Going the Distance

Third generation Yorkie Justus Coppinger graduated at the end of April with a couple of degrees behind his name, a bachelor’s in vocal performance and another in biblical studies. His plate was full in his final semester with voice and piano lessons, classes in Old Testament and Greek, running indoor and outdoor track, a church internship in Lincoln, preparing for his senior recital, and… or maybe it really should be AND—planning his summer wedding! Coppinger’s plate has always been insanely full, but we’ll get to that a little later.

On one particular Thursday this spring, he hit pause on all his YC responsibilities and boarded a plane to the west coast for an all-expenses paid stay on world renowned Malibu beach. Well, almost. Before you get too jealous, he actually was on the campus of Pepperdine University that overlooks the beach. And instead of soaking in the sun and enjoying the scenic landscape, Justus went through an intense two-day coaching/training workshop to enhance future sermons he might give. Sound fun?

Next Gen Preacher Search (NGPS) is a unique outreach to young Christian students in high schools and colleges across the country who have an interest in preaching and teaching. Designed to encourage and inspire young people towards the ministry of God's word, it is an open invitation for students to submit a 5-minute video of their speaking for review and critique.

At the encouragement of Dr. Terry Seufferlein, professor of Bible and Tom N. Schultz chair for mission studies at York College, Coppinger submitted a sermon clip.

“Justus has a gift for communicating the biblical text in a way that impacts lives,” said Dr. Seufferlein. “He had just completed an assignment for one of my classes in which he gave a quality sermon on the ten lepers cleansed by Jesus and the gratefulness of the one who was a Samaritan. It would be a challenge to condense it down to five minutes, but I told him he should enter it into the Preacher Search competition.”

Coppinger reflected, “My initial thought was, that’s really cool! There’s no way I’ll get it, but I’ll try. It was empowering to me that he thought I had the talent to make it.” The added gesture of the Bible department and York Campus Ministries offering to pay for his flight if he was chosen sealed the deal.

Someway, somehow Coppinger knew that as busy as he was going to be in his final semester of his senior year, the opportunity to receive one-on-one coaching from legends in ministry was too good to pass up. After all, what’s new? His plate has always been full. Along with carrying a double major, he has served two years as president of his social club Sigma Tau, hosted Songfest twice and emceed one year, took the stage multiple times in the YC One Acts, played soccer his freshman year, ran cross country and track the last two, served as a junior representative in student government, and is a four-year member of Concert Choir and Celebration Singers… and all while consistently making the Dean’s List with a cumulative GPA of 3.96.

Hearing the Call

Coppinger decided to add biblical studies as a major after interning a summer with Ricky Pruitt ’93, Youth and Family Minister at the Kerrville Church of Christ in Texas. Through Pruitt’s friendship, how he mentored his role to Justus, and the appeal of working with kids, Coppinger decided, “I think I want to pursue doing something like this.”

His junior year went as he hoped, splitting his time between the music and Bible departments, and he signed up with Pruitt for a second summer internship in 2021.

“Serving alongside Justus for two summers was an incredible privilege,” commented Pruitt. “His willingness to learn from any situation or conversation magnified his credibility in the eyes of those he served as well as those on staff. He grew immensely in his ability to lead a class through experiences, discussion, Bible exploration, and application. His interpersonal skills allowed him to connect with teens and adults, relating to different generations naturally. He was excellent at forming relationships and using that connection to encourage those around him.”

When asked about the takeaways he gleaned from his internships, Coppinger said, “Ministry takes a lot of patience, particularly with youth ministry and getting to know these kids. It takes a lot of smaller conversations that lead up to some bigger things. I had some really awesome experiences and conversations, but that’s at the end of two summers of getting to know these kids. It wasn’t like come in and change everybody’s lives real quick and head out.”

One of Coppinger’s recognizable gifts is of course singing, whether he’s leading worship on campus, church services, or being part of a praise team. His time at Kerrville was life-changing in that regard.

“I think for the first time I experienced “church” in general on a different level,” he said. “Because I had a role and tried to be as intentional as possible in that role, I remember every Sunday coming away from a church service being so filled myself. Not because I was there to fill myself necessarily, but I think it was because my mindset changed from what is this service going to do for me—to how can I invest, what can I bring this morning.”

Equipped to Answer

To his surprise, of the hundred-plus video entries, Coppinger’s made the cut. He was invited to the weekend workshop, February

GOING THE DISTANCE

by Steddon Sikes ’84

(from the top) Justus interned two summers with Ricky Pruitt, YC class of ’93.

Justus, Ethan Leinen, and Hosea Kiptoo run the indoor 800 meters at a track meet.

After Coppinger's senior recital, Dr. Clark Roush posted, "He made himself and the music department proud!"

Justus and his fiance Kelsey Beck are planning a summer 2022 wedding. 11-12, training alongside a team of experienced preachers including Jeff Walling, Dan Rodriguez, and Greg Daum.

Walling, who hosts NGPS, wrote, “Congratulations! You have been selected as one of the semi-finalists for the 2022 Next Gen Preacher Search! The choices were tough but our team felt you have a special talent that we want to help you develop.” A few of the critique comments on his video submission were, “Justus I loved your passion. This theme is clearly important to you. Thanks for showing that passion, it really came through in your presentation.” Another comment said, “Well done! 5 minute messages are hard to preach. You honored the text well and applied it.”

When Coppinger was asked how he hoped to benefit from the NGPS experience he said that being young, he doesn’t receive a lot of feedback aside from “Good job,” or “Thank you so much for speaking.” He’s very appreciative of that encouragement but was looking forward to growing his gift. “I would like to be able to refine what I do and receive constructive criticism from people who are experts in that field,” he said.

In addition to the overall training, each participant was asked to prepare a 5 minute message in advance that the preaching team could critique and give tips for improvement in both content and presentation. At the conclusion of the workshop, Justus and his fellow students applied what they learned and were filmed giving that same lesson before a panel of ministers.

Walling, who was on the panel said, “Justus, I reflect back on hearing you speak in our class, and I thought, you know this is a nice lesson. Which tells me that you have grabbed a hold of this, owned it, embodied it — and all of a sudden I’m sitting here at the table going, ‘This is not just a Next Gen Preacher Search guy.’ You stepped up and you were a prophet! Prophets make people uncomfortable. They tell the truth, the hard truth. You did it passionately. But we didn’t get mad at you. You’re a sneaky passionate prophet. You came at us with this sweet little "clickbait" idea, and we’re all ahaha. And then before you know it, we’re seeing ourself in those people. You kept smiling, but you kept sharing. I am praying for teenagers who need to hear that message. And they will hear it from you so differently than they will from any of us old guys. So please, please keep preaching!”

Justus returned to York and jumped right into preparing for midterms, running track, and finishing his graduation requirements. He gleaned all he could from the workshop and reported that the whole experience was, “insanely intense but so rewarding.” Two weeks later, he gave his Next Gen talk in chapel before the YC student body… and wouldn’t you know it, the same week as his senior recital. Now that's a bit insane.

About that time he was also notified that ministers who watched his NGPS video had selected him as one of five finalists and asked that he once more return to Malibu. This time he would present his lesson at Pepperdine's Harbor 2022 Bible Lectures as a Next Generation Preacher Ambassador.

After the event, his fiancé posted on social media that Justus did an incredible job and that she had the wonderful opportunity to practice being a minister’s wife. n

Justus’ great grandfather Joe K. Alley had a 14-year tenure at York College (1963-76) serving as a Bible professor, vice president, and interim president at YC. His grandparents John and *Bettye Jo (Alley) Hamm (’69) were at York when it was just a two-year school, and his parents Matthew (’96) and Laura (Hamm ’95) Coppinger were students during the transition to a four-year college. Now he and his fiancé Kelsey Beck (whose parents John ’98 and Nicole (Roitsch ’94) Beck were at YC with Matt and Laura) are students during the transition to York University. Justus said, "Yeah, I know. It's crazy!"