Pastor Keith: Hi, I’m Keith McMinn. Welcome to this episode of “Doxology Matters,” where we desire to help Christians think deeply about God’s Word as we praise Him. Today is a really special episode – as every episode I like to call special, because there’s always special people with me. But today is special in that we have past interns of Bethel Baptist Church Worship Arts Ministry over the period of years. I’d have to think about when we started that program. But we have had around 13, 12 to 13 different interns of varying ages, even from junior in high school all the way up to somebody in their 50s, believe it or not. And today we have three of the former interns. To my right we have Victoria Vest, and Victoria is now going to Liberty. Good to have you.
Victoria Vest: Thank you. Good to be here.
Pastor Keith: And when were you an intern with the Worship Arts Ministry?
Victoria Vest: I was an intern my senior year of high school and then I interned the summer of my freshman year at Liberty.
Pastor Keith: Right. You did the during the year program and then as a paid intern during the summer for Worship Arts Camp.
Victoria Vest: Yes.
Pastor Keith: Good to have you. And then we have Hannah Speight –
Hannah Speight: Hello.
Pastor Keith: – back with us. She has been on another episode that we’ll be dropping soon. And Hannah you went to – tell us where you went to school.
Hannah Speight: I went to Grafton High School.
Pastor Keith: And currently now you are doing what?
Hannah Speight: I am traveling with Life Action and playing as their electric guitarist doing revival conferences.
Pastor Keith: Now when were you an intern with the Worship Arts Ministry?
Hannah Speight: Just this past spring.
Pastor Keith: Yeah, you just did one semester. And in that time, what did you do during your internship?
Hannah Speight: During that time, I was leading the student worship band on Wednesdays, and I also was a part of the Easter Praise project and the recording of that and everything.
Pastor Keith: That’s right, you recorded electric guitar for that. Yeah, and did pretty good if I do remember. And to my left we have Beth Sayre. And Beth where’d you go to high school?
Beth Sayre: I went to Poquoson High School.
Pastor Keith: Poquoson. And where are you studying now?
Beth Sayre: I’m at Liberty University.
Pastor Keith: What year?
Beth Sayre: I’m a sophomore.
Pastor Keith: Has it been good?
Beth Sayre: It’s been super good. It’s been awesome just to be up there.
Pastor Keith: How many years did you do the internship program? I don’t actually remember.
Beth Sayre: I intern by senior year and then my summer after my senior year and then my freshman summer.
Pastor Keith: Okay, so two summers and a full year.
Beth Sayre: Yeah.
Pastor Keith: Okay, well, as I tell my wife Joy, you guys end up being like daughters to us, because we take such special emphasis in you and care. And our family loves you guys so much, and so you are special to us in many, many ways. Well, today’s conversation is going to be centered around, “One generation shall commend your works to another,” it says in Psalm 145:4. So we’re going to talk about the process of growing in grace and ministry as we serve King Jesus together and specifically through the internship program, some of your takeaways that you’ve had, and some of the things that you’re now learning and maybe hope to learn in the future.
Bethel Worship Arts Ministry, for those of you that are listening to this podcast, we began an internship program that started in the summer with summer arts – for the Worship Arts Camp as a paid summer position. But through my emphasis and assistantships at Southern Seminary, I saw the value of mentorship by these professors. So as I discovered that, I set up a plan and a vision for a internship program year-round and presented it to the pastors. And they affirmed it and so now our interns go through an application process. We don’t check their DNA or their Social Security number or anything like that, but we can if we want to.
But we ask them questions. What is the gospel? Why do you want to be in the program? What area are you interested in? And those kind of things, and their parents have to sign off on it. So it’s proven to be a really good experience both for the ministry, the intern, and me. It’s just a good win-win-win all the way around. So let’s just start with some good softball questions. What is some current slang that guys your age – guys, I mean –
Victoria Vest: Like boys, or guys and girls?
Pastor Keith: Guys and girls. What do you guys say? Like it lit still cool.
Victoria Vest: Not really.
Hannah Speight: Not personally.
Victoria Vest: I say, “Yeet,” a lot.
Pastor Keith: Yeet?
Victoria Vest: It’s like when – usually when I trip, that’s like, “Oh, no.” Or you’re surprised, so I say, “Yeet.”
Beth Sayre: I say, “Tight,” a lot. Like, “Hey, that’s tight.” Not like tight, but like tight.
Victoria Vest: Like cool.
Beth Sayre: Yeah.
Pastor Keith: What do you say, Hannah?
Hannah Speight: I don’t know. I don’t know until it comes out. You know?
Victoria Vest: Surprise.
Hannah Speight: I don’t keep a list in my head.
Pastor Keith: I feel like that it’s moving – the cool words are moving so fast that – usually a word would hang around for a while, but now it’s like, “No, man, last week. That was what we said last week. But this week is” – What’s your favorite coffee drink.
Beth Sayre: Caramel macchiato.
Victoria Vest: Yes. Iced.
Pastor Keith: Iced? Okay, same drink but iced.
Hannah Speight: I usually drink my coffee hot. I like peppermint stuff. Cold brews are really good too, though. I don’t like iced coffee, just because there’s so much ice and not that much drink. But cold brews can be really good.
Pastor Keith: Now do you like the specialty drinks, like the pumpkin spice and the –
Beth Sayre: Peppermint macchiato – or peppermint mocha, that’s it.
Hannah Speight: Peppermint mocha, that’s it.
Victoria Vest: I’ve never had pumpkin spice, like anything.
Pastor Keith: Even a piece of cake or anything?
Victoria Vest: I’ve had the cake, but I haven’t had the stereotypical pumpkin spice Starbucks latte.
Pastor Keith: I haven’t either.
Beth Sayre: Might have to change that.
Pastor Keith: I always think it’s funny when people order, “A little bit of this and a dash of that and I’d like it at room temperature.”
Hannah Speight: Like yesterday when you were asking Corey’s drink, and you called it a flat lite.
Pastor Keith: It was a flat white or something like that.
Hannah Speight: Tall flat lite.
Pastor Keith: Yeah, whatever that means.
Victoria Vest: If it tastes like coffee, if I can taste the coffee, it’s not good to me. That’s why I like Starbucks. Sugar.
Hannah Speight: I like the taste of coffee. Usually if I’m just having coffee at my house or somewhere, I’ll just drink it black, but if I’m going to Starbucks then I’ll get something special.
Pastor Keith: So tell us what music background and artistic background each of you have. All right? Victoria?
Victoria Vest: I played the violin since I was I fifth grade. So a really long time I took school orchestra, and then I did classical private lessons. Then I did fiddle private lessons, because I’m an Irish dancer, so my mom thought it would be good for me. And then I joined the church orchestra when I was a junior in high school, and then I did the youth band for about a semester. And then I became the intern.
Pastor Keith: I don’t know if I’ve ever heard you play a fiddle style.
Victoria Vest: Oh, it’s fun. People always ask me, “Oh, can you dance when you play the violin?” I’m like, “No, pretty hard to.” But I can play a nice slip jig.
Pastor Keith: So you’ve got a music background in playing the violin, and as we know, you’re a great singer.
Victoria Vest: Oh, yeah.
Pastor Keith: I know that by first hand knowledge of hearing you sing, a great singer. But also something that’s unique to this table in the area of arts is that you’re a dancer, and specifically around – is it categorized Irish dancing?
Victoria Vest: Yes. People normally think of it as River Dancing, but that’s the professional aspect of it. I’m more the small competitive Irish dancer. But I’ve been doing it for almost 11 years now, and it’s just become a part of me.
Pastor Keith: How physically fit do you have to be to do something like that?
Victoria Vest: Well you need a lot of stamina, so you could do a lot of sprints. It’s a lot of leg work, and then it’s just going to the studio multiple times a week for multiple hours and just building up your stamina, which – people get winded. I get winded going up the stairs. So doing a full three-minute routine to the best of your ability, competing against other girls or boys at the same time, can be really physically and mentally exhausting.
Pastor Keith: Now what do you like about the form of dance as an art expression? What interests you in that?
Victoria Vest: I think it’s a really interesting different thing of dance. Also because people haven’t normally seen it before and everything. I just love the community aspect of all of it. And it’s become how high you can jump, how many beats you can get per minute, and that aspect is really cool to me, how we can just bring the whole community together and all show off what we can do.
Pastor Keith: Would you say you’re a creative person?
Victoria Vest: I would say so.
Pastor Keith: Okay, good. And Hannah, you, electric guitar player. How long have you played the guitar?
Hannah Speight: Just over three years at this point, so not too long.
Pastor Keith: Specifically just electric, or do you do acoustic or mandolin or anything like that?
Hannah Speight: Yeah, I started – well, I started on ukulele actually, but then I picked up acoustic guitar very soon after that. And then a few months later, I was like, “Dad, I kind of want to try electric guitar.” And he was like, “I have one. You can try it whenever you want.” So then I did.
Pastor Keith: What do you think drew you to guitar? What interests you in the guitar?
Hannah Speight: I think just my taste in music. I just like a lot of music with guitar in it and rock and stuff like that.
Pastor Keith: What was some of your musical influences as you were in middle and high school?
Hannah Speight: I really like – Paramore is still one of my favorite bands.
Pastor Keith: What genre, what style is that?
Hannah Speight: Pop, punk, alternative sort of.
Pastor Keith: Is this heavy distortion?
Hannah Speight: Some of it is, but not like metal.
Pastor Keith: Is it groovy? Is it –
Hannah Speight: No, I wouldn’t consider it groovy. I mean at this point, I kind of like a little bit of everything.
Pastor Keith: And I know I’ve heard you sing. You have a nice sweet voice. Would you consider yourself a singer?
Hannah Speight: Not really. I haven’t been trained to find harmonies and things like that, but I think I have a pretty okay voice, that if I wanted to pursue that at some point, I could.
Pastor Keith: Now I just remembered, you also are a dancer. Right?
Hannah Speight: A little bit.
Pastor Keith: How long did you do dance?
Hannah Speight: I did two years of this jazz, tap, and ballet class, and I also did color guard, and there was some dancing in that. I really just – all of that sort of was just following the gymnastics that I did for so many years, and then I quit that, but I kind of wanted to continue to be physically active in something that was similar, so that was my outlet for that.
Pastor Keith: And Beth, I know you play tuba. Right? How many years did you play tuba at Poquoson?
Beth Sayre: About a year and a half, but before that, I played the trombone.
Pastor Keith: How long did you play the trombone?
Beth Sayre: Since sixth grade, so about five years.
Pastor Keith: Now why the move to tuba? Did you just want to play lower?
Beth Sayre: I was just asked and I just took on the challenge.
Pastor Keith: Now would you consider yourself a singer?
Beth Sayre: Not at all. There is no sense of able to keep a harmony or anything.
Pastor Keith: What about creative? Would you consider yourself a creative person?
Beth Sayre: Somewhat, just not very musically creative.
Pastor Keith: That’s okay. Creativity can come in different forms for sure. So as far as the internship, the overlap that we had – let’s think about the overlap that we had. Help me in my memory. You know I’m getting older.
Victoria Vest: Me and Hannah did it our spring semesters of senior year, and then me and Beth did the summer of 2019.
Beth Sayre: Yeah, we did.
Victoria Vest: That was fun.
Pastor Keith: So what specifically interested you in studying and serving and growing in the Worship Arts Ministry here at Bethel? Was it was because the worship pastor was just super cool?
Victoria Vest: Like, “Wow, I want to work with him.”
Hannah Speight: Well, I just wanted to be more involved and see what goes into the services and behind the scenes of all that and what you do and everything.
Pastor Keith: What was one of your big takeaways from the time? Specifically around services and what goes into it.
Hannah Speight: A lot of what we talked about was making sure in worship that it’s fueled by real scriptural truths and not just emotions, and that was one of my big takeaways is making sure the songs you’re planning to sing are really rooted in Scripture and that’s what’s important and that your heart should flow out of that.
Pastor Keith: Yeah, amen. Yes.
Victoria Vest: I was already in the orchestra, and I found it interesting to get involved in more church activities, because I always like to see the background of how everything gets done and how everything is organized, because I like organization. And then especially with planning services, I liked how you introduced me to how if we do four songs they have a different category. One I remember is you should always have a response song to God’s love and what God does, because that is like we’re reacting to what God has done to us, and that should be an important base in our worship.
Beth Sayre: For me, it was just wanting to become more involved in the ministry, because I was a part of the ministry for so long that I wanted to just step a little bit farther and just see again just what was behind the ministry and what it takes just to go farther beyond and seeing the Sunday morning service and seeing how I can help prepare for that. I guess especially with planning, and Sunday services is a huge part.
Pastor Keith: Yeah, you really resonated with the Sunday service planning. Sometimes you would ask me, “Hey, let’s get working on this service.” I’m like, “Okay, all right.” What surprised you guys about the internship program? As you were in it, it’s like, “Wow, I never thought Worship Arts Ministry would be like such and such,” or, “I never thought that this aspect was included,” what would you say?
Hannah Speight: I would say I was really surprised by how much of the program was you pouring into us, because I didn’t have that many expectations, but I sort of thought it was going to be us doing odd jobs and helping out and really serving the ministry, which we were, but so much of it was you pouring into us and teaching us and it being more of a mentorship. And that really surprised me.
Victoria Vest: I found it really interesting about – because when I first started out, I was like, “Wow, you do I lot more than I thought you did.” Because I thought you only – this is going to sound so bad, but when I learned you have the band, you have the audio, and then you have to plan the services and the types of songs, and then you’re also involved in the Worship Arts Academy and how to set the stage and everything and how much investment goes into everything. I was really surprised on that element. Because you don’t know how much things go on when you just go to church one day a week and you come every week. Getting involved in it just really opened my eyes on how important everyone is actually in the church.
Pastor Keith: Oh, good, yeah. There’s a lot that happens during the week. A lot of ministry happens when the lights turn off on Sunday morning for the service. Beth?
Beth Sayre: I think for me, it was definitely communication just with one another in the church. You always hear communication is key, but communication is literally key in a ministry, and just hearing each other out and seeing the vision for things. Another thing was working as a team was super – I’m very, “Oh, we’ll get it done,” but working as a team really helped, and we did a lot of that.
Pastor Keith: Yeah, ministry is team focused, and if it’s not, it should be. Specifically in an area like children’s ministry or student ministry, there should be a core team, worship ministry. But it’s also the church as a whole. Like the student ministry and the worship ministry serving together, the kids ministry and the worship ministry, the Bible fellowship, the teaching arm of the church should be connected. We are a local community and bride of Jesus Christ here at Bethel that we should serve together. That’s how the body functions, using our gifts together. What would you say to somebody maybe considering doing the program? Why would you say it would be beneficial? What would of encouragement would you say?
Victoria Vest: For me personally, I learned – because I know I wanted to do something regarding communications in college. And just being in the ministry and as an intern, you have to communicate with everyone, like Beth said, also musicians you have to hire or the staff of the church. And it just teaches you how to get stuff done efficiently, because if you don’t do it, someone else is going to do it, but then you have a whole service or camp riding on what you do. So you take it much seriously, and it’s sort of amplifies you to become better and more driven and more strict about what needs to be done.
Pastor Keith: Yes, it does. Now there are people that are listening to these podcasts, praise Jesus, that are all across the United States, in Canada, and in Europe. And so there’s a good chance that somebody’s listening to this that maybe is a lead over a ministry or an organization. What would you tell them of the value of internship, of pouring into the next generation? What word would you say to them to encourage them that maybe they should think about a program like this?
Hannah Speight: I would say definitely it was impactful for me in the way that I was able to be consistently involved in serving others and learning more about worship. And I just was able to – I don’t know. It was just so much more impactful than going to church on Sunday and then Wednesday. It was like I was constantly getting counseling from you and being able to have discussion with one another. It was just really impactful, especially being in the high school environment and all that. It was really helpful for me.
Pastor Keith: What did you discover, Beth, about your spiritual gifts and about yourself maybe through the program?
Beth Sayre: I really just discovered the act of service. I always grew up just serving around the church in the children’s ministry, but especially through the worship ministry, I was able just to serve so many different generations of people from the camp we put on at Worship Arts Camp of kids to the choir and orchestra with older adults. It was just very – I was able to make intentional relationships that I wouldn’t have made maybe if I wasn’t in a program like this.
Pastor Keith: Yeah. Well, you’ve definitely got a spiritual gift of service. There’s no doubt about that. I’m going to go to some deeper questions now, and they’re all smiling at me, because they know I like to ask deep questions.
Victoria Vest: Intern moment.
Pastor Keith: Yeah, intern moment. They’re probably a little bit nervous. What would you say the importance of the worship of God is in the local church?
Victoria Vest: I would say – because worship to me is especially how I feel God’s presence, because there’s so much truth in the songs that we sing. And especially being a musical person, just putting it to music just somehow makes me connect to it more. So having worship as like a staple in the church, it really allows others to connect and all come together and just serve ouf almighty God. And I just find that really special and really powerful. And obviously what we do in the Worship Arts is you have to make it impactful on others so your work obviously pays off, and it’s just a really special moment.
Pastor Keith: Yeah, praise God it is that. We want to serve the church richly and have it resonate with them, be sensitive to – I used to have a mention that would put out his wrist and say, “You want to have the pulse of the people, but you want to lead them knowing the pulse of where they are.” Anybody else?
Hannah Speight: I would say it’s super important, just because it’s the way you respond to everything you’re hearing in God’s Word. It’s your response to what God’s doing in your heart, and I think doing that as a church is just so important, because it just brings this unique unity. Like, “Yes, we all believe this and we’re all in this together,” and it’s a celebration and it can also be humbling. It’s just a really important and special part of being a church body.
Pastor Keith: Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with that, wholeheartedly agree with that. I think about Psalm 145:1, “I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.” “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” We read in John chapter 4, the Father seeks worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. You eluded to that Hannah. What have you learned about song in the church? Some positive things that you’ve learned – well, all positive actually. But what is the role of singing in the church? Of choosing songs and what is a good song compared to a song that maybe we shouldn’t use? And I ask these questions without using any names to be critical. We don’t want to be critical of a ministry. But what have you noticed about how we chose songs for Christian worship?
Beth Sayre: Yeah, I’ve definitely noticed just the truth behind the song, if the lyrics hold God’s truth and back to Scripture. Especially at Bethel, we don’t sing anything that’s not biblically true. And it really has theology behind it. I think for me, listening to different songs, just wherever I’m at, to just really listen for the truth inside the song and not just for the beat or it’s cool or has a cool vibe, but just really listening for the words and the truth of the song.
Pastor Keith: Amen. Colossians 3:16, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Hannah, you have any thoughts about song?
Hannah Speight: Yeah, I think like Beth was saying, it’s just really important for the words to be specific, especially specifically singing the name of Jesus. That just makes you fall in love with that name so much more, and I think that’s something that’s really important.
Pastor Keith: Yeah, we see Him revealed in the songs that we sing. We cannot worship a God that we do not know. Now in the program, we did some reading, and we read through a couple books. Tell us what books that you read through.
Victoria Vest: We read Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin. Who is Jesus – I forgot the author.
Pastor Keith: It’s a 9Marks Ministry book.
Beth Sayre: We did Sing by –
Pastor Keith: Keith and Kristyn Getty.
Beth Sayre: The Gettys.
Pastor Keith: And what’s the one that you mentioned yesterday.
Hannah Speight: Radical by David Platt.
Victoria Vest: Oh, yeah. That was a good one.
Pastor Keith: David Platt, yeah. Are you guys readers?
Victoria Vest: I love to read.
Pastor Keith: Did reading in this program foster a desire to read more and study about the things of God and grow?
Beth Sayre: I was not originally a reader. Just in middle school and high school, I was not a reader at all, but as I’ve gotten into college, I’ve become more of a reader. And I think that the internship, I’ve definitely picked up books that I – these get my attention and really want me to – I want to dig deeper into them. So it became to me more as a reader, but it started out not much of a reader.
Pastor Keith: Well, Beth, I was the same way in school. I hated to read. But the older I get the more I want to read. And I find out that when I read, I want to read more. So if I read today, I’m apt to want to read tomorrow. We can go down into the depths of reading. We study the depths of other disciplines, of our school disciplines. We should study into the depths of who is God and how He wants to be worshiped in biblical worship. It is always worth doing. Now what did you learn about – this is so fun. I get to ask any question I want.
Victoria Vest: Like, “What do you remember” –
Pastor Keith: What did you learn about organization, procrastination versus having forethought and intentionality in organization? What did you learn about that? Let’s take Beth.
Beth Sayre: Let’s just say I’m a procrastinator. I work better under pressure. But –
Pastor Keith: Some people work better under pressure.
Beth Sayre: Through the internship I became pretty organized, and I like to keep order in things, especially camp. I loved just being able to organize things going into camp. But I learned that to get things done earlier it could be key, just so you have more time to think through it. Even though it’s done, you can go back to it, and it’ll keep things moving.
Pastor Keith: Yeah, intentionality is a good thing. How did you see intentionality work itself out in the ministry as you were an intern?
Victoria Vest: I saw it mostly in, a lot in, like what Beth said, planning for camps, because we are appealing to the next generation of kids who are our future in the church. So we really have to be motivated and not forceful but have an intent to want to be intentional with them, because if you’re not intentional and if you don’t share the truth, then like you said, we can’t worship a God who we don’t know. And also what Beth said, when you plan something, it’s always good to go back to it. That’s why you have multiple drafts in writing. You need to reread and go back to it, because your mind can be in a different state or fresher and you can pinpoint other things that you didn’t notice before. So I feel like intentionality with everyone, planning ahead, and then going back to see what we can fix – because we had to fix a lot of stuff. Because sometimes we were in the right mind space, but it was always good to go back and correct something so we could do it to the fullest of our ability.
Pastor Keith: Hannah, how was your life impacted personal in your spiritual life?
Hannah Speight: I would say just having a more consistent relationship and communion with Jesus. It was sort of like accountability. I knew being part of this internship, we would just have such deep conversations. I needed something to fuel that, so that kind of helped me to stay more on top of my spiritual disciplines.
Pastor Keith: Oh, praise God for that. Did you feel pressed in a good way, stretched? How many of you felt stretched during the program? Yeah, stretched. Okay, good. Do you enjoy being stretched to one degree or another?
Victoria Vest: I like it. It’s just when it becomes too much, then my mind starts to go crazy. But it was a health balance.
Pastor Keith: Oh, good. How did your time serving in the church grant you maybe a healthier view of the church or change your view of the local church.
Victoria Vest: It was interesting to see what people thought about a lot of things that obviously we don’t – Sundays and everything you don’t hear everyone’s input. You heard everyone’s input about everything, and you want to appeal to everyone as best as you can. So that was definitely a new and interesting thing for me to learn about.
Pastor Keith: Yeah, the church is beautiful and everybody has ideas and insight, and especially when we do a big program or camp, everybody is contributing. And that is fantastic. We want to welcome that kind of input, because the ministry is much richer when everybody contributes as opposed to them not. It would not be as good. And so you just have to pray through and discern everybody’s – I mean, we are serving Jesus Christ together.
Beth Sayre: Hey, we’re a big team.
Pastor Keith: Yeah, we’re a big team. We exactly are. Just like a lone-ranger Christian is not a good idea and not consistent with the Scripture, “Don’t forsake the assembly,” so is the same thing in ministry. Lone-ranger leadership is not a good thing. So it’s fun to be part of a team. Hannah, how has your time in Life Action grown you spiritually.
Hannah Speight: That’s a big question.
Pastor Keith: Dum-dum-duh. And tell us, for those listening that may not know what Life Action is, just give a couple statements about that ministry.
Hannah Speight: Life Action is just basically, we are a team of 20 people who travel around and we have our own children’s ministers and a band and revivalist speakers, and so we come and set all our stuff up at a church for a week or however long the conference is. Basically we give the staff a break and allow them to be poured into spiritually and try and give them as much of a break as possible, and our whole thing is getting people to say yes to God in whatever way that might be. For some people that may be salvation, but a lot of times we see people being called out of their pride and relationships being restored. And so that’s what it’s all about.
Pastor Keith: That’s wonderful. So how were you impacted. What did you say yes to God about this past semester?
Hannah Speight: Well, personally, there was a lot of pride in my life that I didn’t originally even see that I had. But just through constantly serving other people, I was just in this environment where everything was about the people in the church and others and nothing was about me. And so that was a big shock and just getting used to that and knowing that God loves me and knows me personally and I’m important, but also knowing that I’m humbled to be in this position, and it’s a blessing to be here and it’s not about me.
Pastor Keith: That’s huge. That is huge. Beth, what do you think – what is your excitement, how your eyes have been open to serving in the church in the future after serving as an intern?
Beth Sayre: Going to Liberty University, I didn’t know what I was going to go into. But this past year, I’ve come to – I want to serve with youth. And so I’m studying psychology and so I was able to tack on a youth minor, and so hopefully I’ll be able to use that just to serve local youth around here or wherever I end up. And taking what I learned through my leadership here and just implementing it into a body somewhere else.
Pastor Keith: I know you took a women’s ministry class too?
Beth Sayre: Yeah, so I took women’s ministry. I’m in youth culture right now. And next semester I’ll be into intro to church ministries.
Pastor Keith: Well, I tell you, we need in the church godly ladies to pour into the church to use your gift, so we can receive your wisdom. You are a valued part of the church and just thankful for you. I’m personally thankful for each of you. How about you Victoria, as far as your involvement? Where are you going to church in Lynchburg now?
Victoria Vest: I have been church hopping a lot, and it’s really hard, because I don’t have a car. So I rely a lot on my brother. But I’ve been to Thomas Road Baptist Church, which is Liberty’s church, and I like that one. But I went to Waymaker Church in Lynchburg, and that was a really powerful good church. The pastor admitted that he wanted to talk about the hard stuff in the Bible that no one really wants to talk about, so that was really good. And the worship was just so convicting at the end of it. It just all came full circle, and I really like that. I haven’t been back yet, because I need a ride. But that was really good.
Pastor Keith: Hopefully God will provide you one. I know Hannah, you’ve been in – what’d you tell me yesterday, eight or –
Hannah Speight: Seven.
Pastor Keith: Oh, seven churches, yeah.
Hannah Speight: I really consider the team my church, because we just spend all this time together in prayer and just doing everything together. I feel like it doesn’t have to be a building. We are our own church and we stick together.
Pastor Keith: Yeah, you’re like a small group that’s on the move all the time. Do you all have devotionals? And what does that look like as a team?
Hannah Speight: Well, we’re walking through this H3 leadership book that’s biblically centered and then Garrett was walking through this how your phone is changing you book. And so we don’t have a specific devotional, but a lot of times in our evening meetings, we’ll just talk about things God’s been saying to us and things that we have on our hearts. Garrett will do this thing sometimes where he’ll bring a hymn and print out the lyrics and we’ll walk through it. Or Shane will just walk through a specific piece of Scripture. So it’s not like – there’s not a specific devotional plan, but they are really intentional about pouring into us, and I really appreciate that.
Pastor Keith: And sounds like you’re receiving it well. What do you think is something that right now the church is doing well to minister to your generation and maybe could do more of?
Beth Sayre: I’ve seen a lot of churches, both in Lynchburg and here, just inviting students in, wanting them to come. I think that’s something youth ministries do well. They are intentionally reaching other communities just with their local youth, knowing that these are the people that need to hear the gospel. That’s something they’re doing really well, I’ve seen.
Pastor Keith: That’s encouraging, yeah. That definitely is. That generation is important, just like all the generations of the church. So that definitely is a strength. Being in pastoral ministry, one of the sometimes challenging generations to reach is the college demographic, that right after high school, before a family, that kind of demographic. It’s something that every church struggles to do. People are in that kind of transitional stage of life. So any insight is always welcome and appreciated. What would you say to somebody that is getting ready to graduate high school? I know you have not been out of high school that long, but what is one nugget that you have learned that you could pass on to the generation that’s behind you?
Victoria Vest: I would say that you’re about to go into the real world and it’s going to be a lot more overwhelming, even if you are in college. And this is the perfect time to be rooted in the Word, so you’re prepared. Because you don’t want to be thrown into it and be overwhelmed. Because especially what you said, college kids, this is the time when we’re trying to find ourselves outside of our parents, so the identity issue is coming up a lot. And if you’re not rooted in the Word and the Truth and everything, you’re going to get swept away with the rest of the world. So this is a really important crucial time. It was really good for me to intern here, because it was preparing me, even though I do go to Liberty and it’s a Bible college – Go Flames – it was just really good to have. Because you do meet a lot of people even from different backgrounds who did grow up Christian, and you meet new views and different views and similar views, but different viewpoints about it. So knowing your Word and God’s truth is really important to have, especially in this transition.
Pastor Keith: Yeah, amen. Hannah?
Hannah Speight: Well, I haven’t really gone to a typical college or anything. I’m kind of in an environment now where I’m surrounded by very spiritually strong people and encouraging people. I would just say that just prioritize your time with Jesus above everything and to be continually reminded that throughout all busyness and anything that might get in the way, that’s ultimately what’s most important. Everything revolves around Him, and that’s ultimately what it comes down to. So just don’t forsake your time, and don’t underestimate the value of spending that intimate time with Him.
Pastor Keith: That is such an encouraging word, not only to those that are coming behind you, but to any generation. A very timely word. Beth?
Beth Sayre: Yeah, I think I have two things. One, get plugged in to your local community church. That’s one thing I didn’t do so much in my freshman year, but now this year I’ve just really been able to get plugged into my church back at Lynchburg each week. So that’s been one thing. And two, again, just reiterating what they said, just make sure your time with God is the most important. Make sure your relationship – I learned this year – your vertical relationship is right so you can make horizontal relationships mean more and grow more. Spend that time with the Lord, because again, it just changes everything and that’s what your life is revolved around.
Pastor Keith: Amen. Amen. Amen. That is so well said. I’m so proud of you three. I would say that to you. I mean I have said it to you off the microphone, but you are three gifted young ladies, and I have seen you grow spiritually. And even in this podcast interview, I can hear the growth that God has done in you since you were interns and that excites me so much. I would just say keep pressing into God and keep serving Him faithfully. You will never regret it and He’ll take you farther than you could ever think or imagine. And He will always be faithful to complete the work that He started in you. And praise be to God for that. We’re really thankful to have had you guys today.
Hannah Speight: Thank you.
Beth Sayre: Thank you.
Victoria Vest: Thank you.
Pastor Keith: If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, we encourage you to go to your favorite destination for subscribing to podcasts, Apple Podcasts or Spotify or other places where you can find podcasts. You can also go to our website, bbcyorktown.org/doxologymatters, and you can find past episodes as well as this episode and be caught up on the current episodes that are coming. We also transcriptions that are going to made available for every episode. So if you have heard something that you want to remember, a book quote, or a reference to something, you’ll be able to find that in a documentation there. So we hope that that will serve you as we continue the conversation together about the God that we worship who is holy and there is none like Him.
[End Audio]