Colorado Springs, CO

October 4, 2019 | Marie D. Magana

Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) alumnus Shawn Reine was recently announced as the new Church Ministries Director for the Assemblies of God Rocky Mountain Ministry Network .

“I am most excited about the opportunity to develop, train and resource leaders as well as focusing on their overall health as a whole,” says Reine.

As the Church Ministries Director, he oversees all of the departments within the network including areas such as student ministry, children’s ministry, and church resourcing and development. The role requires a great deal of team building, delegating tasks and empowering leaders. Reine explained that the Church Ministries Director is a new position for the network. The opportunity came about when the decision was made to combine three positions, two-part time and one full-time, into one director-level position which would improve coherency between departments.

This change requires Reine to wear numerous hats but he is confident in the people he works with stating, “I cannot do this position alone.”

Reine was a youth pastor for 12 years, a community pastor and a church planter. During his numerous ministerial roles, Reine believes that the most impactful strategy he learned was discipleship.

“If you are around me for any length of time you are going to hear words like journey and process – these are necessary tools to hone true discipleship. I think God is just as concerned with the process as the destination.”

Through Reine’s many years of serving in ministry, he believes that God is using his experiences to provide him with a unique purpose.

He envisions an empowering leadership movement to foster students as they grow and take steps towards walking into leadership themselves. In this process, he is adamant that the church isn’t creating doers or followers but students with a solid foundation.

Reine shared about a time in his ministry when students transitioned from children’s ministry to youth ministry. “We would host a fifth-grade retreat and I would work with the kid’s pastor in the church. We would pass the kids onto the other with intentionality and then connect them with a big brother or big sister in the youth group.” Reine explained that this connection that was made between the two students with one serving as more a mentor resembles his views on the necessary transition that should occur in ministry. He refers to this philosophy as the “art of the handoff.” The connection between leaders and future mentors are the foundational building blocks in establishing a supportive team-building environment. He hopes that this approach to leadership transition can be adopted and shared amongst the AG community.

“If we can take care of our leaders, then we are going to see healthy groups, healthy students, healthy churches, and healthy communities.”

Reine believes his time at SAGU has had a deep impact on his views and abilities as a leader. He recalled one instance in which he accompanied Dr. Garland Owensby, Youth, and Student Ministries Professor, for a speaking engagement. “Whether it was 10 students or it was 150 students, watching his genuineness and realness then continues to inspire me to be like that now.”

Reine keeps this inspiration in mind as he begins to take on the full weight of his new position. He will also be stepping into the role of the District’s Youth Director, where he hopes to truly accomplish this dream and master the “art of the hand-off.”

Reine simply says, “My mission in life is to help others succeed.”

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