Youth Pastor Name: Jeffrey Goodman

Youth Group Name: Connect Student Ministries

Church Name: The Pentecostals of Apopka

City & State: Apopka, FL

InsideOut: How many people do you have?

Jeffrey Goodman: Approximately 100 (includes Jr. & Sr. High and College & Career)

IO: Average age?

JG: Approximately 16

IO: What do you think is THE coolest event you guys have put together for the Youth?

JG: FUSION

IO: What is Fusion?

JG: It is one of the highlights of the year for our kids. They love it! It was begun over ten years ago by Daryle Williams, who was the youth pastor here before I came. For a weekend in the spring of every year, one thousand or more teenagers from all over the state of Florida converge for two powerful and anointed services that are geared to minister specifically to their generation. We have had some life changing encounters with God during those weekends. Our church is blessed and humbled to be able to host such a meeting.

IO: What do you do for outreach?

KG: We really stress personal, one-on-one evangelism; that has been proven to be the most effective. Our kids are good about bringing their friends from school to our services and other special events throughout the year. It has not been that difficult to get students to come; the biggest challenge is retention. We also are about to begin organizing an effort to get our kids more involved in the community through such ministries as feeding the homeless, ministering to elderly, volunteer work with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, among other things. We want to expose them as much as possible to the needs of people that live around them and get them involved in ministering to their physical as well as spiritual needs.

IO: What is your youth group’s claim to fame? (If you’re gonna brag on your youth group, you’re going to say…?)

JG: They know how to have fun, but they also can plug into the Spirit of God in a service (most of the time; LOL).

IO: What do you do to retain those that join your youth group? Bible Studies? Small groups?

JG: One-on-one time spent with them and trying our best to get them into a Bible study.

IO: Is there a “hangout” for your youth outside of church?

JG: Sunny’s BBQ or Chili’s.

IO: Do you have a worship band, and what style do they play?

JG: Yes, and I am very proud of them. Their name is Reaction. They mostly play the modern worship stuff. They just released a demo CD with about four songs on it. One of the songs was written by one of our band members. You can check it out at www.myspace.com/reactionworshipband, or you can purchase a copy on our church website: thepentecostals.com.

IO: Do you guys do crowd breakers, or is that a thing of the past?

We do use them in our Sunday school classes, but we do not incorporate them into our youth services.

IO: Do you meet on the same night as the midweek service for the whole church? What day is that?

JG: We are in a construction project right now that will help us better facilitate our youth services and allow us to have them on a more consistent basis. Right now we have our service—Connection—twice a month, the first Wednesday of the month, which is in conjunction with our mid-week service, and one Saturday a month. Once our new facilities are complete, we will then be able to have Connection every Wednesday night during our mid-week service. That will be heaven on earth!

IO: Do you guys have a youth choir?

JG: Yes; they sing at special events throughout the year, but they do not sing in our youth service.

IO: Have many young people received the Holy Ghost?

JG: Not as many as I want, but once we are able to get on a consistent, weekly schedule, I believe that will increase.

IO: Do you have a prayer meeting for the youth?

JG: We have a prayer meeting every Thursday night that a group of our young ladies had a burden to start for girls. We also have begun a prayer meeting one Saturday night out of the month for the entire youth group.

IO: How many youth staff members do you have?

JG: Eleven, and we’re planning to add more in the near future.

IO: As a youth pastor, what is your vision for your Youth/Student Ministry?

JG: To make disciples of Jesus Christ . . . just that simple.

IO: What style of music does your youth group like? (Contemporary, Rock, Punk, etc.?)

JG: ALL OF IT!!