January 19, 2023 at 2:23 p.m.
Local Youth Group Leader Establishes Ministerial Roots
Having grown up in the church, Christ and the ministry have been an integral part of his life since he can remember. And with his father, John, serving as pastor at Hope First Wesleyan it was the natural progression of things that he, too, enter the ministry.
When the young Marquis was just four years old, his father began working in the youth ministry.
“As I get older, I’ve just always been in a position where I have seen the ins and outs of the church,” Marquis says. “It just flowed naturally for me.”
Marquis has always been his father’s “buddy and right-hand man to assist him with things,” but it has only been in the past couple of years that Marquis’ responsibility in the church has become greater.
Initially, the elder Marquis regularly sought his son’s input and opinion about different church-related things and, eventually, the opportunity came around where the elder Marquis began allowing his teen son more leadership within the church and its activities.
And with those opportunities came great thought and reflection.
“I prayed about it,” Marquis says. “And it just kind of flowed. I started on the worship team and moved up there. A position opened for me to become youth pastor last summer and so I took it and haven’t looked back.”
Marquis learned a harsh lesson early on, he says. Doing the right thing isn’t always popular. As an active youth in the church, he sometimes found himself on the receiving end of bullying and peers’ bad behavior, but like water off a duck’s back he would let it go.
“I struggled with being picked on for my choices of not wanting to party or do all those things,” he says. “There’s a lot of things that go on in the world that I guess one could say are tempting, but I really just enjoy what I do and I enjoy living a life for Christ. That reward is and always will be more fulfilling than anything this world has to offer me.”
Crediting his upbringing and his parents’ influence, in part, with his ability to keep focus, Marquis fully acknowledges he’s never trod the well-worn path traveled by the general masses.
“My whole life it is never the popular thing to say, ‘I love God, I love Jesus’ and to pursue things like that,” Marquis says. “I’ve always wanted to separate myself from worldly things and I just wanted to pursue the plans that God has for my life and I’ve wanted to do that since I can remember.”
From 7 to 8 p.m. each Thursday you will find Marquis and his girlfriend Emma Woodall at the church leading youth group. The pair divide the kids into guys and gals and it works out great, they say. The groups start off with a quick game and then jump into the week’s lesson for the remaining time with a conversational atmosphere, Marquis says.
The couple says their work with the youth in this capacity is about much more than just leading a group of kids in a discussion once a week.
“He makes sure to have a personal relationship with each youth who attends,” Woodall says. “Hope is a small town, so he sees these kids all throughout the week, which gives him the chance to have a more personal relationship with them. He makes sure to check in on them and see how they’re doing throughout the week.”
Woodall says she enjoys helping Marquis facilitate the weekly gathering.
“I am a strong believer that if you don’t keep God in the center of your relationship, then your relationship will not work,” she says. “This has given us an opportunity to grow in Christ together. And we have such an amazing group of youth who attend. We have a lot of fun together.”
Having faith is incredibly important for today’s youth, Woodall adds.
“We live in a world who wants to tell us who we are,” she says. “So, having faith and knowing your identity in Christ is so important, especially for your teenage years. Quintin and I are very intentional with what we teach, we choose curriculums that are relevant to them. We also make sure to have fun events throughout the year.”
Being so close in age to those to whom he ministers is a benefit that doesn’t feel quite as awkward as it might seem on the surface, Marquis says.
“It was hard at first, definitely, since I went to youth group with them,” Marquis says. “What I had to remember is we are so close in age, but I’m 18 and working full-time, so I’m at that next point in life. So, they look up to me and that makes it easier on me.”
Marquis describes his leadership approach as one framed by experience that helps him relate to and understand the high schoolers. He recognizes he was very recently in their shoes and uses that as a jumping off point and way to relate, he says.
“A lot of them are my friends who I’ve taken leadership over and there is a huge amount of respect amongst us,” Marquis says. “It is the perfect situation for me and makes my approach fairly easy.”
His openness to talk about his faith and life in Christ frequently extends beyond his leadership role, he explains. His relaxed approach and ability to discuss his faith in just about any situation offers great opportunities for making others aware of the group and what they do, he says.
“I like to open the opportunity to come to a group where you don’t have to worry about negative peer pressure and all these things that might stress a kid out and make them like they’re alone in the world,” the 2022 Hauser graduate says. “You can just come and be with a group of kids who are welcoming and learn about Jesus.”
When the youth leader isn’t engaging his peers or working as a machinist at Noblitt Fabricating, Inc., in Columbus, he’s likely hanging out with family or playing the drums, he says. Recalling his mom, Anneliese, playing the drums when he was young, he says it made quite the impression and he’s been in love with the percussive instrument ever since.
Looking to the future Marquis says he will continue in the ministry.
He’s currently considering taking classes through Indiana Wesleyan University to become an ordained minister in the Wesleyan district, he says.
“It isn’t set in stone, yet,” he says. “But it is on my radar.”
With two younger sisters, the weight of what he is pursuing is never lost on Marquis. Despite the ease with which he preaches and approaches his ministry, he realizes and understands the impact he’s making in the lives of area youth.
There’s one message he frequently shares that he wishes someone had shared with him as a kid, he says.
“There is such a beautiful thing when it comes to living your life for Christ,” he says. “When it comes to setting yourself aside from ‘fun things,’ the worldly things, there’s such a beautiful thing and such a beautiful feeling that comes when you separate yourself from that and live your life for Christ.”
To the youth who find themselves being bullied and pressured to follow the crowd, Marquis knows from experience it is difficult and encourages them to persevere and push through.
“I would encourage kids to find a group of kids who believe the same way they do,” he says. “Surround yourself with people you want to be like and find yourself an encouraging group of fellow Christians and kids who are going to encourage you. And then come over to youth group and we will have a good time.”
