BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
If Joel Lasko acted on his own instincts, he’d probably still be living in Tennessee, but his faith in God brought him and his family to Bradford County, where he will, through God, work to have a positive, spiritual impact as the new youth pastor at First Baptist Church of Starke.
From his own perspective, nothing was preparing him to end up at a church in Starke, but in looking back on his life, he can see how things unfolded from God’s perspective.
“God was shaping and preparing me for this moment here, in this church, in this county, for this specific time,” Lasko said. “I didn’t see it.”
Lasko and his family were rooted in Tennessee, living in Nashville’s Mount Juliet suburb. His whole life had been spent in Tennessee. He was enjoying success working in real estate, while his wife, Lauren, ran a boutique she bought.
When his friend Matthew Page, who’s been the lead pastor at First Baptist of Starke since ??, asked him to come down and interview for the youth pastor position, Lasko said he told his friend he was crazy.
Yet Lasko and his wife both prayed about the matter, with God providing the answers they needed in pondering such a life-changing move.
The church voted on accepting Lasko as the new youth pastor during a visit to First Baptist of Starke in June 2022. His first Sunday in that capacity was Oct. 17.
Lasko said the process was a reminder to him and his wife, and a valuable lesson to his two children, that what might not make sense to you makes a lot of sense to God, who has the bigger picture in mind.
“It started to teach my wife and me — and even our girls — obedience, about putting our faith in God and allowing Him to direct our paths versus us saying that just because it doesn’t make sense (at the time) doesn’t mean it can’t happen or shouldn’t happen.”
Lasko felt a calling to work with young people shortly after graduating from high school, but his first role was teaching in public schools.
A call to teach and minister to the youth
Lasko, who accepted Christ as his savior at the age of 10, admitted he was unsure of what he wanted to do after high school. He first attended a community college, bur after rededicating his life to God, felt like he needed to attend a seminary.
“I realized God had a greater purpose for me, and that I needed to surrender my life to Him,” Lasko said.
He attended Johnson Bible College (Johnson University now) in Kimberlin Heights, outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. While there, he felt the desire to work with children and decided to pursue a career in education, with a focus on teaching in the public-school season.
Lasko had several friends who were pursuing degrees in education, which he believed was no coincidence. It was part of God’s plan.
“There was a reason why my closest friends were in education,” Lasko said. “I knew at that point I was supposed to do something with young people.”
He eventually went on teach for 15 years — the majority of those at the middle-school level. However, though he enjoyed teaching, Lasko began to feel that the job wasn’t fulfilling. He also sensed God was wanting him to make a change.
“I was very comfortable in the school system,” Lasko said. “I could’ve just stayed there and retired as a schoolteacher. Not that that would’ve been a bad thing. I think (God) was like, ‘I’ve got something greater for you to do, a greater purpose.’”
Lasko said he felt as if God was calling him to impact youth in a different way, which he explained to Page — who was still living in Tennessee at the time — over lunch one day. He told Page, “I’m not sure where God is leading me, but part of me feels like he’s re-directing me to full-time ministry.”
Page’s response was, “Just pray about it. If it’s ministry, He will make that known to you at the right time.”
Lasko did leave his teaching job and began working in real estate. It proved to be something he was successful at, but Lasko still felt that God was wanting him to work in youth ministry.
Yet Lasko couldn’t help but wonder if that was really what was meant to happen. His only ministerial experience was during his final two years at Johnson, when he worked part-time as a youth pastor at a small church.
“I’m not sure anybody would ever take a chance on me,” Lasko admitted to himself and others.
Page, again, encouraged him, saying, “If that’s where God wants you and has called you, it’s going to happen.”
Happen it did. Now Lasko finds himself in the “awesome” position of working alongside one of his friends and feeling grateful for a church that took a chance on him.
“I believe that God called me here,” he said. “It was all in God’s working for a 47-year-old ex-teacher to be here for this moment and to walk alongside Pastor Matthew and the leaders of this church.”
Making a move, transforming lives
Lasko, his wife, Lauren, and their children, Quinn, 9, and Harper, 7, now enjoy a life that’s not quite so hectic as the go-go-go atmosphere of Nashville.
“It’s kind of a little bit slower-paced here, which has been a breath of fresh air, just to be able to breathe a little bit,” Lasko said.
The family had made visits to Florida in the past, having enjoyed vacations at beaches in cities such as Destin, Seacrest, Seagrove Beach and Seaside, so it’s nice to now be living somewhere that doesn’t require a long drive to a beach.
“My daughters love the beach,” Lasko said, adding, “The beach is just their Heaven on earth, I guess.”
Actually, the whole family loves the beach, as well as the weather in Florida, so the move to Bradford County basically fit the criteria necessary for Lasko to leave his home state.
“If we’re going to out of Tennessee, we want to be close to the beach, and we want to be someplace warm,” he said. “We’re not on the beach, but we’re close, and we’re someplace warmer.”
Lasko, of course, was going to go wherever God led him, and he can see that First Baptist of Starke is indeed where God wanted him. Yes, it’s “really awesome” to serve alongside his friend Page, he said, but at First Baptist, he’s met a collection of people wanting to impact lives, especially those of youth.
“They want to see God do great things here,” Lasko said. “That was one of the main things that really pulled me to come here. My calling is to serve God and to share the love of Jesus and allow God to transform young people’s lives.
“You can see the need for that here and in this community.”
The church has started having youth-led Sunday services, which Lasko said are planned for four to five times a year.
“We want to see more of that,” he said, adding, “It was cool to see that vibrance and excitement in our people for our young people, to see them involved. I’m looking forward to that, to see a church that wants to see kids involved.”
The church had a Wednesday night student ministry that kind of went by the wayside when COVID became a thing. Following the pandemic, Page (before Lasko’s arrival) began meeting with three young men who were coming to the church in an effort to get the ministry up and going again.
Lasko was interviewed for this story on Jan. 23. At that time, he said the previous Wednesday (Jan. 18) consisted of 15-16 as part of that student ministry. The credit for the ministry’s growth, he said, goes to the youth, especially the revived ministry’s original three boys, who asked others to be a part of the ministry with them.
“It’s not anything that I did, obviously,” Lasko said. “It’s the kids — the students here — knowing there’s a church that cares. We’re providing something for them on Wednesday nights — some community for them, for them to be with other kids in a safe environment.”
Lasko is enjoying being a part of the First Baptist of Starke family — and grateful.
“They didn’t have to take a chance on me,” he said, adding, “I believe that God called me here. It was all in God’s working for a 47-year-old ex-teacher to be here for this moment and to walk alongside Pastor Matthew and the leaders of this church.”
