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Andrea and Jay Hancock know kids.
Not only are they the parents of three adult children, but they also have ministered to multiple generations of young people at Parkway Hills Baptist Church over the last decade. The Hancocks say every generation, from preschoolers to youth to Gen Z and beyond, longs for the same thing: truth.
Andrea, PHBC weekday education minister, oversees the church’s preschool for kids ages 12 months to 5 years. It’s her 10th year in the role. About a third of the students are from Parkway Hills families; more than half attend area churches; 5% are unchurched.
“I work a lot with young kids and even more so with their parents and families,” she said, adding with a smile, “I don’t know when I’ll graduate.”
Jay, a software consultant, volunteers with the student ministry and is also involved with the PHBC Sunday preschool department.
In addition to these tasks, the couple just started a new life group for young single professionals on Thursday evenings in their home.
“That’s my older group I get to work with. Probably many of them will be the age of a lot of the parents of our preschoolers,” Andrea said.
Layers of ministry frequently intersect at Parkway Hills.
“There’s a lot of bleeding over among the generations at Parkway Hills,” Andrea said. “I work with preschool, but their parents are in their late 20s and early 30s. Then we have the new life group with young adults about the same age. … At our church, the generations intermingle a lot. We know all the families and their kids. There is a natural outpouring of opportunity to [do multigenerational ministry].”
“At our church, the generations intermingle a lot. We know all the families and their kids. There is a natural outpouring of opportunity to [do multigenerational ministry].”
‘Serious about their walk’
At their prior church, Jay taught adult classes and life groups. When they moved to Parkway Hills, student ministry became “the door the Lord opened.” Jay thought, “Why not?” Intending to help for a season, he has been doing it for 10 years.
“I never looked back. It has been the biggest blessing,” he said.
Three years ago, he saw another need and added working in preschool Sunday school to his list. “You go where the need is and you can expect a blessing to follow,” he said. Blessings have indeed followed as he has moved up with his original class of 3-year-olds who are now kindergarteners.
He also continues teaching the high school seniors he started discipling when they were sixth graders. Jay and Cy Casto, PHBC student and outreach pastor, co-lead the church’s high school guys life group on Wednesday nights.
“One of the church’s five faith habits is living in biblical community,” Jay noted. “There is a lot of connectedness among the people we serve and serve with.” A leader with whom Jay works in youth ministry has a child in Jay’s kindergarten Sunday school class, for example.
Even the new singles life group—actually more of a restart—is connected to a group Jay helped found earlier. As some members married and had families, dynamics changed, calling for a new class. Since many singles attending also serve Sundays at the church, the decision to meet on a weeknight made sense.
Fifteen are on the life group roll now, and the Hancocks said friends are welcome, too. Each Thursday gathering begins with a shared meal, followed by Bible study and prayer.
“If we could outgrow our home, that would be a good problem to have,” Andrea said, adding that the life group members have expressed a desire to engage in a deep study of Scripture.
“They want to really dig into the Word, grasp grace and truth in the context of the Bible,” Jay added.
Young adults want to know how to live in this world as Christians while making an impact, Andrea said. “The life group members are serious about their walk. They want to mature in their faith,” she said.
Truth as the backbone
The need to convey truth is not limited to adults.
“The need for truth is across the board. All ages need this,” Andrea said.
The revelation of truth forms the core of multigenerational ministry, the Hancocks said. Whether ministering to small children or 30-somethings, teachers must be concerned with imparting truth to those whose identity is in Christ and who find themselves pushing against culture.
“Preschoolers are different from kids about to leave for college,” Jay said. With young children, you have the “opportunity to make deposits in their spiritual bank at their young age.”
With preschool ministry, the impact may seem small, the results not apparent for a long time, but teachers can pour into young lives and be part of making disciples, Jay continued, adding, “After all, Charles Spurgeon was 3 years old once.”
“With young children, so much is about time. … It’s making time [for families] to be in community … to be in church,” Andrea said. “Time is limited. Being with fellow believers can give wisdom on how to live in this world and raise kids amid social media and other pressures.”
As kids age, introducing teenagers to Jesus in a true and authentic way becomes the heart of youth ministry, Jay said. “It’s easy for students in high school to love the youth pastor, the activities. It’s fun. Fun just happens. But if they don’t love Jesus, that’s when you hear the stories of young people falling away in college.”
“One of the church’s five faith habits is living in biblical community,. There is a lot of connectedness among the people we serve and serve with."
The joy of community
Imparting truth while living in community motivates the Hancocks to keep going in their late 50s.
Jay knows his time to serve has an expiration date. “I don’t know how many more years I will be able to go on student trips, sleep in cabins in a sleeping bag, attend the fall youth leader retreat,” he mused, even as he mentioned a student mission trip to Ecuador he is scheduled to go on this year.
For Andrea, the motivation to minister also stems from the fact she did not grow up in a Christian home. “All that I missed, I don’t want these kids to miss,” she said.
To avoid burnout, they do say no occasionally. But serving kids is their main purpose and chief mission now that their own children are grown.
“We don’t take trips. We are not travelers,” Andrea said. “This fills our cup rather than drains our cup. We enjoy all the relationships in church.
“Community is a joyful thing.”
