New Discipleship & NextGen team is “completely passionate” about serving churches, providing resources

The Texas Baptists Center for Church Health introduced a new ‘Discipleship & NextGen’ team, led by Cory Liebrum as its new director and Jennifer Howington as associate director and Childhood Ministry specialist. 

Liebrum transitioned from his previous role as Youth Ministry specialist. Howington transitioned from her previous role as Childhood Ministry specialist. They assumed their roles on Sept. 10. 

Liebrum said the heart behind the new team is to bring siloed church ministries together to reach the next generation. 

“A lot of our churches are moving towards or they're in a place where they're trying to be more holistic as far as reaching the family, reaching multi-generations,” explained Liebrum. “[We’re thinking about] ‘How do we help encourage them, with coming together and being able to do NextGen ministry?’ So, ministering to the next generation, that’s really the heart [behind it].” 

Howington said that the team wants to model what it looks like for churches to serve their congregation together as one effort. She pointed to Conclave NextGen as an example of this. 

“Conclave has grown because an entire staff can come together, and they realize it's not just children's ministry operating by itself or youth ministry; we're serving the same families. That's where the NextGen part comes in,” said Howington. “So, really, it's a collaborative effort. It's working together, and it's moving forward with one team and one vision. We feel like it's important that we model that on the state level so that they can do this at the church level as well.”

Welcoming new team members 

Liebrum and Howington are joined by Caitlin Merriman, Discipleship & NextGen ministry assistant. She transitioned from her previous role as Women’s ministry assistant at Texas Baptists. Sarah Johnson will also remain on the new team as the Childhood Ministry program coordinator and ministry assistant. 

On April 21, the team welcomed Kurt Krodle as their new Youth Ministry specialist. Krodle said though he loves youth ministry and working with students directly, his heart has shifted to “really love the investment in youth workers.”

“When this role opened up, [I thought], ‘Okay, I may have the opportunity here to stay in youth ministry, but to do it in different ways and with people that I love,’” said Krodle. “So it excites me to invest in and to serve the church, but to do that in a different context, to serve youth pastors.” 

Krodle brings 28 years of youth ministry experience to Texas Baptists, having served as a youth minister at First Baptist Church Cash, First Baptist Church Saginaw, First Baptist Church Denton and, most recently, First Baptist Church Arlington. 

As Youth Ministry specialist, Krodle will work with student pastors, youth pastors, youth workers, pastors and churches, to try to help them figure out what youth ministry looks like and how to do it well. He is also looking forward to helping youth ministers create community with one another. 

“I feel like [in] post-COVID life [there are so many] places where youth pastors feel like they're on an island… Many of them are in smaller churches, smaller towns, so they don't have a team to work with like I was. So part of it for me is trying to figure out ‘How do we connect youth pastors?’... [and] if they're new or they're younger in ministry, ‘How do we connect them with more seasoned leaders?’ And part of that is for networking and for community, but also to have people to bounce ideas and kind of kick the tires, if you would, about youth ministry,” said Krodle. 

“I'm humbled to be given the opportunity to sit on this staff,” said Krodle. 

Howington said Texas Baptists churches can trust that their team is completely passionate about serving and providing resources for them. 

“The churches in our state can look at our team and know that [we] are fully invested in and we're passionate about what we do. And we say often, ‘We get to do this,’” said Howington. “Whenever I try to describe to those that I serve what I do, I tell them my title, but then [I say], ‘All that means is I'm here to serve you. I'm a resource for you,’ [and] that will continue. We want to be as responsive as we can to the needs of the church.” 

Building on momentum and legacy 

Liebrum said he looks forward to dreaming up new ways to resource and support our churches. 

“I'm excited about dreaming about what that looks like and trying to address the needs of our churches in the future. With Texas Baptists and the resources that we've been given, we have the flexibility to be able to do that,” said Liebrum. “We have an eye towards what our churches need, and we're being responsive to it.”

He said Discipleship Collective is an example of how the team intends to continue responding to the churches’ needs by developing leaders. 

“Some of the greatest needs that we're hearing are ‘We need training,’ ‘We need volunteers,’ ‘We need people to help in our churches.’ Discipleship Collective is an effort to provide training for those lay leaders on a Sunday school level. So, we are trying to stay in tune to what our churches need and do what programs would benefit them the most,” said Liebrum. 

Liebrum said Discipleship Collective has not only benefited churches’ leadership but has also allowed them an opportunity to invest in other trainers to lead these events. 

“We've multiplied our efforts, and we have several teams that go out, and those are people we call upon to do other things, too,” explained Liebrum. “So, we're developing leaders and also trusting others to do the work that we do.”

Howington said the momentum the team already has is foundational in “creating pathways for people to know who we are and also to feel encouraged and supported in their roles.”

“I'm excited about the momentum that we already have. It's not even been four years that Cory and I have worked together, and we've already seen a transformation happen within our team and the events that we host … It's been great to see how we've been able to connect so quickly to that new minister on staff who doesn't even know what Texas Baptists is, or how we can provide resources for them, and not only connecting them to us but to each other,” said Howington. “I feel like the groundwork has been laid for future growth and potential, and further resourcing of our churches. And that's pretty gratifying to know that we get to be a part of that.”  

Liebrum and Howington both credited David Adams, former director of Discipleship at Texas Baptists, for setting the Discipleship & NextGen team up for success and said they want to “continue the legacy of our team that he built.” Adams now serves as Minister of Discipleship & Education at Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston. 

“[Adams] really instill[ed] and empower[ed] us to be discipleship leaders, not just a youth specialist and a childhood specialist. So, for me as the new director, that is a value that I take really seriously,  being able to empower our team to lead,” said Liebrum.  

“He prepared us well. He let us be a part of every aspect of the ministry, so there's not anything about my new position that is unfamiliar because I've already been part of it, and now I get to lead it at a higher level,” said Howington. “I give a lot of credit to David Adams. He led well, and he prepared us, and he left us very healthy. We're in a great position to continue forward the path that's already been created for us.”

“We are pleased to announce an update to our Discipleship Team, as part of the new leadership of Cory Liebrum as director and Jennifer Howington as associate director/Childhood Ministry specialist. As a means of relating to many of the new endeavors of our team, we have changed the name to the Discipleship & NextGen Team,” said Phil Miller. “This change not only reflects the change in the Conclave NextGen event over the past few years, but also the growing trend occurring in Texas Baptists churches. Christian educators are now taking on the responsibility of leading a NextGen emphasis in their individual churches. This change is being reflected not just in name only but also in the planning and implementation of the many assignments in this strategic team in Texas Baptists life. Exciting days ahead!” 

The Texas Baptists discipleship team exists to provide consultations, training, special events, tools and resources to help Texas Baptists congregations develop into great commission churches.

To learn more about how the Discipleship & NextGen ministry can be a resource to you and your church, visit txb.org/discipleship.