Return to Normal

Ryan Haas’ call story began in tragedy. He was on a high school mission trip when he learned that his associate pastor, who the community thought had beat his battle with cancer, answered an unexpected phone call: He was newly diagnosed with a cantaloupe-sized tumor. “We were all distraught, heartbroken, and started mourning right there in the hallway because we knew he was going to die,” Haas recalls. “In that moment, our youth director was so composed and offered strength, told us we could ask questions and be angry with God. She said, ‘I can’t fix this for him or anyone, but we can be here together in our greif.’” Haas was the slowest to rejoin the group because the experience viscerally reminded him of his own father, in and out of hospitals his entire life. “It just isn’t fair,” he says solemnly. “But my youth director was so helpful—no answers or conclusions, we just got to wrestle with the news.” When the group returned home and he had time to reflect on his experiences, he knew what he wanted to do. “We were sharing our experience with the church,” he remembers. “I finally got to the microphone, and I said, ‘I want to do what our youth director did for us on this trip. That’s how I want to spend my life.’”

This potent sense of vocation didn’t diminish with time. He attended Illinois Wesleyan University to pursue a religion and business degree and, upon graduation, enrolled in Garrett’s MDiv program. While he first entertained the notion that he might pursue chaplaincy instead, a youth ministry internship steered him back toward his instinctive path. “Working with the kids, I had the John Wesley heartwarming moment,” he says. “I knew this is where I should be and what I should be doing.” Life wasn’t through with surprises it held in store, either. At the end of his second year, a youth ministry position opened at his home congregation, First United Methodist Church in Normal, Illinois. Joyfully, he accepted the role part-time, which enabled him to continue his seminary education while also serving the congregation. Upon returning home, he knew he made the right choice. “It makes me feel so good when people say, ‘I watched you grow up and I’m so glad you’re back,’” he says. “There’s been an outpouring of people who tell that they remember hearing my call story when I was a sophomore, that they’ve been praying for me since that night and now that I’m here those prayers won’t stop.”

In the intervening time, however, Haas developed skills at Garrett that prepared him to build robust programs for the community’s young people. “Dr. Blount’s youth ministry course was particularly powerful. I thought he was going to tell us what kind of programs might work with our youth. On day one he said, ‘That’s not what we’re doing here.’” he laughs. “Instead, we learned how they engage the world, what’s going on in their brains, because if we can understand where they’re coming from and what’s changing within them, we can affect them in positive ways.” He also integrated faith and ecology courses to help his youth group care for the local ecosystem. While youth ministry is sometimes erroneously treated as an afterthought in churches, Haas relishes the opportunity to bring intention to this work. “Helping youth engage and understand their faith isn’t a someday thing, it’s a right now thing because life is hard,” he says. “A twelve year-old just reached out because they lost a grandparent, asking ‘What do I do? How do I find Jesus?’”

One of the most powerful ways a Garrett education has shaped his work at Normal, however, is his ability to accept the job in the first place. “Being a fully online student was the only way I could pursue my calling, because youth ministry is a very in-person activity,” he notes with gratitude. “As a deacon candidate, I’m not guaranteed a job upon graduation, so being able to access school from wherever helps me get ordained but also live in a world where I really need a job.”

Now that he has graduated, he’s thrilled to dive headfirst to support these young people’s lives. “My own youth group experience was very chaotic, I had three youth ministers over four years,” he says. “Now I get to be an ongoing presence for them. There are things I can do to make the world a better place and to show God loves all people.” One of the first things he did? Make sure the youth lead worship on the first Sunday each month so they can take communion. “I never realized how important communion is until I came to Garrett and got the sacrament every week,” he says. “Now, the church sees and loves that our youth are either ushers or communion servers the first Sunday each month. They’re going to get their communion, and we’re going to know God loves us.”