Grove United Methodist Church in Hatton, Mo., just outside of Auxvasse. It is a rural church that is well-known across the state for its very large youth ministry. Klepees tells guests to prepare for up to 130 kids on any given Wednesday night. “It’s pretty rare to have that many kids in a youth ministry program,” said Pastor Bill O’Neal, a friend of Klepees’ and pastor at Linn Memorial United Methodist Church in Fayette. “It’s rare even for large, metropolitan churches.” The secret, Klepees said, is authenticity. Paul Klepees, ’16, with “his kids” and Eddie the Eagle at Pleasant Grove. “When selecting the people to work with our youth, authenticity is what we’re looking for,” Klepees said. “Sometimes, it’s not the people you would think. BY SCOTT QUEEN But they are authentic, and the kids respond.” aul Klepees, ’16, and his wife, Margie, Klepees said that today’s society is always were pretty comfortable with their life. trying to persuade youth and adults to be He was in hospital administration. She someone else – star football players, models, was a nurse. They already had their dream etc. house. But that call to the ministry moved from “This and everything else going on in the the back of his head to the forefront. world causes kids to struggle. . . with their They pondered. And they prayed. And identity, with anxiety, and other issues,” he together, they dove in. They put their house said. “So, we focus on not asking them to be on the market and fell in love with a church like someone else, and we try to provide a safe that needed them. and comfortable space.” Fast forward, and Klepees is now finishing And it is working. The kids come from all up his fifth year as senior pastor at Pleasant over mid-Missouri – from Columbia, Centralia,
Youth Ministry Thriving at Pleasant Grove UMC
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Mexico, North Calloway, South Callaway, and Fulton – to be a part of it. “If we grow any more we are going to have to start having some serious discussions here at the church about space,” he joked. “We don’t even have another closet available. All the space is taken.” Pleasant Grove even had strong Wednesday attendance during COVID. “At first we did Zoom,” Klepees said. “I loaded up some YouTube videos and did some dorky dancing. We basically provided the kids a chance to get together.” Klepees said his county “opened up” the second year, and the church produced proper health forms and voluntary quarantining to allow the program to occur in-person. “We took the approach that we were going to let the families decide what was best for their kids,” he said. “And we actually grew during this time period. Even then, and for sure now, you’d be hard-pressed to be around them and not smile and feel their life and their joy.” Klepees, who has provisional status and will hopefully become ordained in 2023, doesn’t take credit for the success of his widely-known youth ministry. He credits all the volunteers, the church, and his 20-hour a week Nexgen minister Kris O’Neal for two generations of people who “had an eye for this” and started a youth program to create biblical discipleship. Klepees says he merely guides the program. He credits his education at Central in the College of Graduate and Extended Studies program for shaping his hospital administration career. He said the issues he faced in rural Missouri hospital administration were “very transferrable” to his ministry life at Pleasant Grove UMC. “It couldn’t have been a better fit [going to Pleasant Grove],” he said.
