Spotlight on…Pastor Cory Hunneyman

E-mail this article | Posted on September 09, 2008

Real Encouragement is starting a series of interviews with the staff and leadership of Lakeshore. I had the privilege of starting with our Student Pastor, Cory Hunneyman, about stepping into Lakeshore and his vision for youth ministry. Here’s an exclusive online preview of the article, coming out in the next print issue of Real Encouragement.

Real Encouragement (RE): How long have you been a Christian, and how did you become a Christian?

Pastor Cory (PC): I came to Christ probably around age 5. I had the privilege of growing up with 2 parents who both knew God and were in love with him. When I was about 5 years old I sat down with my parents and they told me about my need for Christ and how even as a little kid, still I had messed up and needed God to forgive me my sins; so I turned my life over to him at that point.

RE: What attracted you to Lakeshore Church?

PC: Probably the thing that right off the top attracted us was the church’s aggressive approach to reaching the people around it, being aware of the culture and penetrating the culture. It was really cool to see that because a lot of churches try to do that, but they just can’t get past certain things in order to reach people. Sometimes you go into some churches and it’s kind of like you have to learn a special code…you know, when to stand, when to sit. It takes about 10 years to figure out how you’re supposed to respond. What we liked about Lakeshore is it’s come as you are.

RE: Not a lot of Christian-ese.

PC: No, there’s not, which is really refreshing. Very solid, Biblically, as a church, and yet, “out of the box,” very relevant.

RE: How do you define excellence, and what does it mean for Student Ministry?

PC: The first thing that comes to mind is high quality. I think making programs and events available to students no matter where they’re at in their journey with God where they can just come and plug in and move to the next step. I want to see students making progress. [Also], leadership is a big deal, to have good leadership committed to the ministry, not just for a couple years, but for the long haul. Another thing that’s big in terms of making a good ministry with excellence would be having students owning the ministry, where they have a hand in how it’s run and how it’s working and they contribute to it, it’s not just something they come to and [just] sit. [Lastly], we can put on a great program, we can have tons of teens, and hundreds of them all come out for different events, but the real burning question on my heart is: They’ve come to our ministry from 6th grade all the way through 12th grade, are they more prepared now, when they leave high school and they go to college and enter the world as an adult, are they prepared to make that transition effectively; can they own their own faith?

RE: Those are great goals. What is one thing that you wish everyone knew about youth ministry? Or more than one!

PC: I think [youth ministry is] the best spot in the church. You don’t have to have all the right looks or the right acts or anything like that, you can just be yourself, and what we always tell our leaders is, you just have to have a love for God and you have to like students. A lot of times we say that the teens in the church, they’re the future of the church—I believe that the teens aren’t just the future of the church, they are the church right now. A teenager who’s fully committed and sold out to God can literally change the world right now where they’re at.

RE: Tell us something unique or interesting about yourself.

PC: Something unique or interesting about myself…

RE: Sure!

PC: I absolutely love the TV show 24. I’m addicted to it. Some days I actually wake up and I think I’m Jack Bauer, ready to rescue America from the terrorists.

by Amy Mitchell