Pastor in Florida. He
was my church's Family Pastor a couple of years ago. He was a Family Pastor for ten years
before becoming a Senior Pastor. Vince was raised in church his whole life, but his family
changed denominations a lot growing up. Vince played sports all his life and went to a public
college on a baseball scholarship. He dreamed of running a sports camp, but his plans and
dreams did not work out after college. After working with a local FCA group, he interned at a
church youth group. He realized his Rec undergrad degree would be helpful for a youth group
but wanted more Biblical training. He worked towards his Masters while working as a Youth
Pastor. After receiving his Master's in Biblical Studies and Christian Ministries, he became a full-
time Family Pastor, also called the Pastor to Students and Young Families. When Vince neared
his mid-thirties, he desired to be less hands-on with young people as it required late nights, lots
of events, and other things that conflicted with his growing family.
The students all meet in a large group for the introduction, games, and icebreakers. They
meet in a large group for an overview and then go into small groups to discuss and dig deeper.
Following the introduction to the lesson, the teens break up into middle school girls, middle
school boys, high school boys, and high school girls. Because of size, seventh and eighth grade
are together, ninth and tenth are together, and eleventh and twelfth grade.
When teaching, the students are interested in friendship, mental health, family, sex,
addictions, dating, grief, and peer pressure. Grow does an overview of these in a relevant and
applicable way. The students participate by asking questions and talking about their own
experiences. The youth meet in their own building across the street from the main church
campus. The building had a big meeting room used for large group time. There is also a kitchen
and gym. The youth can play in the gym upon arrival or hang out in the big room, eating snacks
or playing games. Table games and other games, such as ping pong, are available. The big room
has circle tables and chairs used for games and eating. It also has a stage with chairs in a row for
Vince has tried most curriculums out there but uses Grow for Sundays and Wednesdays.
Grow is hands-on and interactive. It requires participation. The curriculum allows the teens to
work in groups and connect better. One of the main strengths is that every lesson points to Jesus.
Even if the lesson is from the Old Testament, an element still points to Jesus. The lessons are
applicable and easy to understand. They also have deep aspects. The only weakness he
mentioned is that there is a monthly theme, and they tend to repeat the same essential elements.
The story may be the same, but they will pick a different central theme with new points.
the big meeting time. There are also smaller break-out rooms used for individual
classrooms. They meet in the same area on Sundays and Wednesdays.
The teaching location is primarily good. The large group area is large and inviting. It is
adequate for what is needed. The classrooms could use a little attention. They are clean but look
somewhat dull. The classrooms could use a theme, colors, or something to separate them from
the other rooms. The walls are neutral, so the walls could use decoration, more color, graphics,
pictures, or a colorful accent wall. The space itself is ample and has room to grow. There are
board games, pool, ping pong, and air hockey for teens to play and connect.
The best learning happens when teens are actively involved. Vince uses a lot of hands-on
object lessons, videos, and science experiments and utilizes active learning. The same method
is not used every week. Vince and his team change up to keep it fresh.
The most important thing is to keep the students' learning methods at the forefront. It is
important to teach how they learn best. Regardless of the mode, the students are given
opportunities to discuss and practice what they learned and put it into practice. Vince does not
just spit out facts by reading the Bible. He helps involve the kids in discussing and analyzing to
understand better. After working with teens for over a decade, Vince realized that teens don't
want to sit still and hear a boring lecture for thirty minutes. Information is given with a vision of
pointing to Jesus. Vince also likes to teach by using stories from his real life, like how Jesus
taught in parables. People connect to stories about real life, which helps engage students to
learn and get closer to the truth. Vince left me with this question: When teaching, what do I
want the students to do after hearing the Word? What do I want them to accomplish for the
kingdom?"
