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Zachary Whitlow was a junior in high school the first time someone talked to him about the possibility God might be calling him into vocational ministry. Whitlow clearly remembers his reaction:
“Absolutely not.”
“I had it in my mind that people who went into ministry—pastors, children’s pastors, youth pastors—were super Christians,” Whitlow said. “And I just thought about myself as regular old Zach, like there was no way God would want me in a position like that.”
Despite his initial reaction, the conversation about calling began a season of wrestling for Whitlow. Throughout the rest of that year, God began using others to affirm his calling, including people in his church and even his high school librarian.
“That’s when I was like, ‘OK, my librarian in school who is not connected at all to my church is saying the same thing all the people in my church are saying, so maybe there’s something to this,” Whitlow said.
Today, Whitlow serves as associate pastor of next gen ministries at Nolan River Road Baptist Church in Cleburne. When he reflects on his journey, he said he is grateful for those the Lord used to guide him where he is today. Among those was his former youth pastor, Grant Byrd, who now serves as student associate for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.
One of Byrd’s priorities during his four decades as a youth pastor was helping students understand that God may have a unique calling on their lives through vocational ministry. Byrd worked with other leaders to develop curriculum to help students work through that process and even offered a “Called to Ministry” educational track at youth camps. Later this summer, Byrd will lead the SBTC’s Following Your Calling event for students who may feel called to ministry. FYC will include interactive talks with ministry leaders and breakout topics focused on various areas of service.
“We have no problem asking [students] if God wants them to be a teacher or a doctor or a lawyer, but what about a minister?” Byrd said. “That needs to be a part of their thought process rather than something we never mention when we’re having those kinds of conversations.
“I just think if we don’t start talking about calling with our kids, we’re going to soon be in a bind. We’ve got to talk about it more. It’s got to be an option for our kids.”
“I had it in my mind that people who went into ministry–pastors, children’s pastors, youth pastors–were super Christians.”
Discerning what’s next
When it comes to understanding calling and following God’s guidance, there’s a moment that stands out in Kayla Cradit’s mind. During her senior year of high school, she went on a mission trip to Costa Rica. Her group was serving in a city where it was important to know which areas were safe and which ones were not. The guide helping them that day was a local 10-year-old boy.
“As he was leading us down these roads, he was saying, ‘Don’t go down this road,’ and ‘Let’s go down that one,’” Cradit recalls. “I thought that was a beautiful depiction of who God is and how He leads us. It doesn’t always mean He is going to lead us to be in the safest places, but He’s going to protect us in those situations.”
Cradit, who served as girls student minister at The Loop campus of Houston’s First the past five years, is familiar with following God’s lead into the mission field. The high school trip to Costa Rica was preceded the year before by a mission trip to Alaska, and after graduating college she spent two years serving in Wales. She recently answered a different call that will take her back to the United Kingdom to help start that country’s first Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter.
“It’s really cool to be praying through the vision of what God has already set before us and trying to walk in obedience to what that looks like,” she said.
During each season of her life, she can point to the people who helped her understand God’s calling. It started with her parents and grandparents pointing her to Jesus, who saved her at age 9. In Wales, God placed a pair of mentors in her life. At other times, she sought the counsel of friends or ministry mentors—including Byrd, who had Cradit on his staff at First McKinney.
“I don’t take for granted the fact that I have family that continues to point me toward God and His will in my life,” she said. “And even with having them in my life, there were seasons specifically when I was in a stage of trying to discern [what was next]. … Obviously, God can do anything, but having people come alongside me to complement what He was already presenting to me, that was huge.”
“It doesn’t always mean He is going to lead us to be in the safest places, but He’s going to protect us in those situations.”
‘Don’t limit what God can do’
Whitlow began serving at Nolan River Road Baptist Church in January 2023. The church’s student ministry, he said, exists to equip teenagers to become lifelong disciples of Jesus. Oftentimes, that pursuit will lead students to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a secular vocation. But Whitlow said he also has students who have told him they feel called to vocational ministry. He helps those students prepare for ministry service through a mix of study and hands-on experience.
One of the lessons Whitlow tries to teach them is to identify their limiting beliefs about how God might use them—a struggle he once had himself.
“If I could go back to the younger me and advise myself, I would say, ‘Don’t limit what God can do. Don’t say, ‘Well, God could never do that with me,’” he said. “Just look at Scripture and look at all the people God uses. That’s something I see now when I look back at my life, and it’s definitely something I’m continuing to learn.”
Following Your Calling
Grant Byrd, SBTC’s student associate, recently talked with the Texan about Following Your Calling, a two-day retreat for students called to ministry.
What is the heart behind Following Your Calling?
So many pastors and leaders have told me they were called as a teen but didn’t really get any training until they went to seminary. This will be a great opportunity for students to get a massive jump-start on their calling. We want them to leave here having a better understanding of that calling and what next steps they need to take to grow into it.
What can students who attend this event expect?
This retreat is a way to give those students who feel a calling to ministry a chance to learn from some of the best leaders in many different areas of ministry. They will have time to ask questions directly of those who are serving in over 15 different ministry areas, including pastors, missionaries, evangelists, and children’s and student ministers.
How can leaders be more intentional about helping students understand that God may be calling them to ministry?
One great way is to talk to all your students about calling. They all need to know God has a great purpose for them, and some of them have the purpose of being a minister of the gospel. Give them opportunities to hear that call of God. When they say yes or have questions about it, allow them to talk about it and have those questions answered by you, who they trust. Also, make sure they have the resources that allow them to work through their questions.
