70 | Mark Pettus & Bubba Massey – Reaching & Discipling the Next Generation

Summary

GrowLeader Podcast Episode 70: “Reaching & Discipling the Next Generation”

Host: Pastor Chris Hodges (PC)
Guests: Mark Pettus & Bubba Massey
Date: February 3, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on practical strategies and deep insights for reaching and discipling the next generation—specifically high school and college students. Pastor Chris Hodges is joined by Mark Pettus (father of the influential Motion Movement) and Bubba Massey (Tuscaloosa campus pastor and college ministry leader) to discuss the evolving landscape of youth ministry post-pandemic, the hunger among young people for real and deep faith, and the practical steps churches can take to grow vibrant student ministries. The conversation is both inspirational and packed with actionable tips for church leaders.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Spiritual Hunger and Changing Culture Among Students

• Post-Covid Spiritual Reawakening: There's a clear move of God among students, with evidence such as increased in-person Bible engagement and a desire for deep spiritual experiences.
  • Quote: “They're not just asking, they're showing with their Bible being like, can you help me understand this verse more? And so there is such a hunger.” (Bubba Massey, 00:00)
• Preference for In-Person, Authentic Experiences: College students favor physical Bibles, note-taking, and authentic community over digital interactions.
  • “We can't get them to be digital in church. It's so interesting. We're watching them with like, it's paper Bibles. It is Notes… they're hungry for the Word.” (Bubba Massey, 08:12)

2. Practical Models for Student Ministry

• Multi-Environment Approach:

  • Monthly large evangelistic “Motion Nights.”
  • Regular mid-sized meetings for discipleship and connection.
  • Weekly small groups fostering deeper relationships.
  • Integration of students into broader church life (e.g., serving on Sundays).
    • “When you hit all those different environments, what you're doing is seeing students go through a journey of growth, getting planted…” (Mark Pettis, 10:39)

• Consistency and Local Leadership:

  • Having dedicated student pastors at each campus for ongoing, personal ministry, not just big gatherings.
    • “We went and hired, you know, student pastors at every location… Now we're not just having big gatherings, but pastoring and discipling…” (PC, 10:58)

• Importance of Consistent Rhythm:

  • Students and parents appreciate knowing what to expect, fostering security and engagement.
    • “The consistency of our schedule... is a massive, massive thing that we're seeing happen right now.” (Mark Pettis, 12:02)

3. Empowerment and Discipleship

• Early Activation:

  • Students are not the “next generation” but the “now generation.” Leadership, purpose, and service begin early.
    • “They're not the next generation, they're the now generation. And so we let them on the stage leading worship. We put them behind cameras.” (PC, 13:10)

• Challenging Beyond ‘Fun’:

  • Inviting students into challenging, mission-driven faith, not just entertainment.
    • “Give them something bigger than that sin. Give them something bigger than the party… Let them live their faith in motion now.” (Mark Pettis, 14:40)

• Mission Trips and Ownership:

  • Experiences like missions (even smuggling Bibles in the past!) foster maturity and spiritual hunger.
  • Creating environments where students say: “This is my ministry to be a part of.” (Bubba Massey, 15:09)

4. Distinctives of College Ministry

• Relational Community:

  • College ministry modeled as family, with pastors and mentors filling in for absent parents.
    • “What's different about college world too is that you're leaving your family... So for us, they find mentors, they find parents, they find families.” (Bubba Massey, 15:48)

• Deep Theological Engagement:

  • College students are looking for real answers to tough questions—“from PE to physics” in terms of depth.
    • “College students are coming, asking some deep theological questions. And they're not just asking, they're showing with their Bible being like, can you help me understand this verse more?” (Bubba Massey, 16:56)

• Discipleship Beyond Services:

  • The most significant growth often comes in informal gatherings—homes, meals, authentic confession.
    • “Thank God for the meeting. But... I hear more about the gatherings that happen in your home and the way you've discipled students…” (PC, 18:43)

• Confession and Intergenerational Mentoring:

  • High value on authentic confession and connection with older believers (see James 5:16 model).
    • “If you're having that moment and you look to your say, turn to your neighbor and tell them one area of your life that you're really struggling, they'll lean into it.” (Bubba Massey, 21:48)
    • “It's a great way not only to build solid ministry but also to involve the people in your church.” (PC, 22:37)

5. Best Practices and Action Steps for Leaders

• Integrate, Don’t Outsource:

  • Student ministry must be fully woven into the local church, not relegated as a side program.
    • “Don't put high school ministry almost like a para ministry in a box, separate from you... Integrate every way you can.” (Mark Pettis, 25:59)

• Personal Invitation and Unleashing Students:

  • Simply inviting young people to more involvement and trusting them with responsibility is key.
    • “Just ask every student, anybody that's in the building... tell them what to do and... unleash them.” (Bubba Massey, 26:33)

• Senior Leaders' Role:

  • The primary move that grows churches is the investment of time and faith by lead pastors in young people.
    • “Pour your life into young people and you will be so grateful a couple of decades later.” (PC, 27:39)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the Student Hunger Post-Covid:
  “We saw students wanted to beat the doors down. They were like, don't stop. Don't stop. This meeting... They're hungry for the Word is something real.”
  —Bubba Massey [08:12]

• On Calling Young People to Ministry:
  “Every time you come down, you call them into ministry and how many students, whether it's accounting again, finance... they feel like I'm leaving here, going in to ministry in my life.”
  —Bubba Massey [18:46]

• On the Need for Challenging Ministry:
  “I think there's a thrill and there's something, you know, exciting about serving God. Absolutely. And … the more I pushed them toward godly things and trips and missions and warfare, prayer... that replaced that adrenaline they were getting from, you know, impure things on Friday and Saturday nights.”
  —Pastor Chris [14:07]

• On the Power of Confession and Honest Relationships:
  “There's one word that I think we're seeing in this college movement... it's confession.”
  —Bubba Massey [21:19]

• Encouragement for Pastors:
  “Don't outsource it. Integrate it.”
  —Mark Pettis [25:59]

  “Unleash them. It's messy, it's raw... But in the middle of that, it's just unleash them and let them do ministry.”
  —Bubba Massey [26:33]

  “Pour your life into young people and you will be so grateful a couple of decades later.”
  —Pastor Chris [27:39]

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00 - Bubba introduces the deep hunger among college students.
• 08:12 - Bubba on the in-person, paper Bible preference among students.
• 10:39 - Mark describes the multi-environment student ministry approach.
• 13:10 - PC on activating youth for leadership and service now.
• 14:40 - Mark Pettis shares the importance of offering students a higher purpose.
• 15:33–16:56 - Bubba details the distinction between college and high school ministry, including deep theological engagement.
• 21:19 - Bubba and Mark discuss the emerging confession movement among students.
• 23:22 - Mark and PC discuss the rise of student-led intercession and prayer.
• 25:59–26:59 - Closing advice from Mark and Bubba on integration and empowerment.

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Conclusion

This episode is a blueprint for church leaders wanting to reach and disciple young people. The key takeaways are the importance of integrating student ministries into the whole church, empowering young people with real responsibility, and calling them to deeper, more meaningful expressions of faith. Authentic leadership, vulnerable relationships, and intentional discipleship are the marks of a thriving next generation ministry—one that grows not only students but entire churches.

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(For more details and applications, look forward to the GrowLeader One Day event on April 1st, 2025, focusing on student and children’s ministry.)

Transcript

[Bubba Massey]

Well, college students are coming, asking some deep theological questions. And they're not just asking, they're showing with their Bible being like, can you help me understand this verse more? And so there is such a hunger. So we felt like, wait a second. If they're the ones evangelizing, they're getting them in. If we can create an environment, spirit filled, presence driven, filled with prayer, filled with a deep word, they'll keep bringing people. And I had somebody great tell me one time they said that going from student ministry to Christ college ministry, it's almost like, it's like going from PE to physics. It's like that mindset of I'm not in like my seven periods a day. If I'm coming to church, it's because I want to be at church.

[Matt]

Hey, everybody, and welcome to the Grow Leader podcast, where we grow leaders that grow churches by helping them reach their full potential. So excited to have you on the podcast today. My name's Matt, sitting as always beside my pastor, PC how we doing? We have youth pastors everywhere today. There's just.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

I know I'm very excited about today's podcast and I was just actually looking around this beautif studio, looking out at students out the window here of the studio here at the beautiful campus of Highlands College and just grateful to God for what he's doing on this campus. It really is a miracle, guys. I mean, just, I'm watching these students go by with these big old smiles on their faces and imagining the call of God that is on their life and how that's being developed. And I just, I could not be more happy and more fulfilled than right now. So, anyway, glad to be here.

[Matt]

And if you haven't seen Highlands College get here, come see it. A couple opportunities coming up in the next couple months.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

We love to have you. Yeah, very excited about something we're doing new this year at Grow Leader. And that is instead of a three day conference, which we are still doing, but that's always last week of July here in Birmingham. But we've decided this year instead of taking grow on the road in regionals, we are doing one regional in Miami. But instead of doing that all across the nation, we do one days here in Birmingham, but on one single topic. And so that we can really dive into helping churches tackle what do I think are some really important topics that are bigger than just like a one session. And that's. I always had that tension whenever I'm teaching at the conference of like, man, I gave him an hour of small groups. But what Would it look like if there was a day of teaching small groups and here's an hour of how to build a team. But really, I need six hours to teach you all. That's important with a team. And we have. So we have two topics that we're going to deal with in the spring that would love for you guys to register and attend. And I'll let you know. These will sell out. We are already in one of them. We're already knocking on the door, being completely full. And that is in March. It's on the 13th, if I'm not mistaken, on the 13th of March, which is a Thursday. We're gonna have a one day, just on the topic of the Sunday service, or for those of you have Saturday, the weekend experience. And it's not all about Sundays, but if Sundays don't work, nothing works. And so we're gonna talk about sermon prep. We're gonna talk about series prep. We're gonna talk about hallways, greeters. We're gonna talk about checking kids in. We're gonna talk about offerings. We're gonna talk about altar calls. We're gonna talk about worship. We have a lot we wanna teach about the worship experience. We're gonna talk about excellence. We're gonna talk about, you know, what I call the wow factor. That for those that are coming for the first time, all these topics. And just really, honestly, pastors, listen to me. If that one area of your church world gets better, I promise you, a lot of things, a lot of other things are gonna get better. Well, so anyway, that one's. And by the way, that one's almost full. So be sure to register for this grow one day on March 13th. But there's another one, and I've got some of the guys that are gonna be helping me teach this on April 1st, which is a Tuesday, Tuesday, April 1st. No fooling. It's really April 1st. Okay? We're gonna have a one day on the topic of student ministry, children and student ministry. And listen to me, this is not an exaggerated statement. I am completely convinced that if you get kids ministry and student ministry, right, and you're one of the best, best in the city, best in the nation. I promise you, people are gonna flock to your church because this is the place where parents are feeling it. This is the place where students are feeling it. Even post Covid still, I think they're still reeling from just the culture and the generation and of course, that pandemic. It's a great time to be great at children and student ministry. So anyway, that's the. That's the. That's the preview of where we're headed today.

[Matt]

Yeah. But for both of those one days, the gold of that day is obviously main sessions with Pastor Chris, but also you get to be with our team. So the experts that do this at Church of the Highlands each and every day, whether it's our worship team, our production team, our creative team, our campus pastors, but also our student staff and kids staff, and plenty of Q and A time breakout, which is why we have the people that we have on today. The pastor Mark Pettis is hanging out with us, who has led students of all ages for many, many years.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

And the father of the Motion, I call it the Motion Movement because it's one of the largest, if not the largest.

[Matt]

We told a story today in our all staff meeting where. The first meeting where you pitched the whole idea of Motion.

[Mark Pettis]

Yeah. It's actually healthy that we're actually at the table right now. First of all, I'm so glad to be here today and excited for these one days. I love PC. I love that vision. And I just know it's going to help a lot of PAC pastors grow a lot of churches and reach a lot of cities. So excited. I'll be, of course, be there both as a participant, thank goodness, but also as a student and so, so exciting. But yeah, so basically, here's the story, because he sold it one way today. I did go to Pastor Chris as a young youth pastor, you know, full of vision. There's a long story there to change our city. And I went to him with this vision for a student conference or at that point, just an event called Motion. And he actually blessed the first iteration of that. Although after the execution of that day, he and I had a strong conversation because it lacked excellence, safety. We're not going down that list anyway.

[Matt]

A development conversation.

[Mark Pettis]

So the truth story is this. The true story is this. What he actually said is we're never going to do it like that again.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Well, but we made it better.

[Mark Pettis]

You made it better.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

When you came to me with the idea to bring it to the downtown arena, I thought, no, we're not doing that. You know, just first of all, I don't think we can fill it, and I don't think so. And I just was. All the logistics of parking and just safety and all of that. And Mark, man, dude, you, you. It. It was exactly what we needed to do. And it's one of the highlights of the year for me now to walk into this arena and see 17,000 high school and college students worshiping God with all their heart. And my brother, you.

[Matt]

You.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

You were right. I was not right on that one. And thank you for pressing me on it. So anyway, it was. It's really something. And honestly, Mark is the father of student ministry here at Highlands, and there's been many iterations of what that's looked like. And I think we've gotten better even recently, which is one of the things we wanna teach on this podcast and especially in this one day. Because pastors, ladies, we really want you to be great at this. And then we also have to my right here, the person who does a dual role at our church, he's the campus pastor at our Tuscaloosa campus. Row tie. Anyway. So. Row tide. Anyways, for all of our Bama fol, nobody has a phenomenally successful campus in Tuscaloosa, but also oversees all college ministry, not only for Tuscaloosa, but also for Auburn and Birmingham as well. And we have a move of God happening right now. This is Bubba Massey. Welcome to the Grow Leader podcast.

[Bubba Massey]

Absolutely. I'm thrilled to be a part. And first off, let me say, when you were talking about Saturday church services, do want to say thank you for not having that here at Islands, because that would be me by myself at an auditorium in a college town. But honestly, what God is doing is supernatural.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yeah. Even give them an update. Even recently, we just have. There's a move of God happening in college students and not just at Highlands. I think it's happening across the nation. I mean, you can listen to these college football games and these, like, it doesn't matter who it is. They interview a great game today. Yeah. I want to give all this praise to my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. That's on the rise. I mean, something's happening on college campus.

[Bubba Massey]

But even, even that movement, you know, like Ohio State has, like, they win the national championship and they. I think in their. Some of their pregame shirts, it says Jesus wins.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yeah.

[Bubba Massey]

And they're wearing that on the field. But one thing we saw after Covid was, you know, when everybody was like, how do we reach them? How do we reach them? We saw students wanted to beat the doors down. They were like, don't, don't stop. Don't, don't stop. This meeting and which is so beautiful about is even the fact of them coming to church, like, what they are craving. We can't get them to be digital in church. It's so interesting. We're watching them with like, it's paper Bibles. It is Notes. It is ghost. And how for like, I think last semester, the campus I'm at alone, I think we gave out like 300 paper bibles after the service. Like they're hungry for the Word is something real. And it's like, I mean, you feel it and the energy of the campus. A Sunday. I mean, they're leading worship. I mean, just.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

In fact, you're. We have a. It's a Thursday night college service that's gone to two service times now.

[Bubba Massey]

I mean, so we were Tuesday for a long time.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yep.

[Bubba Massey]

Just recently moved to Tuesday night. And the reason for that was just for a college town.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yeah. Thursday to a Tuesday. Correct.

[Bubba Massey]

So but for. For so many years we did Thursday. But because it got so close to the weekend.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yep.

[Bubba Massey]

Where it comes to the, you know, they don't have Friday classes. They're going home. Well then allowed them, you know, on Thursday night.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

But you're doing two services at this very large auditorium. You're doing two services on Tuesday nights just to fit everybody in. Yeah.

[Bubba Massey]

And I mean, so we actually just had our, our second double service and we just had our largest attendance ever at one. And Tuscaloosa had 1900 college students.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

That's what I'm talking about. And that's just at that one location.

[Matt]

And we're even learning from that because we were talking on the phone the other night. You know, you would think, man, college service started late, but the 6:30 service is the one that all the kids. So we're going, man, the kids want to come earlier now. It's just, it's helping us rethink how can we get more students in the room all the time for sure.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

And tell us, Mark, what's going on in high school ministry too, because we, we made a lot of adjustments. Kind of give a. An overview of some of the adjustments we made that we think that I think are important but talked about. We see a hunger among high school students. Right.

[Mark Pettis]

Absolutely. And honestly, you know, I've sat different position seats and for me now as a parent of teenagers, I'm more excited than ever about what God's doing in our young people because it right now is truly a move of God. There's been different iterations. The heart of our student ministry has always been Psalm 92. Get them planted in the house of the Lord so they can grow strong and flourish. You know, over the years we've had this expression called motion night, which we still have. Very evangelistic. A really big room, big room from day one because of your leadership. Always had the small group environment, which is so great that, that, that, that discipleship that happens there. But the piece we're missing, Pastor Chris, that really since COVID has grown, is that mid sized meeting.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yeah, right.

[Mark Pettis]

In fact, now our rhythm includes every month a large motion night evangelistic meeting. And then the next two Wednesdays they're in that, that room locally at their campuses with a couple hundred students and they still even break out in those small groups. But when you hit all those different environments, what you're doing is seeing students go through a journey of growth, getting the, planted in and they're, they're getting ministered to in so many different environments. It's powerful.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yeah, it feels like, and the best way I describe it, it feels like kind of the youth group I grew up in, the one when I was a youth pastor that I led that where I was going to the football games and I was going to their award banquets, getting phone calls at a, you know, 11 o' clock on a Friday night where there's that local expression. Because of our campuses, we're still able to be a big church for the big gathering, but we also can be small church for the, and have, you know, we went and hired, you know, student pastors at every location, which we didn't, we didn't even have enough leadership for all of our locations. Now we do. And man, now we're, now we're not just having, you know, big gatherings, but pastoring and discipling and man, we're seeing the fruit of it.

[Matt]

So one of the things we learned from that, and I would love for you to talk about this, Mark, is the consistency in leadership and how much that matters with kids.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

And that's what I want to do. I want to make sure the Grow Leader, the podcast listeners are getting some of our tips that we like, wait a minute. We didn't know how important this was because we want, you know, this is what we do here at Grow Leader. We pass on our best practices and things so they can go out and put it in their churches too. So what are we learning? Let's talk about high school first. You know, what are some of the things we're learning that like man, churches, pastors. You really want to do this? You really want to emphasize this?

[Mark Pettis]

Yeah, I think you just mentioned it. That, that youth group feeling, I think it's very important for parents. And we're talking about how you're going to grow your church through student ministry. Your students are going to grow, but also the connectivity that families have to our church that their students are known. There's consistent leadership in their life. And I think that's a massive, massive thing that we're seeing happen right now. I think the consistency of our schedule where they know that, you know, the first Wednesday of the month is our first Wednesday church service. Families go together the next Wednesday. That is where they invite their friends. Hey, this every month you're learning how to be an evangelist yourself. Invite your friends this environment and we.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Make it very evangelistic. We know there's visitors in the room.

[Mark Pettis]

Yeah. And then the third, fourth and possibly fifth Wednesday, hey, come get discipled. So I think parents love having that full menu PC of all of those environments. And they really understand it because it does feel a lot like their, their youth ministry. And then since day one, something you've always taught us, and it's motion, where the name comes from is to at the same time activate them. Never let it be just about them through inviting their friends, but also discovering their purpose on the growth track. And then from a young age, our young people are in church on a Sunday morning on the cameras leading in kids ministry that it always has that full complete discipleship to also going out themselves and living the Great Commission.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yeah. They're not the next generation, they're the now generation. And so we let them on the stage leading worship. We put them behind cameras. But not only that, you know, I think you guys know this story. One of the things I. I think I accidentally discovered when I was a youth pastor was the value of taking them on trips. Yes. You know, sometimes one van load at a time or missions trips. You know, back in our generation, the world was a bit safer and travel was a bit safer. So we did a lot of missions trips. You have to be very. I think churches still need to do it, but they have to be very, very careful now where they go as it relates to missions trips. But I noticed that every time these students got on missions trips that their purity a lot that, you know, their purity was higher and that the less interested they were in, you know, kind of the excitement that a Friday night and Saturday night gives you because they were feeling the thrill. In our case, we were actually smuggling Bibles into East Germany back.

[Matt]

That is the wildest story. Like you're smuggling Bibles.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

I mean, and these kids were like, forget Friday and Saturday nights with my friends. This is real living. Yeah. And I want to make sure, you know, especially youth pastors hear that. I think there's a thrill and there's something, you know, exciting about serving God Absolutely. And binding the devil and, you know, teaching them how to pray. And I found that the more I pushed them toward godly things and trips and missions and warfare, prayer at my house on a Tuesday night, like that replaced that adrenaline they were getting from, you know, impure things on Friday and Saturday nights.

[Mark Pettis]

Something that changed my life. You said early on as youth pastor, and you taught it to me. I mean, literally, day one is that we're not a defensive youth ministry. I grew up in a youth ministry that was always like, don't do this, don't do this, don't do this. And you told me, day one, just give them something bigger than that sin. Give them something bigger than the party. And that's a. I mean, one of the best pro tips ever is activating them. Let them live their faith in motion now. And. And. And they.

[Bubba Massey]

And I think. And we see that across the board and everything you think about it, from a. From a Sunday expression to every midweek service that we have, the students feel like it's their service to own.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yeah.

[Bubba Massey]

So it's almost like the smuggling Bible. The same mentality then feeling like, this is my service to grow. This is my ministry to be a part of.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

But tell us how it's different, how youth ministry is unique in college students may be different from high school students, because I think there's a lot of, you know, I think there's a lot of churches that have student ministry, but I don't know if they're really focusing on the college campuses, and it's a great opportunity. So. Yeah, you know, explain our. Explain our version of college.

[Bubba Massey]

Absolutely. So, you know, Pastor Chris always told us, you know, if you can reach a. If you can reach a college student or a college campus, you can reach the world. Which we really took that to heart, because in a college town, especially in tel schools in Auburn and other, you know, Birmingham, these are students from all over the country.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Right.

[Bubba Massey]

So they're actually coming, whether they get a finance degree or whatever else it is, they're going and doing ministry because of the. Really the mission that they leave Church of the Highlands with. So in our college ministry, it's a little bit different because we actually have a. Every week gathering college ministry functions around community. So I think Barna did a study and actually says from 18 to 29, they call it the dark years of your faith, which really, it's the. It's the bottom of your faith journey for the rest of your life. And then you get married, you kind of come out of that, and we Always just had that aggressive mentality of like, let's fight the dark years. That's so good. So the mentality is we'll have a service that is catered to you. It's a live speaker. It is somebody that you're with. And in those college pastors, they live their life available to them. What's different about college world too is that you're, you're leaving your family, you're leaving your comfort of your church. So for us, they find mentors, they find parents, they find families. So a lot of them are in freedom groups and small groups with 50, 60 year olds who've lived there for a long time and get, they get that world.

[Mark Pettis]

I mean, and also I've watched you lead and your team lead so well. You're taking them deep into God's word to talk about that. You're not shy about that. You're not, you're not.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yeah, they don't want superficial sermon. They won't talk.

[Mark Pettis]

Yeah, no.

[Bubba Massey]

So I think for us, every semester we do a book study every semester. I mean, we've taught on the, a series on the Holy Spirit. When students come in, you know, it's funny because in student ministry they're coming to you and it's all about fighting temptation and, you know, staying strong in their faith. Well, college students are coming, asking some deep theological questions. And they're not just asking, they're showing with their Bible being like, can you help me understand this verse more? And so there is such a hunger. So we felt like, wait a second. If they're the ones evangelizing, they're getting them in. If we can create an environment, spirit filled, presence driven, filled with prayer, filled with a deep word, they'll keep bringing people. And I had somebody great tell me one time, they said the going from student ministry to college ministry, it's almost like, it's like going from PE to physics. It's like that mindset of I'm not in like my seven periods a day. If I'm coming to church, it's because I want to be at church. And so the moment they walk in, I mean, you feel it like you feel the presence of God.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

And I try to, you know, I try to participate at least every semester at all of the college campuses. And one of the things I tell them too is like, you know, I know you have a pastor back home and I don't try to replace your pastor. You have a home church, that's fine. But while you're away, we'll be your kind of your home away from home. And we do want you to lean in, we give you permission without any of the responsibilities, really. We want you to lean into this, this temporary kind of faith family. And I'll be your, you know, your pastor away from home for a season and not ever really trying to replace that. For those that are coming from out of town, I think that's really important. But they really do dig into God's word and. But not only that, but outside of the meeting, the discipleship, and you're probably, honestly, Bubba, you're probably one of the best disciplers I've ever met in my life because thank God for the meeting. But the truth is I hear more about the gatherings that happen in your home and the way you've disciple students, encourage pastors and leaders and just talk about that a little bit.

[Mark Pettis]

And let's be honest, it's God ordained. Your name is Bubba in the state of Alabama.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yeah.

[Bubba Massey]

You live in Alabama. Everybody needs a Bubba. Okay. Let's all just say that. O I'll say two things. One, I will say the value of the Every time Pastor Chris, you come and speak to the college students, it's not the. The message is always amazing. The night's always amazing. What is so special about the night is every time you come down, you call them into ministry and how many students, whether it's accounting again, finance, or they're going to be a, you know, a kinesiology major, whatever it is, they feel like I'm leaving here, going in to ministry in my life.

[Mark Pettis]

And I think that's important too. Just because in college you just mentioned you may not be their senior pastor, but I think it validates.

[Bubba Massey]

Absolutely.

[Mark Pettis]

You do the same thing for motion conference and. Yeah, let me pause for senior leaders.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

That's huge. Let me pause and make a comment about that and pick up the discipling thing right back. It's because I think we've lost environments in the church world where we're calling people to serve God with your life.

[Mark Pettis]

Yeah.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

And I grew up in that. It seems like there's always an altar call and a place where I could surrender and lay down my life to serve God.

[Matt]

Commissioning.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yeah. And we're not really doing that anymore. And that is if God's going to call someone into ministry or into the marketplace that they go to to serve God with their faith, it's going to happen in that time frame. It's going to happen probably in the junior senior high school all the way through the four years of college, that six year time Span is the most important time to say that. And so I would encourage pastors and leaders like, don't be afraid to have altar calls and hey, if you feel called of God, if you feel like you're going to give God your whole life and, and whether that's in full time ministry like it happened for, you know, all of us, or in marketplace ministry, but, but, but this is the time we need to do that and, and call them to, to big things. But anyway, get back to the discipleship portion. So beyond, beyond the service in, you know, into the home and things like that.

[Bubba Massey]

Yeah, absolutely. So the discipleship for us runs just like every other Sunday. And Church of Holland's whole vision of just for them to find freedom. So the beauty of that is for all of our students, I mean they're running the same play every week that we run. So they're still doing a 12 week small group semester. The beauty of it is, like I said, whether it's families who live in the city, they're the ones leading them, or we're training these students and you've got their peers who are doing. We do love equipping them with curriculum. It does help them with their, the workload of it.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Right.

[Bubba Massey]

But I mean, there's girls who came in, she got saved, did a freedom group, felt led to do a small group and she had 90 girls coming. I think she's like doubling up services for a small group. You know, it's like. But the beauty of. There's one word that I think we're seeing in this college movement, like you're talking about from other churches we work with and stuff like that. It's, it's confession.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yeah.

[Bubba Massey]

I think there's something beautiful whether it's the end of a service for them to have a moment to process and listen to the Holy Spirit, but also confess to their friends. And I really believe they're living out.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

James 5:16 pack that a little bit more like you. You're saying that they, you. We're encouraging these students to be honest with a friend or a, or a spiritual leader in the church on the struggles they're facing and the mistakes they're making and that there's power in that. Unpack a little bit more. So, I mean, we know the reason I say that. I think we understand that language. I want to make sure everybody listening.

[Bubba Massey]

So what I would say is, Pastor Marcel, like the aggressive side of that. I think sometimes we shy away from giving them those strong action steps at the end of the service. I think if you're having that moment and you look to your say, turn to your neighbor and tell them one area of your life that you're really struggling, they'll lean into it.

[Mark Pettis]

Absolutely.

[Bubba Massey]

Even if they're there for the first time or they come every single week, I think they just want it. I think they want that strong leadership and then, you know, they don't want the emotional drive, I think for college. I don't think they want the hype. I think they want like, lead me to. Lead me to deeper waters.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

That's so good.

[Bubba Massey]

And if we can do that confession, we see the fruit of it.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

But I think one of the opportunities too, while I was listening to you, Bubba, is that, you know, because we do have the vibrant ministry in groups, it's a great opportunity for every person in our church. Like if you want to lead a small group, listen to me, there are college students who would love to sit.

[Mark Pettis]

At your feet, be a mentor.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

I mean for a 30 year old couple or a 50 year old, you know, they would love to sit at your feet and ask questions. They're looking for really the example that the Book of Titus says where the older are teaching the younger. For us to be in those situations is amazing. So it's a great way not only to build solid ministry but also to involve of the people in your church into some vibrant small group leadership.

[Mark Pettis]

And you just said one word that, you know, confession. You're seeing a movement of confession. And I do see that in college students, even here at Highlands College PC, another area I think just coming out of 21 days, we have to mention, and I think this is high school and college as well. But definitely I'm seeing it in high school is intercession students. Students are really attracted right now to, if you teach them how to have an active prayer life. And we saw Thousands coming on 6:00am.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yeah, no, all 21 days. I mean at 6:00am O' clock in the morning. I was always surprised every morning of how much of the, the, the, the thousands that were there to pray were young people, man.

[Mark Pettis]

And what they're saying, teach me how to pray. Which is, is what your, you know, pray first has done so well. They're teach me how to pray. And they're activating that they're desperate. I, I know this even through my boys who lead small groups in our home teaching their, their friends how to pray. They're, they're desperate for a prayer life. I think having that dynamic actual personal connection with God has been so powerful and not assuming they know how to do it.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

You know, I was a youth pastor back in the 80s and 90s, and. And we had a. We had a byline. Don't use it. I'm just telling you what it was. Okay. But we used to call it for radicals, only now that word radical means a little something different in this generation. But. But. But the point we were trying to make is we're not going to give you sugar cookies and balloon races.

[Bubba Massey]

That's right.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

We're not going to put an egg on a spoon and see who can go the fastest. We're going to teach you how to go to missions trips and smuggle Bibles. We're going to teach you how to pray and pull down strongholds. We're going to. And. And what you're saying, Mark, is that students love to be called to that deeper level. They love and they love to be challenged to the full Christian experience. You do not have to just make it Six Flags and Donuts. It can be something much more real than that.

[Bubba Massey]

We actually had a lady come up to me one morning after prayer, and she literally, she's probably in her 70s, real sweet. First 21 days of prayer ever. And I just asked the question, like, what do you think about it? This is amazing. And she said, I got out of my car and the first thing I noticed was all the young people came and coming in. And she said, my heart was bursting with joy seeing young people chase after God.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Yeah. Because there's the assumption that they're not interested and that there's any message we would want. We'd want the whole podcast audience. There is no man. This is the way you grow the church. They're ready for it.

[Mark Pettis]

Senior pastor lead pastors call those students to that standard, and they're looking for.

[Matt]

That in their life. Pastor Chris mentioned having thousands of students at prayer. He said that in the room. Hey, church, aren't you proud of our students? Like, any moment you get to love on them and encourage them. They keep showing up. And the church falls in love with reaching more students. And now you have this whole reaching mechanism. Everybody's did everything they can to help out students.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

So a final comment from both of you just to encourage the audience or maybe another tip or something you've learned, because we got to close the podcast here soon. But again, I want to encourage everybody who's listening if any of this resonates with you and you wish you had this in your church. This is what we're going to teach on April 1st at this grow one day. So we Want you to come. You're going to hear from these guys in the breakouts. We're all going to teach you everything we know about student ministry so that you can have this as a vibrant part of your local church. But final comment, Mark of just anything that encourages these pastors and leaders.

[Mark Pettis]

Yeah, I would, I would just say, you know, honestly, back to Psalm 92. It's just don't put. I'll speak to high school. Don't put high school ministry, almost like a para ministry in a box, separate from you. Integrate every way you can the movement that God is doing to your own people into the energy and the program in your church. Weekend services, we celebrate for young people, small groups. You've heard it. Growth track. Weaving them and having different expressions where appropriate, but just knowing that we get those students planted in God's house, they have a lifelong journey of flourishing and growing and so just knowing it. Yeah, don't outsource it. Integrate. It would be my wisdom, Bubba.

[Bubba Massey]

Yeah, I would just tell them, ask, just ask every student, anybody that's in the building. I got involved here at Highlands because the campus pastor took me lunch and just said, I need you doing more in the rest was history. So I would say to any pastor, if there's a young person, sit down with them, just tell them what to do and they will and just unleash them. It's messy, it's raw. They're going to fail, they're going to say terrible things. It's going to be amazing. But in the middle of that, it's just unleash them and let them do ministry.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

And Matt, I probably would close with my comment that that's what I did when I started Highlands. I mean, you know, 24 years ago, we just celebrated our 24th anniversary and. But I look back 24 years ago, some of the people that are the greatest leaders in our church who are now many of them are elders in our church in their 40s were 19 year olds that I was working out with and discipling and taking to lunch and believing in. And so honestly, I look back, those are my first fondest memories of this church was, you know, I used to do Ultimate Frisbee with John Larson and Kellen Coldiron when they were part of our intern program and, and, and used to work out with them and, and, and we'd sit around on the floor in the living room and talk about the Bible and disciple them and then gave them responsibilities long before they were really qualified to do it because I was developing them and, and training them how to be campus pastors and leaders and, and for, in John's case, how to lead worship. You know, first time he says, you know, I'll start leading but if you'll start the song, I'd start the song and then pass off to. And now these are world class leaders now that I'm so, so proud of. And so pastors and leaders, pour your life into young people and you will be so grateful a couple of decades later.

[Matt]

And we're going to spend an entire day talking about all of that April 1st right here on the campus of Highlands College. And I know there's a temptation pastors, you're out there, you're like, hey, I'm going to send my students person, come with them. Send the pastors.

[Mark Pettis]

That's great.

[Matt]

Get here with your students.

[Pastor Chris (PC)]

Pastors and student pastors need to come together.

[Matt]

That's right. It's going to be incredible. We'll have all the information for all that on the website. If you have any questions, email us infogrowleader.com we're so glad you're with us, Pastor Mark, Pastor Bubba. I love that. Pastor Bubba, thanks so much for being with us. We'll see you next time on the Grow Leader podcast. Hey everyone, thank you so much for listening to this episode and also a big thank you to all of our partners that help make the Grow Leader podcast happen. For over 80 years, Wesleyan Investment foundation has helped churches with their bar growing and investing needs. And whether you're dreaming of new opportunities or seeking wise resource management, we think WIF can help you. You can learn more about [e-mail] growleader for over 30 years, One Hope has partnered with churches and ministries to impact the lives of children and youth with the message of the gospel of Christ. Through collaboration with local communities worldwide, One Hope has reached over 2 billion young people in 112 countries. Discover how you could partner with [e-mail] growleader if you're looking for ways to know your people better and also grow your church at the same time, you need to know about Studio C. Studio C combines strategy, technology and communications to maximize church member engagement. You can bridge the engagement gap and transfer transform your church's impact with Studio C. And you can learn more about them at thestudioc.org growlegion.