June 24, 2025 • 26 mins
You've probably heard the phrase 'kids these days'. While many use it to express frustration, perhaps we need to flip the script and declare 'Kids these days are GOING HARD after God!" But it doesn't happen by accident. The culture is always changing, but students and their desire for inspirational leaders is never changing! Enter SoCal Student Ministry Pros, Gary Garcia and Eliot Bland! In this episode, they share with us the "state of student ministry" in America today! Both Gary and Eliot travel all over the USA and the world speaking at youth camps and churches. Not only will you be encouraged, but you might just sign up to join the movement to reach students and your peers for Jesus!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
In 1 Timothy 4:12, the apostle Paul tells Timothy to
not let anybody look down on him because he's young,
but set an example for all the believers. In this
next episode, Gary Garcia and Elliot Bland, who are two,
I would say frontline youth ministry workers, give us a
or rather a state of youth ministry in America. They
(00:20):
travel all over the United States and the world encouraging
students and youth leaders to follow Jesus faithfully. So let's
get started with Gary and Elliot as they share with
us the front lines of youth ministry in our culture.
(00:46):
Well, my name is Gary Garcia. I'm born and raised
in Orange County, um, California. I lived here my whole life, um.
This is year 34 in youth ministry and so uh it's, uh, I,
I'm the, the district youth director for Southern California AG
as well as a lead pastor at a church in
uh in Fountain Valley and Cornerstone and Cornerstone Christian Fellowship
(01:10):
in Fountain Valley and now with Elliott, uh, leading the
youth ministry again. I did it for 30+ years and
because of different circumstances we're back in it and uh yeah,
it's going well we love it and uh love youth
ministry and uh.
Yeah, go Dodgers 100%.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, I definitely agree with that. Uh, Elliott Bland, um,
I've been in youth ministry for 10 years.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
OK, so I said a collective 35 looks like we
just branched up to collective 44 years, 45 years in
youth ministry.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, yeah. Gary's doing the heavy lifting on that, but I, uh, yeah,
10 years, so I was a local youth pastor in
La Palma, California for 7 years and then, uh, for
the last 3 got to serve on.
The SoCal Student Ministries team with Gary, um, and now, yeah,
we're both serving at Cornerstone leading the youth ministry there.
(02:01):
It's super fun. um I love it. I've grown up
in the church and felt a specific call to youth
ministry when I felt called the ministry and that's what
connected me to Gary.
Uh, there was no real examples that I could see
around me of people who had dedicated a lifetime to
youth ministry at the same church, and, uh, I grew
(02:22):
up going to our camps which now we help run,
which is crazy, uh, and it was at a summer
camp and I listened to Gary share his heart and
I think at that point he'd been a youth pastor
at his church for 25 years and I said that
I wanna do that and uh I ended up interning
with him.
And then getting to serve as a youth pastor alongside
(02:42):
of him and now we get to run SoCal Student
ministries together and we're back leading a local youth ministry
together so it's all so full circle.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
So for context so that, uh, you know, students and
parents out there can know so summer camp you guys
run how many summer camps up at Pine Crest.
And how many collective amount of teenagers come through that
every summer. Yeah, we have 7 camps that we do. Um,
last year we had over 3500 students come through, and
this year we could have even more because 500. Yes, yeah,
(03:14):
so there's, there's an average around 500 or so.
per camp. Uh, this year we're doing last year we
did 6 camps, this year we're doing 7 camps, so
it's gonna kind of hoping to break our record again.
So that's awesome. And uh and then you guys run
an annual youth convention sometimes in San Diego, sometimes in Anaheim.
(03:35):
I don't know where it's gonna be at this year.
San Diego. Everybody loves San Diego. Uh, how many students
are there and that's like on a weekend, a Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
in hotels
Speaker 2 (03:47):
and like 2500 to 3000 as well, uh, and just
churches connecting there and that's, yeah, 3 day more of
a conference feel.
It's been amazing, uh, and again, for both of us,
we grew up going to these events in Southern California.
So now to get to help run them and see students'
lives impacted there, people get called into ministry and, and
(04:09):
to be in it long enough now, even a decade to, uh.
Get to see some of that full circle of like
students who grew up in it are now youth pastors
bringing students to these events. It's just kind of mind
blowing and
Speaker 1 (04:21):
the reason I ask is, you know, there's great youth
events all over California and other churches, other denominations all
over the nation, but I wanna help legitimize the fact
that you guys are in it. Gary and I I
I knew Gary back when I was a college student,
he was doing youth ministry.
That's how awesome Gary is. That's how, well, now I
just brought you back to Yoda status because when 900
(04:44):
years old you reached look as good, you will not.
All right, again, I lost everybody with my Star Wars references, but, uh,
Gary's getting it. He's just acting like he's not getting it. But, uh,
you know, you guys, it's legit. What you guys do
is a legit operation in student ministry and listen guys,
I've seen you in college stages with hundreds of students.
I've seen you in junior high and high school mixtures.
(05:06):
And somehow you guys have like a collective magic sauce
where students just love you guys, um, on a stage
level but also on a, on a personal level. I've
seen it happen. So uh I I I wanna kind
of unpack with that now that we've legitimized, you guys
are full fledged student ministry workers, youth pastors, pastors, Jesus follower,
(05:26):
youth guy extraordinaires, that's a big title, um.
It seems like to me in my, in my time
in youth ministry and, and most recently in college ministry,
that it seems like Gen Z and even Gen Alpha
are kind of over.
unauthentic platitudes in the church, even in the culture, where they,
(05:46):
they want authenticity and and that's been a while, like
even Gen X generation that
I come from you one time called me a boomer.
I'm not a boomer, bro. I'm not a boomer.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah,
I do gotta
Speaker 1 (05:58):
laugh
Speaker 2 (05:58):
the laugh. Yes, it's
Speaker 1 (05:59):
great. You did good. You always get the good laughs,
but um, yeah, what, what uh what do you see
in in this uh generation of of Gen Z and
and Alpha and what's going on overall and then we'll
just kind of dial in deeper as we go from there,
just go for it. I mean there's been such a crazy.
Really 56 years that we've we've seen so many different
changes and and uh there's been such a, a kind
(06:21):
of a mixture of these last two generations and and
and what they become but really there's there's one thing
when it comes to youth ministry that does not change
and and it will work every time and it's working
with this generation, you said authenticity um they want relationship
they want deep relationship, they want connection, um, they want
to they want truth, um they don't want they don't
(06:41):
need a show they don't need um.
You know, to be entertained, they want relationship and they
want truth and that's really more than ever I think
we're seeing that and, and even with what we do
with convention with camp we've worked really hard and you say,
you know, I, I mean the magic is not us,
the magic is simply we just, we don't stay on
the stage, we come down into the crowd, we spend
(07:03):
time before and after hanging out with students, uh, we
don't want them to see us as like um.
You know, famous or anything like that because we are
farthest from that. I mean, we're just youth pastors, we're
not famous at all, but in their mind when they
see you on stages and stuff, they kind of think,
you know, the wow factor, but we've worked really hard
on getting rid of that.
And, and going down and really building relationships with students
(07:24):
and and learning their names and learning what church they're
from and making that connection and across youth ministry I
would say that's one thing that's never changed, um, students
have always wanted deep relationship and we've just, we've really
worked hard on making sure we are available and and.
And, and do that and build that relationship no matter
what venue we're at, whether it's our local youth ministry,
(07:46):
whether it's a youth convention, whether it's, you know, uh,
3 or 4 weeks of camp, um, we've worked really
hard on building deep relationships with students, with youth pastors,
with parents, and, uh, I think more than ever we're
seeing these generations that we're we're dealing with right now, um,
that's what they want truth and relationship.
Yeah,
Speaker 2 (08:05):
I think that, um, I echo that obviously like just.
The kind of show of it all isn't as necessary
like we still wanna do things with excellence, but uh
they have seen so much production everywhere, you know, everywhere
they turn uh on their phones like you go to
the mall and a store has a DJ in it,
(08:26):
you know, so that like draw of like.
The lights and the smoke, that's kind of the cliche
way to to word it. Uh, I think it's still
great to do things with excellence, and I'm not anti-production,
but this generation would rather go to an abandoned warehouse
with people that they love than go to a big show, um,
and they're just not as impressed by that. Another thing
(08:47):
I've noticed is, uh.
I think this generation's openness to spirituality. I, I think
they know there is something more like, like there isn't
this assumption that, uh, believing in the supernatural is ridiculous.
They're drawn to it.
Um, in so many different ways and in a lot
of times harmful ways like they're, they're leaning into crystals
(09:11):
or astrology or whatever, but I think it's because they
understand there is something going on that they can't explain, uh,
and I think that's a shift in this generation as
opposed to some of the older generations, uh, where it
isn't as ridiculous to believe this and so kind of like.
Paul, when he's like, you know that unknown god, I
(09:34):
know the guy that I think that's kind of almost
the approach with Gen Z and Gen Alpha is there's
this thing that they're longing for, um.
And we can point them to what that actually
is,
Speaker 1 (09:45):
yeah, and this is a generation that's finding answers like
that for the first time. I mean, you and I
were raising a generation that, you know, we didn't have
all of these things that they do now to search
these answers out search these questions out. Now, you know,
they can go, this is the first generation that's not
learning these things from their parents, they're mostly learning it
from social.
Media. And so it's why it's, it's, it's why it's
(10:06):
so important that we are building deep relationships with them
because no matter how social media, how hard it works,
it will never replace, um, person to person relationship and connection.
And so when you have that, you're able to speak
truth and to speak into their lives and earn their
trust and, and, and have those connections because again, they
can follow as many people as they want on these things,
(10:27):
but they don't have connection with these people.
Would you say uh it's like you guys are tapping
into the hard wiring as God made these students to
be the relational component, the desire for something clear of truth,
and you guys, God's using you to to to kind
of
Hey, we see a need there and let's fill it.
I would say though, we've talked, he and I've talked
a lot about this is we're seeing youth ministry really
(10:50):
going back to the basics of youth ministry kind of
what we would have done back in the day, early 90s, um,
you know, that kind of stuff and we've talked a
lot about just going back to.
Some of the basic stuff,
Speaker 2 (11:01):
yeah, not having to reinvent the wheel, but, uh, going
back to the tried and true model, uh, I think
we got maybe a little too creative. I'm all for
creativity and I think youth ministry is one of those
areas where we can play with the the model as
long as we stick to.
The method of what really matters, uh, and so we
(11:21):
can have fun and like play weird games or you
know we're just talking before we started recording about some
of these crazy ways that we've opened youth convention and
and and that's the exciting and fun part of youth
ministry but keeping the main thing the main thing like
even when I first started I think there was this
like uh well I don't wanna I don't wanna.
Mess with my influence, so I'm gonna avoid preaching difficult
(11:44):
topics on the platform. But what ended up happening is the, the,
the thing we would say is, I'm not gonna preach
about this on the platform. I'll talk about it with
you privately, but none of us were really talking with
any students or leaders even about it privately. And so
they were building their doctrine from what the world was
preaching because we weren't preaching about it. And so I
(12:06):
think that's one thing we've not.
is preaching truth in love but preaching truth, discipling kids
and as you kind of hear, Gary, this generation is
inquisitive in a way that others weren't because they have
information at their fingertips so they're gonna ask good questions
but that shouldn't scare us, but we have to be
more prepared. We gotta, we gotta really study and dig
(12:27):
deep into the word to be able to confront some
of these questions that they have because the, the, the
Bible does have answers for these questions we just might
not know what they are.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Would you say where maybe some parents, even youth pastors
might see some students in this generation as a little
bit reckless and off the cuff, as maybe that's also
the exact, I don't know, to get out of the
boat to like you said, they'll they'll go towards something
that the world's offering. So I don't know what is
it about this? It does seem like there's some courage
(12:59):
there to to what's that? I think it's a desire
for truth and and you know we had.
Uh, the generation before this one, so I'd say 90s, 2000s,
you know, we had a real kind of movement in
the church of um and in youth ministry of it's,
it's about looks, it's about design, it's about staging, it's
(13:19):
about branding, you know, it's a word I never used
early on in youth ministry. Branding was not something we
talked about. Culture was not something we talked about, but
you have these, these things that were taking place.
And you had a whole kind of generation, um, you know,
and obviously the problem is we have a bunch of, um,
you know, late 20s, early 30 year olds walking around
and they have their whole theology built on worship songs
(13:40):
because we missed actually speaking, you know, just teaching theology,
teaching truth, speaking out of the word, doing some of
these things, and then we get into this generation they're
like now we've seen those things we've seen the lights,
we've seen the palettes, we've seen all these things you
guys have done.
Um, you know, we can go to anywhere and get that,
we can go to a concert, we can go to
a bar, we can go and have that same experience, um,
(14:01):
what's different?
With church and, and it's
truth.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Well, I think, and to your question, like my focus
in SoCal Student Ministries is Youth Alive, which is partnering
with churches to train their students to be missionaries on
their campus, uh, and I think we've tapped into what
you're talking about this like hunger and this drive that
this generation has. They like they wanna change the world,
you know.
(14:26):
I, I think we noticed that when I was a
youth pastor I saw in 2020 there was a lot
of like social activism happening and, and I saw so
many of my students with good intent like putting causes
that they had no idea what they were actually supporting
on like giving their money, you know, like they, they
were wanting to not just say something they wanted to
(14:48):
do something and so I think.
We're tapping into that with the gospel like what will
change the world is the gospel and helping these students
understand that that it's not just.
You know, following a list of rules or, you know,
attending church, but like actually being an agent for change
and that's, that's why I love youth ministry because we're
proponents of sooner rather than later. Like one day every
(15:11):
knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus
is Lord, but we've dedicated our lives to the fact
that a junior higher can find what they've been looking
for and start.
Being used by God now. And, and so I think
that's the cool part about youth ministry is like, it's
not a babysitting service, it's helping students realize their God-given
purpose now. And I think that's what Gen Z and
(15:33):
Gen Alpha are really leaning into is like
That I can be used by God to impact my
campus and my family and my work, you know, wherever
I might go, uh, and that, I think that's what
we're seeing really take off. That's why we're having to
do 7 camps and honestly, probably next year 8 because
I don't know what you've heard or what you've read,
but like youth ministry in Southern California is thriving. God
(15:57):
is doing something in the.
Next generation it like do not discount it, do not
be disheartened, you know, like something special is taking.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I
would say across the nation we're hearing that that the
youth ministries are growing more camps are filling up everywhere, um,
you know, and it's because there is this movement, you know,
people who might think this generation is not getting it,
they're getting it and then there's things happening, um, the
Lord is moving in.
And uh and it's exciting to see it. I'm I'm
thankful we get to sit and you know, in a
(16:25):
front row seat for this season and be a part
of it. Well, OK, so we've talked mostly about Gen
Z and Gen Alpha.
You know, and, and probably there's some hopefully some youth
pastors listening because you guys are cool and youth pastors
like you, so hopefully you'll be sending this link and
they'll be listening and parents and all that. But what
do you want to say to high school and college
(16:46):
students right now? What, what, what word of encouragement would
you have to our listeners who are on the front lines, um,
on their campus and, and doing their best to live
out their faith in Jesus Christ or maybe on that
cusp of I'm still considering this whole Jesus thing. What
would you say to this generation?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Yeah, I mean for me I think it could be
summed up in a phrase I like to use at
youth ministries all the time is that like we believe
you can do more than survive. I think that's the
issue is.
Maybe a generation ago youth ministry became like a, a
defense sort of tool where it was let's get students
into our youth ministry, let's, you know, preach a word
(17:26):
to them and then just hope cross our fingers that,
you know, on a Wednesday they come and then this
weekend they don't go to the party.
Like I think we set the bar too low of
just hoping that students don't end up like the world
and I think we've got to raise the bar and
actually call our students to something more, more than surviving
their high school and junior high experience, but actually being
(17:48):
used by God that that they have the answer.
That the people on their campus and not just the students,
the faculty, that's, that's the cool thing we just heard about, um,
a youth ministry up in Visalia who, who did this
youth night and it was the students were and it
was student led, like everything that was taking.
Place, the invitations that were happening, the, the gospel being preached,
(18:11):
and there was such like commotion happening on the campuses
that a, uh, like a vice principal came to that
youth night. And, and so I'm just saying like there's,
there's something exciting when students realize.
That there's purpose on their life that doesn't start when
they graduate, right? That this isn't a holding time for
purpose that they can start walking in that now. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (18:32):
I mean the goal is students discipling students and that's
what we want to see and and this generation I
think is, is capable of that. I was talking to
a youth pastor yesterday from Texas and, and they have
this incredible movement happening on campus there where where students
are leading, uh, and discipling other students around um tables
at lunchtime and, and, uh, and it's spreading to other
places and other schools and.
(18:52):
Um, you know, but we're hearing about stuff like this
all across the nation where it's not just youth pastors
growing big mega youth groups anymore, it's students, um, reaching
students and, and we're hearing that more and more. A
lot of what Elliot does is, uh, training campus missionaries,
training teen.
to be missionaries on their high school and junior high
campuses because we really, you know, we throw around the
(19:13):
word mission and we've thrown that word around for years,
but I would say more than ever we're seeing this
generation be missional when it comes to their purpose and
and what they're doing on their high school and junior
high campuses. Wow.
Um, so, uh, I, I keep thinking of like you
talk about students are activated now, not later, you know,
even scripture, like David was a teenager when he took
down a giant shatter Meshack in a bed and go,
(19:35):
you've heard of those guys? a little bit. What they
were like a fiery furnace, something like that. Yeah, Elliott's favorite. Yeah, anyway,
that's good stuff. Like they were they were kids, basically students, um,
in terms of being teenagers, Esther.
Um, Mary, hello, that God often chooses young people, high school,
college age, even the disciples, many of them were college
(19:57):
age men that got empowered and they changed the world. Um,
and you know, through the power of the Holy Spirit
through the the reality of truth that Jesus full of
grace and truth, and walking in that, um.
You know, uh, on a lighthearted level, I don't want
to get too, well, I want to say that ask
(20:18):
this first. So, um, as you guys, as we get
ready to wrap up our time here, um, yeah, well, again,
what would you just to the student listening right now
say to that young man, that young woman, um.
You can do it. No, but really, what, how, how,
what are some, what is something they, how can they
(20:39):
disciple their friends? What, what steps can they take? Maybe
it's youth alive. I don't know. It's
Speaker 2 (20:43):
a great question, but I, I think it all comes
back to everything we do with SoCal students, uh.
Always funnels back to the local church. Like the local
church is the vehicle that Jesus set up to reach
the world and so I don't think we can do
it better than what Jesus set up. So I think
that's the issue sometimes we get into these like para
(21:03):
church mindsets where it's like, well, let's do, you know, and,
and we always just wanna support so camp, convention, youth alive,
anything we do always filters back through being a part
of a local.
Church and I, I think that it's so cheesy or cliche,
but I think sometimes the most profound truths are the simplest.
And so I think being a part of not just
(21:25):
a local youth ministry, but a local church like that
students being involved in their local church is how they
get discipled, is how they hear the truth of the
word preached, is how they worship God corporately with, with
other people. And so again, like.
I wish I had something better or more like, whoa,
I never thought of that but I think the local
(21:47):
church is the answer. Well, I,
Speaker 1 (21:49):
I hear a theme getting back to the basics, which
you guys have been saying the whole time. I would
add to that to this, this part of it is
because if you, I don't know if you sounds like
parents listen to this as well, we're hoping would be
strictly that like don't forget parents to disciple your kids,
disciple your teenagers like.
Don't stop, make that part of what you do. We
pass off a lot of stuff teenagers allow your parents
(22:10):
to decide, yeah, exactly, because like we expect, you know,
like the local school to teach our kids, we do
a lot of different things and, and while it is
the youth pastor, it is the kids workers at your
church to pour into your kid, um, it's, it doesn't
mean we set aside our responsibility to disciple our kids
no matter what age they are. And so I would
just encourage any parents, um, disciple your kids, look for opportunities.
(22:31):
To really pour into them, pray with them, talk through
the Bible with them, and, and students, I would just
encourage you be open to listening to your parents. They've
lived some life, um, you know, honor your father and
mother and, and you know I I I know you
think you might be in a place where you know
a lot, but there's always, um, an opportunity to learn
from your parents. Well, if I could add to that,
(22:52):
even as a a kid growing up where my family
was not saved, if your family's not saved, uh.
Pray for him and God will do a miracle. I've
seen students, I'm sure you guys have too, where the
student gets saved, they commit to the local church and
their family ends up coming and the whole family ends
up getting baptized in water and saved because one student
was faithful to following Jesus. So that's, yeah, that's good stuff. OK,
(23:16):
one more question with, uh, and maybe it leads into
a prayer blessing that you guys can give, but Malachi
46 says this, and this has been with my heart for,
oh gosh, probably since before I entered ministry myself back
in 2000.
Says, uh, he will turn the hearts of the fathers
to their children and the hearts of the children to
their fathers, and God says, or else I will come
and strike the land with a curse. Um, yeah, how
(23:37):
just in closing, how would you encourage students, and this
might be too big to pack, but just in a
couple words, how do you encourage students to find reconciliation
with their parents if there is that.
That rift in relationship I don't know, um, uh, yeah,
I might, I might should have left this for another podcast,
Speaker 2 (23:54):
but I'll give like a brief answer. Like I think there's,
there's 3 things like you can never go wrong choosing
as a Christian, and that's honor, forgiveness, and generosity like
whether it's deserved or whether it makes sense, like you
can that's always the right choice and so I think
when it comes to your parents like honoring them and
(24:15):
forgiving them.
Um, and again, it doesn't all, it doesn't mean like
being OK with things that are happening, but, but you
can never go wrong choosing honor even when honor isn't deserved.
And so I think that's one of the best things
a student can do in the situation is just honor
your parents even when they don't deserve it.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
It's good. I would just add to that, you know,
and we say this in, in for different situations, but
I would say this for if you're having a tough
time with a parent or something's going on is.
you're not always gonna be 1213, 1415, 1617. There's gonna
be a time when you're 24, when you're 25, and
you only have one set of parents and and you
know if you.
(24:56):
Do what you can to to keep that bridge to
to maintain that and I know a lot of kids
kind of think, well, that's all on the parent, but
you know I I I say this all the time, um,
you know, there's students that are just mean and you
know there's times when we have to look in the
mirror and say, am I part of the problem? Am
I gonna be part of the solution, and especially if
you're in a home where your parents aren't Christians, you
have such an opportunity.
(25:17):
Um, to, to live your life, um, for Christ in
front of them, even when it's hard, even if they've
hurt you, um, you know, there's still that opportunity and, and,
and don't miss that, um, let God use you in
that moment and, and if you are going through a
tough time with your parent, you know, have you prayed
about it? Have you spent time, have you talked to
your youth pastor about it, um, you know, cover yourself,
pray for a healthy relationship with your.
(25:39):
or your dad and, and, uh, you know, we pray
for a lot of things, but don't forget to just
do kind of, I don't wanna say the easy thing,
but the thing that we should be doing from the
beginning is just praying for God's healing. Well, with Gary
Garcia and Elliott Bland on the front lines, I'm encouraged
with what's going on in student ministry. I'm excited to
see what God is going to do in the next
few years with student ministry workers like Gary and Elliott.
(26:01):
If you want
Get more involved, you can go to SoCal students on
Instagram or wherever your church is. If you go to church,
support your youth pastors, maybe even get them a little
Caesar's gift card in and out or even Starbucks. Every
little bit helps, but definitely let's stay in prayer and
support our youth ministry workers as they are on the
front lines of culture advancing the kingdom of God. We'll
(26:22):
see you next time on Kingdom and Culture.
In 1 Timothy 4:12, the apostle Paul tells Timothy to
not let anybody look down on him because he's young,
but set an example for all the believers. In this
next episode, Gary Garcia and Elliot Bland, who are two,
I would say frontline youth ministry workers, give us a
or rather a state of youth ministry in America. They
(00:20):
travel all over the United States and the world encouraging
students and youth leaders to follow Jesus faithfully. So let's
get started with Gary and Elliot as they share with
us the front lines of youth ministry in our culture.
(00:46):
Well, my name is Gary Garcia. I'm born and raised
in Orange County, um, California. I lived here my whole life, um.
This is year 34 in youth ministry and so uh it's, uh, I,
I'm the, the district youth director for Southern California AG
as well as a lead pastor at a church in
uh in Fountain Valley and Cornerstone and Cornerstone Christian Fellowship
(01:10):
in Fountain Valley and now with Elliott, uh, leading the
youth ministry again. I did it for 30+ years and
because of different circumstances we're back in it and uh yeah,
it's going well we love it and uh love youth
ministry and uh.
Yeah, go Dodgers 100%.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, I definitely agree with that. Uh, Elliott Bland, um,
I've been in youth ministry for 10 years.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
OK, so I said a collective 35 looks like we
just branched up to collective 44 years, 45 years in
youth ministry.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, yeah. Gary's doing the heavy lifting on that, but I, uh, yeah,
10 years, so I was a local youth pastor in
La Palma, California for 7 years and then, uh, for
the last 3 got to serve on.
The SoCal Student Ministries team with Gary, um, and now, yeah,
we're both serving at Cornerstone leading the youth ministry there.
(02:01):
It's super fun. um I love it. I've grown up
in the church and felt a specific call to youth
ministry when I felt called the ministry and that's what
connected me to Gary.
Uh, there was no real examples that I could see
around me of people who had dedicated a lifetime to
youth ministry at the same church, and, uh, I grew
(02:22):
up going to our camps which now we help run,
which is crazy, uh, and it was at a summer
camp and I listened to Gary share his heart and
I think at that point he'd been a youth pastor
at his church for 25 years and I said that
I wanna do that and uh I ended up interning
with him.
And then getting to serve as a youth pastor alongside
(02:42):
of him and now we get to run SoCal Student
ministries together and we're back leading a local youth ministry
together so it's all so full circle.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
So for context so that, uh, you know, students and
parents out there can know so summer camp you guys
run how many summer camps up at Pine Crest.
And how many collective amount of teenagers come through that
every summer. Yeah, we have 7 camps that we do. Um,
last year we had over 3500 students come through, and
this year we could have even more because 500. Yes, yeah,
(03:14):
so there's, there's an average around 500 or so.
per camp. Uh, this year we're doing last year we
did 6 camps, this year we're doing 7 camps, so
it's gonna kind of hoping to break our record again.
So that's awesome. And uh and then you guys run
an annual youth convention sometimes in San Diego, sometimes in Anaheim.
(03:35):
I don't know where it's gonna be at this year.
San Diego. Everybody loves San Diego. Uh, how many students
are there and that's like on a weekend, a Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
in hotels
Speaker 2 (03:47):
and like 2500 to 3000 as well, uh, and just
churches connecting there and that's, yeah, 3 day more of
a conference feel.
It's been amazing, uh, and again, for both of us,
we grew up going to these events in Southern California.
So now to get to help run them and see students'
lives impacted there, people get called into ministry and, and
(04:09):
to be in it long enough now, even a decade to, uh.
Get to see some of that full circle of like
students who grew up in it are now youth pastors
bringing students to these events. It's just kind of mind
blowing and
Speaker 1 (04:21):
the reason I ask is, you know, there's great youth
events all over California and other churches, other denominations all
over the nation, but I wanna help legitimize the fact
that you guys are in it. Gary and I I
I knew Gary back when I was a college student,
he was doing youth ministry.
That's how awesome Gary is. That's how, well, now I
just brought you back to Yoda status because when 900
(04:44):
years old you reached look as good, you will not.
All right, again, I lost everybody with my Star Wars references, but, uh,
Gary's getting it. He's just acting like he's not getting it. But, uh,
you know, you guys, it's legit. What you guys do
is a legit operation in student ministry and listen guys,
I've seen you in college stages with hundreds of students.
I've seen you in junior high and high school mixtures.
(05:06):
And somehow you guys have like a collective magic sauce
where students just love you guys, um, on a stage
level but also on a, on a personal level. I've
seen it happen. So uh I I I wanna kind
of unpack with that now that we've legitimized, you guys
are full fledged student ministry workers, youth pastors, pastors, Jesus follower,
(05:26):
youth guy extraordinaires, that's a big title, um.
It seems like to me in my, in my time
in youth ministry and, and most recently in college ministry,
that it seems like Gen Z and even Gen Alpha
are kind of over.
unauthentic platitudes in the church, even in the culture, where they,
(05:46):
they want authenticity and and that's been a while, like
even Gen X generation that
I come from you one time called me a boomer.
I'm not a boomer, bro. I'm not a boomer.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah,
I do gotta
Speaker 1 (05:58):
laugh
Speaker 2 (05:58):
the laugh. Yes, it's
Speaker 1 (05:59):
great. You did good. You always get the good laughs,
but um, yeah, what, what uh what do you see
in in this uh generation of of Gen Z and
and Alpha and what's going on overall and then we'll
just kind of dial in deeper as we go from there,
just go for it. I mean there's been such a crazy.
Really 56 years that we've we've seen so many different
changes and and uh there's been such a, a kind
(06:21):
of a mixture of these last two generations and and
and what they become but really there's there's one thing
when it comes to youth ministry that does not change
and and it will work every time and it's working
with this generation, you said authenticity um they want relationship
they want deep relationship, they want connection, um, they want
to they want truth, um they don't want they don't
(06:41):
need a show they don't need um.
You know, to be entertained, they want relationship and they
want truth and that's really more than ever I think
we're seeing that and, and even with what we do
with convention with camp we've worked really hard and you say,
you know, I, I mean the magic is not us,
the magic is simply we just, we don't stay on
the stage, we come down into the crowd, we spend
(07:03):
time before and after hanging out with students, uh, we
don't want them to see us as like um.
You know, famous or anything like that because we are
farthest from that. I mean, we're just youth pastors, we're
not famous at all, but in their mind when they
see you on stages and stuff, they kind of think,
you know, the wow factor, but we've worked really hard
on getting rid of that.
And, and going down and really building relationships with students
(07:24):
and and learning their names and learning what church they're
from and making that connection and across youth ministry I
would say that's one thing that's never changed, um, students
have always wanted deep relationship and we've just, we've really
worked hard on making sure we are available and and.
And, and do that and build that relationship no matter
what venue we're at, whether it's our local youth ministry,
(07:46):
whether it's a youth convention, whether it's, you know, uh,
3 or 4 weeks of camp, um, we've worked really
hard on building deep relationships with students, with youth pastors,
with parents, and, uh, I think more than ever we're
seeing these generations that we're we're dealing with right now, um,
that's what they want truth and relationship.
Yeah,
Speaker 2 (08:05):
I think that, um, I echo that obviously like just.
The kind of show of it all isn't as necessary
like we still wanna do things with excellence, but uh
they have seen so much production everywhere, you know, everywhere
they turn uh on their phones like you go to
the mall and a store has a DJ in it,
(08:26):
you know, so that like draw of like.
The lights and the smoke, that's kind of the cliche
way to to word it. Uh, I think it's still
great to do things with excellence, and I'm not anti-production,
but this generation would rather go to an abandoned warehouse
with people that they love than go to a big show, um,
and they're just not as impressed by that. Another thing
(08:47):
I've noticed is, uh.
I think this generation's openness to spirituality. I, I think
they know there is something more like, like there isn't
this assumption that, uh, believing in the supernatural is ridiculous.
They're drawn to it.
Um, in so many different ways and in a lot
of times harmful ways like they're, they're leaning into crystals
(09:11):
or astrology or whatever, but I think it's because they
understand there is something going on that they can't explain, uh,
and I think that's a shift in this generation as
opposed to some of the older generations, uh, where it
isn't as ridiculous to believe this and so kind of like.
Paul, when he's like, you know that unknown god, I
(09:34):
know the guy that I think that's kind of almost
the approach with Gen Z and Gen Alpha is there's
this thing that they're longing for, um.
And we can point them to what that actually
is,
Speaker 1 (09:45):
yeah, and this is a generation that's finding answers like
that for the first time. I mean, you and I
were raising a generation that, you know, we didn't have
all of these things that they do now to search
these answers out search these questions out. Now, you know,
they can go, this is the first generation that's not
learning these things from their parents, they're mostly learning it
from social.
Media. And so it's why it's, it's, it's why it's
(10:06):
so important that we are building deep relationships with them
because no matter how social media, how hard it works,
it will never replace, um, person to person relationship and connection.
And so when you have that, you're able to speak
truth and to speak into their lives and earn their
trust and, and, and have those connections because again, they
can follow as many people as they want on these things,
(10:27):
but they don't have connection with these people.
Would you say uh it's like you guys are tapping
into the hard wiring as God made these students to
be the relational component, the desire for something clear of truth,
and you guys, God's using you to to to kind
of
Hey, we see a need there and let's fill it.
I would say though, we've talked, he and I've talked
a lot about this is we're seeing youth ministry really
(10:50):
going back to the basics of youth ministry kind of
what we would have done back in the day, early 90s, um,
you know, that kind of stuff and we've talked a
lot about just going back to.
Some of the basic stuff,
Speaker 2 (11:01):
yeah, not having to reinvent the wheel, but, uh, going
back to the tried and true model, uh, I think
we got maybe a little too creative. I'm all for
creativity and I think youth ministry is one of those
areas where we can play with the the model as
long as we stick to.
The method of what really matters, uh, and so we
(11:21):
can have fun and like play weird games or you
know we're just talking before we started recording about some
of these crazy ways that we've opened youth convention and
and and that's the exciting and fun part of youth
ministry but keeping the main thing the main thing like
even when I first started I think there was this
like uh well I don't wanna I don't wanna.
Mess with my influence, so I'm gonna avoid preaching difficult
(11:44):
topics on the platform. But what ended up happening is the, the,
the thing we would say is, I'm not gonna preach
about this on the platform. I'll talk about it with
you privately, but none of us were really talking with
any students or leaders even about it privately. And so
they were building their doctrine from what the world was
preaching because we weren't preaching about it. And so I
(12:06):
think that's one thing we've not.
is preaching truth in love but preaching truth, discipling kids
and as you kind of hear, Gary, this generation is
inquisitive in a way that others weren't because they have
information at their fingertips so they're gonna ask good questions
but that shouldn't scare us, but we have to be
more prepared. We gotta, we gotta really study and dig
(12:27):
deep into the word to be able to confront some
of these questions that they have because the, the, the
Bible does have answers for these questions we just might
not know what they are.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Would you say where maybe some parents, even youth pastors
might see some students in this generation as a little
bit reckless and off the cuff, as maybe that's also
the exact, I don't know, to get out of the
boat to like you said, they'll they'll go towards something
that the world's offering. So I don't know what is
it about this? It does seem like there's some courage
(12:59):
there to to what's that? I think it's a desire
for truth and and you know we had.
Uh, the generation before this one, so I'd say 90s, 2000s,
you know, we had a real kind of movement in
the church of um and in youth ministry of it's,
it's about looks, it's about design, it's about staging, it's
(13:19):
about branding, you know, it's a word I never used
early on in youth ministry. Branding was not something we
talked about. Culture was not something we talked about, but
you have these, these things that were taking place.
And you had a whole kind of generation, um, you know,
and obviously the problem is we have a bunch of, um,
you know, late 20s, early 30 year olds walking around
and they have their whole theology built on worship songs
(13:40):
because we missed actually speaking, you know, just teaching theology,
teaching truth, speaking out of the word, doing some of
these things, and then we get into this generation they're
like now we've seen those things we've seen the lights,
we've seen the palettes, we've seen all these things you
guys have done.
Um, you know, we can go to anywhere and get that,
we can go to a concert, we can go to
a bar, we can go and have that same experience, um,
(14:01):
what's different?
With church and, and it's
truth.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Well, I think, and to your question, like my focus
in SoCal Student Ministries is Youth Alive, which is partnering
with churches to train their students to be missionaries on
their campus, uh, and I think we've tapped into what
you're talking about this like hunger and this drive that
this generation has. They like they wanna change the world,
you know.
(14:26):
I, I think we noticed that when I was a
youth pastor I saw in 2020 there was a lot
of like social activism happening and, and I saw so
many of my students with good intent like putting causes
that they had no idea what they were actually supporting
on like giving their money, you know, like they, they
were wanting to not just say something they wanted to
(14:48):
do something and so I think.
We're tapping into that with the gospel like what will
change the world is the gospel and helping these students
understand that that it's not just.
You know, following a list of rules or, you know,
attending church, but like actually being an agent for change
and that's, that's why I love youth ministry because we're
proponents of sooner rather than later. Like one day every
(15:11):
knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus
is Lord, but we've dedicated our lives to the fact
that a junior higher can find what they've been looking
for and start.
Being used by God now. And, and so I think
that's the cool part about youth ministry is like, it's
not a babysitting service, it's helping students realize their God-given
purpose now. And I think that's what Gen Z and
(15:33):
Gen Alpha are really leaning into is like
That I can be used by God to impact my
campus and my family and my work, you know, wherever
I might go, uh, and that, I think that's what
we're seeing really take off. That's why we're having to
do 7 camps and honestly, probably next year 8 because
I don't know what you've heard or what you've read,
but like youth ministry in Southern California is thriving. God
(15:57):
is doing something in the.
Next generation it like do not discount it, do not
be disheartened, you know, like something special is taking.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I
would say across the nation we're hearing that that the
youth ministries are growing more camps are filling up everywhere, um,
you know, and it's because there is this movement, you know,
people who might think this generation is not getting it,
they're getting it and then there's things happening, um, the
Lord is moving in.
And uh and it's exciting to see it. I'm I'm
thankful we get to sit and you know, in a
(16:25):
front row seat for this season and be a part
of it. Well, OK, so we've talked mostly about Gen
Z and Gen Alpha.
You know, and, and probably there's some hopefully some youth
pastors listening because you guys are cool and youth pastors
like you, so hopefully you'll be sending this link and
they'll be listening and parents and all that. But what
do you want to say to high school and college
(16:46):
students right now? What, what, what word of encouragement would
you have to our listeners who are on the front lines, um,
on their campus and, and doing their best to live
out their faith in Jesus Christ or maybe on that
cusp of I'm still considering this whole Jesus thing. What
would you say to this generation?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Yeah, I mean for me I think it could be
summed up in a phrase I like to use at
youth ministries all the time is that like we believe
you can do more than survive. I think that's the
issue is.
Maybe a generation ago youth ministry became like a, a
defense sort of tool where it was let's get students
into our youth ministry, let's, you know, preach a word
(17:26):
to them and then just hope cross our fingers that,
you know, on a Wednesday they come and then this
weekend they don't go to the party.
Like I think we set the bar too low of
just hoping that students don't end up like the world
and I think we've got to raise the bar and
actually call our students to something more, more than surviving
their high school and junior high experience, but actually being
(17:48):
used by God that that they have the answer.
That the people on their campus and not just the students,
the faculty, that's, that's the cool thing we just heard about, um,
a youth ministry up in Visalia who, who did this
youth night and it was the students were and it
was student led, like everything that was taking.
Place, the invitations that were happening, the, the gospel being preached,
(18:11):
and there was such like commotion happening on the campuses
that a, uh, like a vice principal came to that
youth night. And, and so I'm just saying like there's,
there's something exciting when students realize.
That there's purpose on their life that doesn't start when
they graduate, right? That this isn't a holding time for
purpose that they can start walking in that now. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (18:32):
I mean the goal is students discipling students and that's
what we want to see and and this generation I
think is, is capable of that. I was talking to
a youth pastor yesterday from Texas and, and they have
this incredible movement happening on campus there where where students
are leading, uh, and discipling other students around um tables
at lunchtime and, and, uh, and it's spreading to other
places and other schools and.
(18:52):
Um, you know, but we're hearing about stuff like this
all across the nation where it's not just youth pastors
growing big mega youth groups anymore, it's students, um, reaching
students and, and we're hearing that more and more. A
lot of what Elliot does is, uh, training campus missionaries,
training teen.
to be missionaries on their high school and junior high
campuses because we really, you know, we throw around the
(19:13):
word mission and we've thrown that word around for years,
but I would say more than ever we're seeing this
generation be missional when it comes to their purpose and
and what they're doing on their high school and junior
high campuses. Wow.
Um, so, uh, I, I keep thinking of like you
talk about students are activated now, not later, you know,
even scripture, like David was a teenager when he took
down a giant shatter Meshack in a bed and go,
(19:35):
you've heard of those guys? a little bit. What they
were like a fiery furnace, something like that. Yeah, Elliott's favorite. Yeah, anyway,
that's good stuff. Like they were they were kids, basically students, um,
in terms of being teenagers, Esther.
Um, Mary, hello, that God often chooses young people, high school,
college age, even the disciples, many of them were college
(19:57):
age men that got empowered and they changed the world. Um,
and you know, through the power of the Holy Spirit
through the the reality of truth that Jesus full of
grace and truth, and walking in that, um.
You know, uh, on a lighthearted level, I don't want
to get too, well, I want to say that ask
(20:18):
this first. So, um, as you guys, as we get
ready to wrap up our time here, um, yeah, well, again,
what would you just to the student listening right now
say to that young man, that young woman, um.
You can do it. No, but really, what, how, how,
what are some, what is something they, how can they
(20:39):
disciple their friends? What, what steps can they take? Maybe
it's youth alive. I don't know. It's
Speaker 2 (20:43):
a great question, but I, I think it all comes
back to everything we do with SoCal students, uh.
Always funnels back to the local church. Like the local
church is the vehicle that Jesus set up to reach
the world and so I don't think we can do
it better than what Jesus set up. So I think
that's the issue sometimes we get into these like para
(21:03):
church mindsets where it's like, well, let's do, you know, and,
and we always just wanna support so camp, convention, youth alive,
anything we do always filters back through being a part
of a local.
Church and I, I think that it's so cheesy or cliche,
but I think sometimes the most profound truths are the simplest.
And so I think being a part of not just
(21:25):
a local youth ministry, but a local church like that
students being involved in their local church is how they
get discipled, is how they hear the truth of the
word preached, is how they worship God corporately with, with
other people. And so again, like.
I wish I had something better or more like, whoa,
I never thought of that but I think the local
(21:47):
church is the answer. Well, I,
Speaker 1 (21:49):
I hear a theme getting back to the basics, which
you guys have been saying the whole time. I would
add to that to this, this part of it is
because if you, I don't know if you sounds like
parents listen to this as well, we're hoping would be
strictly that like don't forget parents to disciple your kids,
disciple your teenagers like.
Don't stop, make that part of what you do. We
pass off a lot of stuff teenagers allow your parents
(22:10):
to decide, yeah, exactly, because like we expect, you know,
like the local school to teach our kids, we do
a lot of different things and, and while it is
the youth pastor, it is the kids workers at your
church to pour into your kid, um, it's, it doesn't
mean we set aside our responsibility to disciple our kids
no matter what age they are. And so I would
just encourage any parents, um, disciple your kids, look for opportunities.
(22:31):
To really pour into them, pray with them, talk through
the Bible with them, and, and students, I would just
encourage you be open to listening to your parents. They've
lived some life, um, you know, honor your father and
mother and, and you know I I I know you
think you might be in a place where you know
a lot, but there's always, um, an opportunity to learn
from your parents. Well, if I could add to that,
(22:52):
even as a a kid growing up where my family
was not saved, if your family's not saved, uh.
Pray for him and God will do a miracle. I've
seen students, I'm sure you guys have too, where the
student gets saved, they commit to the local church and
their family ends up coming and the whole family ends
up getting baptized in water and saved because one student
was faithful to following Jesus. So that's, yeah, that's good stuff. OK,
(23:16):
one more question with, uh, and maybe it leads into
a prayer blessing that you guys can give, but Malachi
46 says this, and this has been with my heart for,
oh gosh, probably since before I entered ministry myself back
in 2000.
Says, uh, he will turn the hearts of the fathers
to their children and the hearts of the children to
their fathers, and God says, or else I will come
and strike the land with a curse. Um, yeah, how
(23:37):
just in closing, how would you encourage students, and this
might be too big to pack, but just in a
couple words, how do you encourage students to find reconciliation
with their parents if there is that.
That rift in relationship I don't know, um, uh, yeah,
I might, I might should have left this for another podcast,
Speaker 2 (23:54):
but I'll give like a brief answer. Like I think there's,
there's 3 things like you can never go wrong choosing
as a Christian, and that's honor, forgiveness, and generosity like
whether it's deserved or whether it makes sense, like you
can that's always the right choice and so I think
when it comes to your parents like honoring them and
(24:15):
forgiving them.
Um, and again, it doesn't all, it doesn't mean like
being OK with things that are happening, but, but you
can never go wrong choosing honor even when honor isn't deserved.
And so I think that's one of the best things
a student can do in the situation is just honor
your parents even when they don't deserve it.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
It's good. I would just add to that, you know,
and we say this in, in for different situations, but
I would say this for if you're having a tough
time with a parent or something's going on is.
you're not always gonna be 1213, 1415, 1617. There's gonna
be a time when you're 24, when you're 25, and
you only have one set of parents and and you
know if you.
(24:56):
Do what you can to to keep that bridge to
to maintain that and I know a lot of kids
kind of think, well, that's all on the parent, but
you know I I I say this all the time, um,
you know, there's students that are just mean and you
know there's times when we have to look in the
mirror and say, am I part of the problem? Am
I gonna be part of the solution, and especially if
you're in a home where your parents aren't Christians, you
have such an opportunity.
(25:17):
Um, to, to live your life, um, for Christ in
front of them, even when it's hard, even if they've
hurt you, um, you know, there's still that opportunity and, and,
and don't miss that, um, let God use you in
that moment and, and if you are going through a
tough time with your parent, you know, have you prayed
about it? Have you spent time, have you talked to
your youth pastor about it, um, you know, cover yourself,
pray for a healthy relationship with your.
(25:39):
or your dad and, and, uh, you know, we pray
for a lot of things, but don't forget to just
do kind of, I don't wanna say the easy thing,
but the thing that we should be doing from the
beginning is just praying for God's healing. Well, with Gary
Garcia and Elliott Bland on the front lines, I'm encouraged
with what's going on in student ministry. I'm excited to
see what God is going to do in the next
few years with student ministry workers like Gary and Elliott.
(26:01):
If you want
Get more involved, you can go to SoCal students on
Instagram or wherever your church is. If you go to church,
support your youth pastors, maybe even get them a little
Caesar's gift card in and out or even Starbucks. Every
little bit helps, but definitely let's stay in prayer and
support our youth ministry workers as they are on the
front lines of culture advancing the kingdom of God. We'll
(26:22):
see you next time on Kingdom and Culture.
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