Mobile youth minister and son share heart for youth, classes at University of Mobile

University of Mobile (UM) sophomore Shaun Payne used to skip his fair share of classes. Not too frequently but there were always those times when he needed a day off. This year, however, things are different. He’s only missed one class all semester.
   
Why the change? It could be a new-school-year’s resolution. Or it could be the fact that he now sees his father every day at school.
   
“I know I have to be there,” said Shaun, smiling broadly, “because I’ll have to see him that day at home.”
   
Both Shaun and Mike Payne of Mobile are Christian studies majors at UM. Shaun’s concentration is in youth ministry, and Mike’s is in pastoral ministries.
   
The father and son have two classes in common — evangelism and Islam: history and theology. Naturally there are a few challenges to sharing classes at the same school. Shaun doesn’t get to skip class without being held accountable. Of course, neither does his father. And Shaun said his dad occasionally gets a little too enthusiastic in evangelism class. 
   
“Sometimes the professor will say something about the ministry my dad knows is true and he’ll laugh or sigh really loud,” he said.
   
But ultimately they love being at school together. Mike thinks attending UM with his son is wonderful. “It’s an awesome opportunity to spend time with him,” he said. “It’s a new frontier in our relationship.”
Shaun shares those feelings. He was pleased with his dad’s decision to attend UM.
   
“I was hoping that he would,” Shaun said. “I thought it would be fun to have him in class.”
   
Fun and useful. Father and son each benefit from the other’s academic strengths.
   
“He can help me with math, and I can help him with the deity of God,” said Mike, who has been a youth pastor part or full time for 17 years. “The fact that I’ve done ministry so many years and now Shaun wants to go into ministry — I can impart years of knowledge to him, and now he’s helping me through the basic stuff I’ve put away.”
   
Shaun agreed. “It’s been a while since he’s been in school,  and I get to help him,” he said. “I helped him write a thesis statement for English the other day.”
   
They help each other in other ways, too. They work on evangelism homework together, bouncing Scripture off each other so they can memorize it. The two ended up at the same school with the same major when son followed father into the ministry and father followed son to school.
   
Shaun visited UM with his parents in August 2004 when they were considering moving to Mobile. He decided to come to UM as a social sciences major.
   
“My dad said, ‘You never know, you may go down there and change your major to Christian studies.’ I was like, ‘OK, Dad — that’s not going to happen,’” he said. 
   
But God had other plans for him. The summer after Shaun’s freshman year, his dad’s youth group at Crawford Baptist Church, Mobile, took a trip to Louisiana, where students painted offices in a crisis pregnancy center. Shaun was just there to help. 
   
The trip impacted him in ways he had not anticipated. He got a chance to see in-depth the way his dad interacted with students.  He was extremely moved by the bond his dad shared with the youth and the impact his dad had on their lives.  
   
At that moment, Shaun’s heart was in the right condition to hear from God.
   
“I spent the whole week in prayer and felt God calling me,” he said.
   
That call was to youth ministry. During the trip, he told his dad that he planned to change his major and his life’s direction. Mike’s reaction was intense. “I bawled,” he said.
   
Of course, his tears were tears of joy. He was confident in his son’s decision because Shaun had experienced all the nuances of youth ministry. His choice was not uninformed or strictly emotional.
   
“He knows what youth ministry is like and still knows this is what God’s calling him to do,” Mike said.
   
Shaun had been there as his dad began working with youth in 1988 and became a full-time youth pastor in Arizona when he retired from the Marine Corps in 2001 after 21 years of service. Although he had taken some classes through the military, Mike had never earned a degree. Getting jobs in churches had not been a problem thanks to years of experience. 
   
So why pursue a degree after 20 years out of school and with many years of ministry already under his belt? According to him, it’s about “fulfilling what I need to fulfill to continue to be used by God. That’s the number one reason — so that as I go back out [to pursue God’s will], education’s not an issue.”
   
Both father and son want to prepare themselves for service to others and are ready for whatever comes next. (UM)