My work in NextGen ministry grows out of a simple conviction: children and teenagers learn to follow Jesus best when faith is lived out in front of them and shared with them over time. How the adults around them walk out their faith and are formed in their faith has a direct impact on the younger members of the community. So even when serving NextGen, the spiritual health and formation of the adults around them is just as important and should matter to us.
Scripture points to this kind of formation again and again. Paul writes, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Faith becomes tangible when it is seen and practiced in everyday life, not confined to lessons or age-segregated spaces.
Research in adolescent development quietly echoes this truth. Studies consistently show that identity, belief, and values are shaped most deeply through trusted relationships rather than information alone (Search Institute, Developmental Relationships Framework:).
This conviction sits at the center of how I approach ministry with children and youth.
FORMATION THROUGH RELATIONSHIP
NextGen ministry, as I practice it, is relational before it is instructional.
Jesus didn’t begin with systems or strategies. He began with invitation. “Come and you will see” (John 1:39) was not an invitation to information, but to life together. Long before the disciples understood what he was teaching, they were watching how he prayed, how he treated people, how he rested, and how he responded under pressure.
Formation happens slowly, often quietly, through shared rhythms, shared meals, shared prayers, and shared life. It requires time, trust, and consistency. It can’t be rushed or reduced to content alone.
Educational research reflects what Scripture already shows us, learning and formation are strongest when they happen within stable, trusting relationships rather than transactional instruction (Harvard Graduate School of Education, The Power of Relationships: ).
Faith takes root not because something was taught perfectly, but because relationship made room for belief, doubt, growth, and trust to exist together.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESENCE
An essential part of NextGen ministry is being present in the everyday moments of young people’s lives.
This means showing up at games, plays, recitals, school events, practices, and activities that matter to them. These moments may feel ordinary, but they communicate something lasting: you matter, and your life is worth showing up for.
Presence builds relational equity over time. It’s the quiet trust that forms when adults show up consistently, without an agenda, without needing a platform, and without requiring anything in return. Long before a young person is ready to talk about faith, they are paying attention to who notices them, who remembers what matters, and who stays.
Scripture names this kind of embodied care: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). Research in youth development reinforces this, identifying caring adult presence as one of the strongest protective factors in a young person’s life, closely linked to resilience and emotional well-being (CDC, Protective Factors for Youth:).
Showing up isn’t a strategy. It’s discipleship lived out through faithfulness.
PASTORING PARENTS, NOT PRESSURING THEM
I no longer use the phrase “partnering with parents” the way I once did.
In today’s world, parents are expected to be experts in everything, emotional health, academics, extracurriculars, technology, mental health, and spiritual formation, often without margin or support. That weight is heavy. And too often, the church unintentionally adds to it by placing the full responsibility for discipleship on parents’ shoulders.
Scripture offers a gentler and more honest vision. “Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Discipleship was never meant to be carried alone.
Research on parental burnout confirms what many families are already feeling. Modern parents are carrying unprecedented emotional and cognitive loads, leading to exhaustion and diminished well-being (BMC Public Health, Parental Burnout:).
At the same time, Pew Research Center has documented that Millennials, who are raising Gen Z, participate less consistently in religious life than previous generations (Pew Research Center, America’s Changing Religious Landscape). This creates a unique NextGen reality where faith formation is often carried less by confident parents teaching at home and more by the shared witness of the Body of Christ.
This isn’t a failure of parents. It’s an invitation for the church to pastor parents, to care for them as people still being formed by Jesus, to walk alongside them without judgment, and to share the work of discipleship together.
“From him the whole body… grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:16).
CHILDREN AND YOUTH AS PARTICIPANTS
I believe children and teenagers are not the church “someday.” They are part of the church now.
Jesus welcomed children with dignity and seriousness, saying, “Let the little children come to me… for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14). My work seeks to include young people in meaningful, age-appropriate ways that invite participation rather than observation.
That means making room for questions, honoring lived experience, and trusting that God is already at work in their lives, even when growth looks uneven or slow.
THE ROLE OF THE BODY OF BELIEVERS
Faith doesn’t grow in isolation.
Research from the Fuller Youth Institute consistently shows that young people who continue following Jesus after high school are rarely shaped by one relationship alone. Instead, faith tends to endure when students are surrounded by a network of caring adults, often described as five non-parent adults who know them, show up consistently, and model faith in everyday life (Fuller Youth Institute, Sticky Faith).
Scripture has always pointed us in this direction. “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord”(Psalm 78:4). Faith was never meant to be carried by one voice or one role. It’s sustained through a community.
When the church functions as a web of relationships rather than a stage, young people experience belonging that lasts longer than programs, personalities, or seasons.
HOW THIS SHAPES ADULTS TOO
NextGen ministry practiced this way doesn’t just form children and teenagers. It forms the adults who choose to show up as well.
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). Research on intergenerational connection shows that adults who invest relationally in younger generations often experience deeper purpose, empathy, and spiritual vitality themselves (Stanford Center on Longevity, Intergenerational Connections:)
When adults sit through long games, open their homes, linger in conversation, and share real life with younger people, ministry stops being a task and becomes a shared way of life. Formation becomes mutual, not one-directional.
SHARED LIFE AND THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
Shared life creates the conditions where the fruit of the Spirit can grow naturally over time.
Paul writes that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23). These qualities aren’t formed through pressure or performance. They grow through proximity and time.
Love is practiced through consistency and care. Joy emerges in shared laughter and celebration. Peace is learned as conflict is navigated with grace rather than avoidance. Patience grows when people choose to stay. Gentleness is shaped through listening. Self-control develops through trust and maturity formed in community.
This kind of fruit can’t be rushed. It comes to fruition as the Spirit works patiently through ordinary faithfulness, through shared life where people remain present long enough to be changed.
FROM LEADER TO SHEPHERD
In many church contexts today, the language of leader has quietly replaced the language of pastor.
Leadership language often evokes an image of someone positioned above, someone with authority, vision, and direction. While leadership skills matter and have their place, that image can unintentionally create distance. When authority is primarily experienced from above, people can begin to relate out of compliance rather than trust.
This matters deeply for children and teenagers, but it also shapes adults.
When adults primarily operate as leaders, people of all ages can start to experience church as something managed rather than something they belong to. Truth can feel like something delivered at people instead of something spoken with them. Over time, this shapes how faith is received, not as shared life, but as expectation.
Pastoral ministry moves differently.
Scripture gives us a clear picture of this posture: “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care… not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2–3).
A shepherd walks among the flock, not above it. A pastor is first a presence, someone who knows names, stories, fears, and joys. Authority in this posture is not removed or weakened, but carried through love, consistency, and care rather than position alone.
For the next generation, this posture invites trust. Children and teenagers are far more likely to receive truth from someone who knows them, notices them, and stays with them. Authority becomes something rooted in relationship, not hierarchy.
Adults need this posture as well. When leadership eclipses shepherding, adults can feel pressure to perform rather than permission to be honest. A pastoral posture creates space where adults are not only serving, but still being formed.
This doesn’t mean pastors don’t lead. It means leadership is held within a shepherd’s posture. Vision is carried relationally. Truth is spoken with tenderness. Authority is exercised as responsibility for people, not control over outcomes.
Formation happens best there.
A HEALTHY VISION OF PASTORAL LEADERSHIP
Pastoral leadership carries a real and weighty calling.
Scripture consistently names the responsibility entrusted to pastors, to care for people’s souls, to guide with humility, and to model a life shaped by faithfulness. This calling matters deeply and deserves to be honored.
At the same time, many pastors today find themselves shaped more by performance expectations than by pastoral rhythms. In systems that reward visibility, productivity, and growth, pastors can feel pressure to maintain an image rather than live honestly within community.
Research has documented how internal congregational dynamics can shape what pastors feel free to say and do, including pressure and limitation coming from within the church community itself.
When pastors are placed on pedestals, they often lose the freedom to be fully human. Weakness is hidden. Limits are ignored. Community is kept at arm’s length in order to preserve the version of themselves the congregation expects to see.
Scripture offers a different vision. Pastors are called not only to shepherd others, but to do so as people among people. They are examples, not ideals. Faithfulness, not flawlessness, is the mark of the calling.
A healthy vision of pastoral leadership makes room for pastors to be known, supported, and formed alongside the people they serve. It recognizes that shepherds also need care, rest, and community in order to remain faithful over time.
This kind of health doesn’t diminish authority. It protects it.
When pastors are allowed to live honestly, to share life, and to remain grounded in community, ministry becomes more sustainable and more credible. People are not led by an image, but by a life.
Healthy pastoral leadership resists performance and embraces faithfulness. It prioritizes presence over platform and formation over production. It allows pastors to lead without pretending, and to serve without isolating themselves from the very community they are called to love.
This vision doesn’t lower the calling of a pastor.
It makes it possible to live it well.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The next generation isn’t asking for a perfected version of faith. They’re asking whether it’s real.
“We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord” (Psalm 78:4). My hope is to help cultivate spaces where children, youth, and adults together can encounter Jesus through shared life, where faith is visible, practiced, and lived with honesty, patience, and care, trusting the Spirit to do the forming work in all of us.
A NOTE ON ORDINATION AND BELIEF
I am an ordained pastor with the Assemblies of God, and my faith and ministry are rooted in historic Christian orthodoxy and the life of the local church.
The Assemblies of God affirms belief in the authority of Scripture, salvation through Jesus Christ, the work and presence of the Holy Spirit, and the ongoing formation of believers through discipleship and community. We believe the church is called to live out the gospel together, bearing witness to Jesus through both word and life.
For those who want a fuller picture of our shared doctrinal foundation, the Assemblies of God outlines these beliefs in the 16 Fundamental Truths.
My own ministry reflects these convictions while being deeply shaped by relational discipleship, shared life, and care for the next generation. I hold theology seriously, and I also believe faith is best lived, practiced, and passed on through humble presence, community, and obedience to Jesus over time.
This shared foundation matters to me, not as a boundary meant to exclude, but as a grounding that provides clarity, accountability, and continuity to the work I do.