Connection Point youth pastor follows family footsteps in ministry

~ ConnectionPoint youth pastor follows family's footsteps to join the ministry

Kentucky native Jacob Bumpus is new to the area. A third generation pastor, Bumpus works with ConnectionPoint youth ministries.

In this week's Ministry Focus, Bumpus shares about life in student ministry and some of the opportunities to get involved with the church.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself.

A: My name is Jacob Bumpus. I'm 29, and I'm from Slaughters, Ky. I've lived in Kentucky all my life until December when I took over the student ministries position at ConnectionPoint Church. I'm a huge Kentucky Wildcats fan, just any sport really.

Q: How long have you been a member of your faith?

A: I've been a Christian since I was 7 years old. It's been 22 years now. I can still remember that Thursday night when my mother called one of the local pastors in town because I was asking all the questions and felt the tug of God on my heart.

Q: Who or what inspired you to become a pastor? And more specifically, what led you to youth ministry?

A: I've been blessed to have been around some great ministers over the years. My grandfather, father and brother are all ministers as well. My great-grandparents, grandparents and my parents have had the biggest impact with the calling the Lord has had for my life. Then there have been other ministers that I have known over the years that are now deceased, but I can still remember their words and preaching over the years. Currently, the senior and executive pastors at ConnectionPoint Church have taught me so much in just a short period of time.

I was living in the county that I've grown up in my whole life when the Lord just placed a burden on my life for teens. I remember walking in my parents' kitchen one night when the audible voice of the Lord told me I would serve as a youth pastor at a church in Kentucky. The very next week I saw the pastor of that church in the frozen foods section of Wal-Mart and he said he needed a youth pastor. It wasn't any coincidence, it was all God. I spent the next four and a half years at an amazing church.

Q: What's the greatest blessing you've experienced in the ministry?

A: Seeing kids giving their lives to the Lord. There is no other joy that can be compared to that. What's pretty cool now is that a lot of my prior youth are really living their life out for God. Seeing them from where they were until now has been so humbling.

Q: What's the greatest challenge you've experienced in the ministry?

A: Where do I begin? There's all kinds of challenges really, something new each and every day. There's all kinds of family dynamics that make it difficult, the background that they come from. Sports schedules are crazy, so it's hard to plan anything. I love to be organized, so in the youth ministry it is not that way. And remember, if you're in youth ministry in any shape or form, be prepared to marry your phone. That thing always goes off.

Q: What upcoming events or sermon series do you have scheduled at ConnectionPoint Church?

A: Right now at ConnectionPoint we're in the "Launch Series." How to take all of your obstacles and crisis and make that a turning point for your life, then in return it will allow you to achieve great things for God. Every person in the Bible had a crisis, and because of their faith they achieved great things for God.

Q: What's your favorite Bible verse and why?

A: Jeremiah 29:11, most definitely. God has a plan for each and every one of us. Earlier on in Jeremiah, it says that God knew us even before we were in the womb. How amazing is that? A lot of us wonder why God hasn't used us, but these verses tell me that he has a plan for all of us if we accept Jesus as our personal savior. Then, we must seek him in everything we do. Make him number one in all things, be in prayer all the time, be in scripture, and then my friend, you'll know your plan. You have to chase after it.

Q: What makes your church unique?

A: This church is full of real people. There's always help. You'll never be alone at anything you do here. And the genuine love I have felt since I've been here has been so refreshing. All of these people here at the church believe that we're fixing to explode, and have. Every ministry is important here; that's what's so cool.

Q: What ongoing ministries does your church have that people might be interested in?

A: We offer so much. We have three services now, one on Saturday and two on Sunday. Financial training classes, exercise classes, an awesome small group ministry, an incredible children's ministry with an awesome new children's pastor, Fusion youth, marriage classes and special needs ministry. We use all kinds of musicians, acting, dancing and plays. Seriously, we have it all.