How do you keep the “why” of ministry at the forefront of your ministry? Sometimes it takes a healthy dose of perspective of another leader’s reality. This episode with NextGen Leaders, Zach & Caitlin Thomas, may be one of those moments. In this interview they share how they’ve been able to see fruit in their inner city student ministries, the gospel burden every ministry leader should carry, and the importance of stepping back and saying, “But Look What God Did!” We also finally answer the debate of which city is actually the real “Little Chicago”.
Resources Highlighted in this Interview:

• Connect further with Zach & Caitlin at [email protected], or [email protected] and via Facebook: Zach, Caitlin

Guest Bio:
Pastors Zachary (Zach) and Caitlin (Cait) Thomas started dating in 2008 after they met at a county fair. In 2012, these high school sweethearts got married and began their life as husband and wife. God has richly blessed them with three beautiful children, Samuel (9), Daniel (6), and Gabriella (3). They also have several pets including two dogs, three chickens, two ducks, several fish, a turtle, and a leopard gecko.
Being born the son of a pastor, Zach grew up with a rich relationship with the Lord and was deeply connected to the church. Having always known that there was a call to pastoral ministry on his life, Zach officially assumed the role of Children’s Minister in August 2018, under the leadership of his father, Sr. Pastor, Dennis Thomas.
Cait’s path to pastoral ministry was not as direct as her husband’s. Unlike Zach, Cait grew up as an in the Catholic Church but lacked a true relationship with God. When she started dating Zach, he asked her to come to youth group and Sunday morning service with him at Grandview Church. During a Wednesday night youth service in November 2008, Cait gave her life to the Lord. Since 2010, she has faithfully served in both children’s and youth ministry at Grandview, as well as singing on the worship team and writing worship songs for their congregation. In May 2020, Cait officially became the Youth Minister at Grandview Church. She also serves in a bi-vocational role, splitting her time working a large health insurance company as well as the church.
In fall of 2020, both Zach and Cait became licensed ministers through the Foursquare Church, and they were ordained in March of 2023. The primary make-up of their ministry is inner-city outreach. A large majority of their students come from homes with food insecurities, socioeconomic struggles, addiction issues, imprisoned parents/guardians (or have faced jail-time themselves), single-parent homes, gang affiliation, and kids faced with being pulled from their homes by DCFS. While their ministry has many challenges, they love what they do, and they firmly believe that God has called them to this area to make a difference through the Power of Jesus. They passionately believe that to be an effective ministry, you must feed the body, the mind, and the heart/soul.

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