San Antonio, Texas–Rob Bailey thought about his parents, who went on to their heavenly reward. Brian Yaun remembered his grandmother, still praying at age 92.
Together, both pledged to draw on their Church of God roots and family trees to give Jesus to a new generation of believers.
Bishop Rob Bailey was nominated by the International General Council of the Church of God to serve as the International Youth and Discipleship Director from 2022-24, just over a year after the Tennessee native was elevated to the top office during the pandemic.
Bishop Brian Yaun was then nominated to continue as the Assistant Director of the Youth and Discipleship Director to close out the opening-day business session of the International General Assembly of the Church of God on Tuesday in San Antonio.
“The Church of God is my tribe and is truly all I’ve ever known,” Bailey said. “I’m so grateful for the church fathers who have poured into me.”
[1]Brian Yaun, left, and Rob Bailey
Then, there is the enduring inspiration of his parents – Robert “Bob” Bailey Sr. and Connie – who both have passed on since the last General Assembly in 2018.
“It’s my father who entrusted me with my first ministry position and instilled in me a love for the Church of God. I’m deeply committed to the heritage that they left me, and to passing that heritage on to an emerging generation.”
Bailey and his wife Christal, who met at a Church of God youth camp at Signal Mountain in 1990, have served together in youth ministry for almost 30 years. The Cleveland high graduate served as a youth director in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and South Carolina until his election as the Assistant International Youth and Discipleship Director in 2016.
Bailey was promoted to International Youth and Discipleship Director in 2021 after the unexpected passing of Bishop David Blair.
Yaun was then elected to replace Bailey as the assistant after serving as youth director in Tennessee. It was his roots in the Langley Church of God in South Carolina that have been foundational to a lifetime spent in youth ministry alongside his wife, Cathy.
“It’s amazing to me how a boy from South Carolina, from a church that has invested so much energy and time into raising up young men and women of God … to know the prayers of a 92-year-old grandmother, not just for her grandson but for her entire family, are still being fulfilled to this day.