New Student & Family Ministries Professor Samuel Baker and his family.

April 14, 2006

Reflecting a shift seen in churches and seminaries throughout the country, Corban is changing the name and focus of its Youth Ministry program and has hired a new professor to help make the conversion.

Starting in 2007, Student and Family Ministries will officially replace Youth Ministry, and the college is making changes sooner than that. Dr. Samuel Baker – a pastor and adjunct professor – has been hired to teach and oversee the new program.

“Beyond what was on paper, Sam is very aware of student and family ministries today, very up-to-date,” said Corban Ministry Division chairman Greg Trull.

Baker was one of 21 applicants seeking the job at Corban. He has earned a doctorate in education from George Fox University and a master of arts in Christian Education from Biola University. Currently, he is an adjunct professor at four institutions – Multnomah Bible College, Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and George Fox.

“During the phone interview, it became clear that Sam was our frontrunner,” Trull said.

In addition to his academic training, Baker has 17 years of experience in church ministry. He has served as an associate and assistant pastor in California and Washington and has overseen youth and sports ministries. He also speaks at conferences and is a consultant.

Baker has lived in Battle Ground, Wash., near Vancouver, for 11 years. This summer, he plans to move his family to Salem, where his two daughters will attend high school and his wife, Alyson, an eighth grade teacher, hopes to find a job in the Salem-Keizer School District.

“When I saw this position at Corban, I realized that it fits my ministry experience and my educational experience, especially my doctorate,” Baker said.

Baker’s doctoral thesis focused on the ways seminary students grow spiritually, and he said he has always been interested in understanding spiritual development in children, adolescents and adults. That matches Corban’s strengthened effort to teach its Ministry students to reach people of all ages.

“We recognize that churches are moving toward ministries that include college students, whole families and children and their parents,” Trull said.

Rather than focusing primarily on a youth group, today’s churches are looking to serve whole families and a wider age range. A student and family minister might run a youth group, coordinate a singles group, run AWANA, oversee the church’s nursery staff and/or offer a parenting class.

“I think this wide approach is much better,” Baker said. “It’s easy to be focused on youth to the exclusion of children and older adults. We’re moving toward a holistic model where we’re at least aware of the spiritual, psychological, physical and emotional development at each stage.”

When Baker arrives at Corban, Professor Mike Flores, head of the Youth Ministry program, will move into teaching additional theology courses. A continuing enrollment boom is expected to generate 20 more hours of ministry instruction, Trull said.

“Mike Flores’ work has been so important for us. He’s given the Youth Ministry program an academic edge and brought it to where it is today,” Trull added. “God has provided the right people for us in every season of ministry here.”

-- By Christena Brooks