The Hot Seat with Joe Deegan

For the first edition of "The Hot Seat," we delve into the mind of Joe Deegan, RYM's Director of Conferences. After firing off a series of burning questions, we hope you'll enjoy his answers and an opportunity to learn a little more about the man behind the mic of RYM Worship.

I grew up in Tuscumbia, AL (birthplace of Helen Keller), and I live in Houston, TX now.

I’ve been coming to RYM since 2007 when I chaperoned for First Presbyterian, Tuscumbia as a college student. I then worked as a youth leader in Houston for 7 years, and we brought our youth group to RYM Conferences almost every summer. After my time in youth ministry, I decided to pursue music which led me to joining the RYM staff full-time as the Worship Leader in 2018. It’s been a dream job for me these past 6 years.

My favorite thing to do is probably hang out with my family. That sounds like a cop out answer; so, to be more specific, I’ll say playing and watching sports with my family. I come from a big basketball family, so anytime I can do anything basketball related with my wife or kids, I’m all in.

I’m still a sucker for the TV shows and movies I fell in love with when I was a teenager (e.g., Lord of the Rings, the Office)—lots of early 2000s stuff. So, my answer for the best TV show today is one that started when I was a teenager and is still going strong 24 years later—Survivor.

My most beloved article of clothing is an old, red “Shoals Stallions” basketball t-shirt that my dad gave me in 1996 when he was coaching basketball in Alabama. It’s been through a lot and has been sewed up a few times, but it’s still hanging in there.

I would tell youth-aged people today that the most important thing you can do to prepare for adulthood is to go to church. That may sound like too simple of an answer, but the older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve come to realize that nothing has shaped my life more than the church. Nothing shapes anyone the way the church does because it’s the thing God instituted to be in relationship with His people.

I didn’t always go to church for the right reasons when I was teenager, and I can’t count the number of hours I’ve sat in a sanctuary and walked away and immediately forgotten everything I heard, learned or experienced. Yet, even then, God was using the church to shape, mold and make me who I am today—I would be lost without it.

I would tell parents not to be afraid to "force" your kids to go to church. I know we can be scared to force Jesus on our kids because we want them to want Jesus on their own. But I had the privilege of doing youth ministry with some amazing families over a decade ago, so I have some interesting data to look back on now.

Almost all of the parents who prioritized church in their families are seeing the fruit of grown kids in their 20s and 30s who go every week and are thriving within the church community. Even the kids who didn't want to go during high school and avoided church in college, living like the prodigal son, are back because of the Lord's work. So, don't be afraid to tell your kids that church is not an option in your family. God uses the cumulative effect of all those Sundays to prick them with his grace as they get older.

Joe currently serves as RYM’s Director of Conferences where he continues to lead the music as well as the Summer Interns and Conference programming. In addition, Joe has recorded several worship albums under for RYM Worship, including: “Promised Land," "Sing Over Us," and "A New Creation.”

Read more about Joe and others from the RYM staff >>