Student Spotlight: Making the Father Known 

Student Spotlight: Making the Father Known 

Antwann Yocum models a relational ministry

As campus pastor of the Johnson City, Tennessee site of City Church, a husband married 17 years to his high school sweetheart, Bethany, and father of two children ages 15 and 7, Antwann Yocum says his life is blessed by the goodness of God. A student at Wesley Biblical Seminary, Antwann has been in ministry for over 15 years, serving much of that time as an officer in the Salvation Army. However, he can recall a time when his life felt anything but blessed. 

Growing up in central Kentucky, Antwann says he never knew his biological father. His mother did the best she could, he says, but their family story was one of extreme poverty. Moreover, the rejection Antwann felt from his father’s absence led to anger and resentment that overwhelmed his heart. 

Nevertheless, God sent people into Antwann’s life who modeled Christ for him. “Pastors and other male role models,” he says, “made me feel secure, wanted, known, and loved. They met the whole hierarchy of human needs in me.” 

Their influence made a difference. At age seven, Antwann accepted Christ at a Salvation Army summer camp. Surrounded by choirs and the importance of music in the church, he learned to play the guitar and trumpet, and he could later attend college on a vocal scholarship. 

During his freshman year in college, Antwann experienced a call to become more fully consecrated. “The Lord got a hold of me then,” he says, “and I’ve been living for him ever since.” At first, went home and served as a bi-vocational minister doing evangelism and outreach through a community center where he could connect to young men like himself through after-school programs, sports, and recreation. Then, after earning his BSW in Social Work at Eastern Kentucky University, he became a social work investigator, becoming an advocate for others in poverty and standing up against abuse and neglect. “It was emotionally taxing work, but my own experiences made me want to serve families in need, connect them to resources, and give them better ways to cope with stressors,” Antwann explains. 

While working on a master’s in social work, God further called Antwann to serve in the Church. He and Bethany became SA officers, appointed to inner city Atlanta. There, they were able to come alongside all kinds of people, including the homeless and drug addicts, to not only offer physical care but also to teach the Word of God and demonstrate God’s love on a personal basis. More recently, Antwann has joined the staff of City Church in Tennessee, where he continues to build a ministry that connects people with the heart of God. 

Antwann believes that his preaching, teaching, and every aspect of ministry flows out of a willingness to be authentic and vulnerable about his own struggles. For example, his church’s most recent sermon series focused on faith and mental health, creating a platform for people to normalize emotional struggles and become more comfortable reaching out for support when they need it. Antwann himself has been touched by the works of Peter Scazzero that emphasize emotionally healthy spirituality and churches. As he has shared about his own weaknesses and limitations, he says people in the church have responded positively to their own need for God’s grace. 

Antwann met Dr. Andy Miller, WBS Vice President of Academic Affairs, who shares a background in The Salvation Army. Their conversations led to Antwann enrolling in classes at the seminary, not necessarily to pursue a formal degree but to strengthen and mature his ministry. “The online format works well for me,” he says, “since I can go at my own pace without pressure.” Through Dr. Friedeman’s class on Discipleship in the Home and Dr. Blakemore’s teaching on the foundations of apologetics, Antwann has gained more tools to be an advocate for truth. “Learning helps me not to get stale but stay fresh and relevant,” he says. 

When Antwann looks back on himself as a ten-year-old boy, he no longer sees himself in terms of an absent father. Through faithful men in the Body of Christ, he has come to know his story as one in which the Father was constantly showing up. That knowledge equips him to show up for others, make them feel seen and known, and share the heart of God the Father with them, as well. And when he encounters the limitations of his own human weakness, he is reminded of the words the Father spoke to the Apostle Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)