New youth pastor 'works behind the Bible'

Brent Mackie finds ultimate church at Immanuel Lutheran

Photo: Brent Mackie, the new youth pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church, has a lot of trips planned for the summer, using the church's bus.

Brent Mackie, the new youth pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church, is a bundle of barely contained joy.

In talking to him, one of the things that readily becomes apparent is his pleasure to be here in Moses Lake, and at Immanuel Lutheran, located at 1020 A St., in particular.

While he might have only held the position of youth pastor about five weeks or so, Mackie's history with the church goes back a bit farther.

A few years back, Mackie was taking a group of 12 kids to Creation Festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre. They intended to stay at one of the area churches, but found there was no room.

Mackie looked through the phone book and came across Immanuel Lutheran. Then-pastor Kevin Smith allowed the group to stay in the church's basement that year, and in the years following.

"From 1998 to 2002, I stayed in the basement of this church," Mackie said. "And then, out of the blue, here's this church saying, 'Hey, we'd like you to come.' This was the church I'd dreamed of and I wanted to work at, even back in 1998 … To actually be in this place where I was like, this would be the ultimate church, and all of a sudden get the position; God had his hand in it all."

More recently, the church found Mackie's resume online at a youth specialities Web site. Mackie had actually applied for the position the year previous, but things hadn't worked out at the time.

When his resume resurfaced, the church gave Mackie a call and he was on his way within three and a half weeks, he said.

"I love it," he said of Moses Lake. "I'm definitely home. Even though I'm western Washington born and raised, just coming over here and getting to know the people and the climate, I'm loving it out here. It's one of those things where we're going to be out here a long time."

As youth pastor, Mackie said that he does everything from helping out with junior high aged youth and going on different trips with them, to meeting Wednesday nights for a Bible study/ goof-off time.

"I've learned with these kids, you just kind of get them pumped up and doing some activities, and then you go right down into the message, and it works out," he said.

Mackie got started working with youth at a camp in Idaho. He was planning on being a maintenance instructor, but found himself saying "Yes," when they asked if he would like to be a camp counselor.

"I said yes; I don't know why, but I said yes, and just worked with kids for 24 hours a day five days a week," he said. "I got hooked. Literally, it was just God saying, 'You're going to be a youth minister.' Because I was about to be a police officer. I was about a quarter away from going to the police academy and the works, and God said, 'No, you're not going to work behind a badge; you're working behind a Bible.'"

Church member Laurie Odegaard, a parent of teenagers, said that Mackie has been doing an excellent job.

"He just started the very first of April, but he kind of jumped in full-bore," Odegaard said, referring to Mackie's participation in a family ski retreat, Easter brunch and a whole host of other activities. "He has lots of stuff planned for summer already. He's a neat guy; (he has) lots of experience with kids and just really wanting to get in there and do good things with kids, and not just kids from religious families. He's wanting to work with all kids."

It sounds like he's making progress on that front.

"He's brought a lot more kids into the group," said Derek McMains, an eighth grader at Frontier Middle School. "Before he came, we only had about 10 kids coming every Wednesday, including high school and middle school. The kids that come every week have been telling a lot of friends, 'This guy's pretty cool.' He actually listens to us and he makes a lot of cool church games for us to relate to for the time that is now."