Father and Son Pursue God's Will Together as Students at UM

Shaun, left, and Mike compare notes outside Garner.

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 the private, Baptist-affiliated university in Mobile, Ala. 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 Mike. 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," bemoaned Shaun.

But ultimately, both love being at school together. Mike thinks attending UM with Shaun is wonderful. "It’s an awesome opportunity to spend time with him," he said. "It’s a new frontier in our relationship."

Shaun shares Mike's feelings. He was pleased with his dad's decision to attend the University of Mobile.

"I was hoping that he would," said Shaun. "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," grinned 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 onto 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."

Shaun especially looks forward to taking upper-level theology classes with Mike. He said his dad is "more knowledgeable about the Bible, and he’ll help in those classes."

They help each other in other ways, too. They work on Evangelism homework together, bouncing Scripture off each other so they can memorize it. They also discuss what each drew from Islam class to enhance their collective understanding.

The two ended up in the same school with the same major when Shaun followed Mike into the ministry and Mike followed Shaun to school.

Shaun had not originally planned to go to UM. During his senior year, he had decided to attend college at a Christian school in Florida, where he would major in the social sciences.

There was only one problem.

"I had chosen what I had wanted to do and hadn’t involved God in the process at all," said Shaun.

He visited UM with his parents in August of 2004 when they were considering moving to Mobile. Thanks to that visit, the school's website, a great admissions counselor, and a fantastic scholarship, Shaun decided to come to UM as a social sciences major two weeks before he would have started school in Florida.

"My dad said, 'You never know, you may go down there and change your major to Christian studies.' I was like, 'Okay, dad…that's not going to happen,' " Shaun said.

God had other plans for him, though. The summer after Shaun's freshman year, Mike's youth group at Crawford Baptist Church in Mobile, Ala., took a trip to a Student Life camp in Louisiana, where students painted offices in a crisis pregnancy center. Shaun was just there to help out.

But 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 Mike had on their lives.

At that moment, Shaun's heart was in just 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, Shaun told his dad that he planned to change his major and his life's direction. Mike’s reaction was intense.

"I bawled," he stated.

Of course, his tears were tears of joy. Mike 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," said Mike.

Shaun said he feels lucky that he knows firsthand how difficult the ministry can be. He knows it's time-consuming-"It's a 24-hour-a-day job, seven days a week," he noted-and rigorous, but he can handle it because he knows what to expect thanks to his dad’s experience working with students.

Mike, though, had not always been an obvious choice for the ministry. The self-described party animal changed radically only when his mother and aunt convinced him to go to church with them on July 16, 1986. He accepted Christ that day.

In 1988, Mike began working with youth 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 Mike, it’s about "fulfilling what I need to fulfill to continue to be used by God. That's the number one reason-so as I go back out [to pursue God’s will], education's not an issue."

Mike started looking for schools in Arizona during the summer of '04, but in August, his search was interrupted by a call from Crawford Baptist Church in Mobile. They needed a student minister.

After visiting Mobile-and UM-Mike and Pam couldn't shake the "this-is-where-we're-supposed-to-be feeling. God had opened the door for a reason," said Mike. They relocated to Mobile in late September 2004.

Once he was there, Mike knew where he would pursue his education: UM. After a year of adjusting to his new surroundings, Mike took steps to enroll at the university for Fall '05.

"It's all about preparing yourself for what God's going to use you for," summed up Mike.

And that, for both father and son, is God's will for them right now: to prepare themselves for a life of service to others. They couldn't be more excited, and more ready for whatever comes next. No matter what that is, they know it will be, as Shaun put it, "all part of His grand plan."