Engaging the Bystanders | An Interview with Keyth Pankau

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Keyth Pankau was baptized a member of the Church about six months after joining the Navy when he was 21 years old. He spent nine years in the Navy, including deployments to Fallujah, Iraq, as a member of a convoy security team, and providing relief immediately following Hurricane Katrina. During this time he obtained a degree in Persian Studies from the Defense Language Institute and a bachelor of science. Keyth continued to serve in the Church between deployments as a youth Sunday School teacher, a Gospel Doctrine teacher, a counselor in the Young Men presidency, and a scoutmaster, along with serving while deployed as a sacrament group leader.

Keyth was selected as a Direct Commission Intelligence Officer and switched over to the Coast Guard where he continued a life of travel and service with much shorter trips. He was a dual career track officer (Intelligence/Operations Ashore Response) where he specialized in crisis/emergency management. In the Coast Guard, Keyth also completed his Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University and a Master of Science in Environmental from Louisiana State University. During this time, Keyth served as a 2nd counselor in a Young Men’s presidency, scoutmaster, Young Men president, second counselor in a bishopric, ward mission leader, and a branch president. When the Baton Rouge Temple was rededicated he started serving as an ordinance worker and continues in that capacity today. He is also the bishop of his ward and has been serving for about a year.

Keyth currently works as a civil servant for the Coast Guard and is pursuing a doctor of education in Applied Learning Sciences from the University of Miami. He is the producer, host, and content creator of the podcast “That ALL Might Be Edified: Discussions on Servant Leadership”. Keyth and his wife Tiffany have two daughters and one granddaughter. Originally from Washington, Keyth spent about a year in Illinois and met Tiffany in California. They have also served & lived in Georgia, Alaska, and twice in Louisiana, where they now reside.

Highlights

02:00 Introduction to Keyth and the episode theme

03:20 Keyth’s background in the Coast Guard, serving as bishop, and his podcast

07:15 Search and rescue and how it relates to church leadership

13:41 The indicators that we can use in the Church to search for the individuals who might need rescue

15:10 Keyth shares a personal experience he has had with a member in his ward.

19:10 Coming together as a ward council to help one individual: Keyth shares how a targeted approach can work in search and rescue.

21:00 Finding the families that need help. How do you do it? What to look for and tools to help. Your ward council is your team.

27:30 Not everyone wants to be rescued. Not everyone is excited to help either. We have to try to help them understand that the Lord wants what is best for them.

33:10 Who are the bystanders in the ward? Who is not active in the Lord’s vineyard? What invitations could we make to them to help them feel the Lord’s love?

37:40 Coming together as a ward council to find people that need invitations

39:15 Helping the bystander. It’s more than just giving them a calling. We need to invite them to do inspired things. Maybe what they need is help finding friends.

41:40 Keyth shares an analogy about boats and making sure they are seaworthy. In the same way individuals have to be ready and “seaworthy” before they can go out and rescue others.

49:20 As a council we have to learn how to ask better questions. What do you like? What works for you? What skills do you have? We have to understand who someone is and what skills they have. Then we can harness those gifts and skills to help them get active in the vineyard.

50:20 Where are you at? How are you really doing? Get used to asking these questions and create an environment where people will answer you truthfully and vulnerably.

54:20 Final testimony on the importance of leadership