ROBERTSDALE, Ala. -- Garrett Bearden knew at a young age that he wanted to serve others through ministry.

“I grew up in the church and both my parents were very active in the church,” said the Macon, Ga., native who was recently hired as associate minister at Robertsdale United Methodist Church. “Growing up I was always very active in youth groups.”

After graduating from high school, Bearden said he was led to attend a Christian university, Emmanuel College in nearby Franklin Springs, Ga.

“I became very involved with the worship ministry there,” he said. “We would travel working with various youth groups.”

It’s also where he met his future wife, Casey. The two would later marry after Bearden began work on his master’s degree at Pensacola Theological Seminary.

While he did not finish his degree, Bearden said, he spent three years in student ministry there.

He would then return to Georgia, where he spent seven years as a student minister at Antioch Christian Church in Athens.

“I had a wide range of responsibility, from kindergarteners all the way up to serving older adults,” he said. “I also filled the pulpit some.”

The church was similar in size to Robertsdale, where he has served now for less than a month, he said.

“I’m working primarily with middle school to high school age students,” he said. “I’m really just doing whatever the pastor needs me to do to help out.”

Part of his duties also include assisting with Sunday worship and visitation, along with coordinating the youth ministry, which meets every Wednesday and Sunday night. He will also help coordinate the upcoming youth-led worship service and will help out with the church’s Sonshiners group.

“This is such a loving congregation,” he said, “and such a loving community. Everyone is so willing to help each other out and we are so blessed to be here.”

Bearden and his wife Casey have two children, Gavin, who is in kindergarten ; and Zoe, 3.