Brandon K. McKoy, DMin

New Hope Baptist Church in Gastonia, North Carolina
Gardner-Webb University in the department of Religious Studies and Philosophy

Email: bmckoy@gardner-webb.edu 

Rev. Dr. Brandon K. McKoy is a youth pastor at New Hope Baptist church in Gastonia, North Carolina, and an adjunct instructor at Gardner-Webb University in the department of Religious Studies and Philosophy. Brandon is also a member of “Trialogue,” an interfaith community where Jews, Christians, and Muslims dialogue through sharing their faith stories. 

Brandon has served as a minister to youth and their families for over 14 years, and he is passionately committed to the young and their communities. Brandon integrates social constructionism with practical theology in youth ministry, and endeavors to co-create a space for relational awareness and responsibility within this field. 

As an adjunct instructor, Brandon has introduced social constructionism in his courses as a way of deepening student’s understanding of the relational formations of adolescents and their Christian practices. He also utilizes social constructionism to expose these practices so that more inclusive approaches to ministering to youth and their families are explored. 

Brandon attempts to engage youth and students through collaborating life stories that enable them to question the dominant discourses that have saturated their lives. He co-constructs with them new forms of relating and “storying” that strengthen and empower youth to become advocates for others—especially those who are marginalized in society. 

Areas of interest include the social construction of adolescence, life stories, discourse analysis, and hermeneutics. Brandon is particularly keen on how adolescents coordinate their life stories with others and how these life stories shape their interactions. He is also interested in the current adult discourse about adolescents that limit intergenerational relationships, and how new forms of discourse may bridge these gaps.

Brandon K. McKoy, DMin Files & Links