Welcome to the Christian Chronicle Podcast. We're bringing you the stories that are shaping Church of Christ congregations and members around the world. Here's our host, BT Irwin.
Speaker 2:Family and friends, neighbors and, most of all, strangers. Welcome to the Christian Chronicle Podcast. May what you are about to hear bless you and honor God. Maybe you've heard of mystery shoppers, but have you ever heard of mystery worshipers? They will bring you a couple from Oklahoma who just might qualify. They recently showed up unannounced to 13 Church of Christ congregations in 10 states. They'll tell us all about it. Also in this episode we'll hear from Alan Robertson of the Robertson family of Duck Dynasty fame. In case you don't know, the Robertson family story is featured in a new film, the Blind, now showing at theaters and soon coming to your home via your favorite streaming service. Alan will talk about the movie and how his family is doing more than ever to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:But first, on March 27 of this year, 2023, a former student walked into the Covenant School, a pre-K through sixth grade private school, a mission of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville, tennessee. The 28-year-old brought a pistol and two rifles into the school and opened fire, killing three nine-year-old students, a substitute teacher, a custodian and the head of the school. Nashville police, who responded, shot and killed the shooter. The community quickly rallied around the school and its families, and that included the Brentwood Hills Church of Christ, a nearby congregation with about 1100 members. Starting soon after the tragedy and continuing even till now, the Brentwood Hills Church of Christ is lending its building to the Covenant School so that its 200 students have a place to learn and recover.
Speaker 2:For a long time, we here at the Christian Chronicle have wanted to follow up this story and see how things are going for the Brentwood Hills Church of Christ and its guests from the Covenant School. Our CEO, eric Trigestad, was recently in Nashville and stopped by the congregation. He recorded the following interview with Brentwood Hills Church of Christ Executive Minister Jonathan Seaman and Children's Minister Amy Bowman.
Speaker 3:Well, I am in the Clarence Daly Memorial Prayer Room here at the meeting place of the Brentwood Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, tennessee. Clarence Daly, by the way, was one of the elders here, I believe, long time member of this congregation, minister of this congregation and a big fan of the Christian Chronicle. I talked to him about that several times.
Speaker 4:He was a well-known minister throughout the entire brotherhood.
Speaker 3:As you would say Right, just a great man great man, and I'm joined here by Jonathan Seaman, who's Executive Minister of the Brentwood Hills Congregation, and Amy Bowman, who is Children's Minister as well. Also my not only my sister in faith, but my sister in the sense that we both have the same mom and dad. So I appreciate you guys joining me this morning. Tell me about the proximity of Covenant to the Brentwood Hills building.
Speaker 5:You're better at geography, Johnson.
Speaker 4:Well, you know it's, it's. We're probably three miles, three and a half miles, it's not that far. We really had no relationship with them. May we did have a couple of of our members who had some grandchildren there, but we had never really done anything with Covenant. So when this came up as an opportunity to do it really, one of our members had a granddaughter who was a parent and her husband was part of the transition team and they were looking for a place to go and Bob Mason said why don't you call Brentwood Hills and check on this? So I called a Walt and they saying you know Walt Lever, who's our minister. He and I got together and we teamed together. They came over and visited and they said hey, could we come? And we said this is God's building, it's not ours and so we're just here as stewards of it. So that sort of began this relationship.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's great, yeah. And so we're just around the corner from when the shooting happened and of course they don't want to meet and continue to have school. When they do come back and start school in that building, obviously it's an active crime scene first, and just the psychological memories, I think the pain would make it really hard to meet in there.
Speaker 4:So you offered your building, so the school began meeting here when Well, I think the first day of school was, I believe, april 18th. They had been here for maybe the teachers and administrators, because what happened? They brought in a team of three people who were not part of the school, kind of as a transition team, and they did a great job because their head of school was one of the people that was killed in the mass shooting there. So that team came in, they had knowledge of them, they had been part of a network of the teachers and everything. They had been involved with CPA, christ Presbyterian Academy, and so they just did a great job.
Speaker 4:But they were kind of the transition team, parents, a lot of people part of that. So it took us a little while to get all that worked out. Plus, we had to in immediate, within a week, get approval by the city of Oak Hill, by the fire marshal, by the Department of Education. There were just a lot of little things but that was all sped up. You know, everybody in the government and the Tennessee government and Metro and local were doing everything they can to help the folks who come.
Speaker 3:It was amazing to me how quickly everything was approved and that's a real testament to the city coming together after this very tragic shooting. It was a former student there that had some grudges with the school and then took their own life, so I mean just a real tragic situation. The school has been very protective of their privacy and we should mention that they're meeting right now, as we record this, in the church building. They're having school. I know they've been very protective of their privacy. Is there anything that you can tell me about what that transition has been like for them, what you've heard from the administrators that you've talked to, about what it's been like to kind of restart after such a tragic shooting and what it's been like to have a new facility to do that in?
Speaker 4:Well, I think you could imagine, with anything like that, that the trauma that would go through for the families, the teachers and the students is there, pops up at times and will be there the rest of their lives, and so they are trying to do everything they can to have a normal life, but also know that their life will never be the way it was, as all of us would experience if that happened to us.
Speaker 4:And even when we're this close to it, I think in a city where this happens, your life's never the same. It's just like when 9 11 happens our whole life is never the same. When a war breaks out somewhere, it changes how you look at things and where you travel and all this. So there, the way they're handling it, I think has been amazing, but also know there are times where it pops up and so you work around that. For us, our whole thing was we are the stewards. I think, amy, you had the wording for it about how we have the stewards of the facility, but they have the programming. You remember how you said that one day.
Speaker 5:No, but I'm sure it was profound.
Speaker 5:I just can't remember exactly how you said we're here to provide, provide them the space that they need to do what they need to do right now the kids. Every time I work with kids, I'm amazed how resilient they are. Even coming back last April, I was blown away by they seemed like our kids that are here all the time. They were doing all the things that kids do. As I've gotten to know some of the teachers a little bit just because we're sharing space and I see them and I'm in their classroom occasionally answering a question they have about something or just walking down the hallway, they have shared a little bit about what happened that day and it's stunning to see what they've been through and how they're continuing to have school and provide a framework for these kids. Yeah, they have definitely followed the process and I don't know if others who've been. It's been an honor to share our space with them.
Speaker 4:I don't ever talk to them about how to do school, but I've talked to them about okay, do you have enough chairs? Do you have enough tables? Do you have?
Speaker 3:what you need to operate, we're logistics.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And then if a teacher wants to open up, we listen, yeah, and we're there to listen. And if we could provide any other help we would. But I think from the beginning we said, hey, we're totally in the background to give you what you need to operate Absolutely Because you run schools. We're just here as ministers in a way to help you, whatever we could do without pushing anything on anybody.
Speaker 5:Yeah, most of the questions I answer are like is it okay for me to leave these pumpkins in the classroom? You know things like that and we're honored to be able to provide them a space to do that right now.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and questions like can we use chalk on the parking lot? I?
Speaker 3:said sure yeah, stuff like that Chalk on the parking lot is a big deal.
Speaker 4:And they were trying all their plans to what they were going to do. And then they would come back and say, well, we can't do that, but can we do this here? And we would just say, yes, that's fine. So we had their graduation here, had a nice parade out in the parking lot, A lot of the traditions that they did at school. They have tried to continue those same traditions when they could in our building the same way. That's great.
Speaker 3:Now it has been a sacrifice for the leadership and members of Brentwood Hills as well, amy, and you've spoken about that before. Logistically, what all have you had to adjust with the children's ministry to accommodate these guests?
Speaker 5:I think, week to week, we've just had to think through how we do things, how we get our space ready. When they were here in the spring March through May I definitely think that was just more. They needed to reconvene and be together. I don't know if you've mentioned this yet. Have we mentioned this yet that they came back here in the fall because their space is not ready for them yet. So they've been here for the last few months.
Speaker 5:They had to bring a lot more stuff with them because they're starting a new school year here. So they brought a lot more things and we're just sharing space and learning how to share, because we have different goals when we're in the classroom. They're in there all day. We have kids 45 minutes and we want to keep their attention, so we're just learning how to share that space and I think that has been a great lesson for all of us. We give lip service to the fact that this is God's building and not ours, and we got to actually live that out and say this is not our building, and so sometimes that is a little uncomfortable, that you're like, oh wow, there's stuff, it's everywhere.
Speaker 5:But that's what we're called to do right now. So we just have to get creative and get things ready after school hours and before Monday morning starts and be flexible. We got to be flexible.
Speaker 3:That's right, and we've learned how to actually put those words into action about this really is God's building and that's you've had to adjust when you get set up for Bible class and things like that too, I'm guessing Right.
Speaker 5:We've had to be creative about moving some events, like things that we would typically do here during the week. We had to be creative and sometimes do them at the park or maybe do it at somebody else's house, you know like think of new ways, new ways to so that we're still able to provide all the programming that we provide for our, for our church family, while also housing school.
Speaker 4:That's, yeah. I don't think the children's have probably had the most impact because they have the most things happening in their area of the building. We're spread all throughout this building. Student ministry has had some changes and a lot of things, but they've worked around. I think adults may not envision as much of what goes on except when scheduling, and we try to work. But I would think we have tried very hard to do everything we wanted to do and the best we could and the, the people that come here from covenant. They are the most loving, caring and just thankful people and our mission is to love God, love others and share Jesus. And I can't tell you how many people have said to me that come in, y'all, live that.
Speaker 3:Hmm, that's great.
Speaker 4:That's great because you want to live your mission and sometimes, hey, I've been around this a long time. Sometimes it's just words we say, and so you try to work around that and do what you can to make it to happen. And I know from the beginning the people here the church has been very much behind what we do. So it's been, it's been good for us and, I hope, good for them. I did have their chairman of the board last night when he was here for the event said hey, we're working, we don't want to be like fish, we don't want to hang around so long that we smell. So we had a. We had a fun little conversation.
Speaker 3:The plan is for them to complete the academic year, I suppose?
Speaker 4:Well, they're hoping to move in January. That's sort of their plan, that's what they have announced, that's what they have shared with folks and again, we just look at that as part of the plan that could change.
Speaker 5:We don't know yeah. We've also included them on several of our events that we've done. We hosted a carnival type thing together in the spring, towards the end of the school year. Last night we had trunk or treat and they had their bus out and they were giving out candy. We had several covenant families here, so it has been really nice to form some relationships.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I believe there have been a few fringe benefits as well. The Tennessee Titans brought some of their players over here to meet the students and we met Will Leviss, their new quarterback evidently was here at the Brentwood Hills.
Speaker 5:He's also a quarterback, right.
Speaker 4:Yeah, Tannehill was here too, I was gone that day but it filled day. We got to go over to their filled day and they had Titans, Predators, they had Vanderbilt, they had the sounds, they had everybody there. That was a really good day, Wow.
Speaker 5:And they had a benefit concert that we got some tickets to and we've got to see Y-Nona.
Speaker 3:The Y-Nona Wow Franklin, tennessee resident, who grew up just south of here.
Speaker 5:There were some other people there that are a really big deal, like Jason Aldeen, and who's from Macon, georgia?
Speaker 3:we should mention our hometown. I don't know if we want to claim it right now or not, but anyway you might want to edit that.
Speaker 5:And then I mean I love Macon, I meant Jason Aldeen.
Speaker 3:That's exactly. We're right there with you. I'm all about Macon. We're right there with you.
Speaker 5:And then who's the other guy? Morgan Morgan Wallin.
Speaker 6:All the young people there loved him.
Speaker 5:We were very excited about Y-Nona.
Speaker 3:Well, thanks so much. Anything else you want to say about how you see Christ working through this situation?
Speaker 4:I'll let Amy think about it.
Speaker 1:I'm just going to say this.
Speaker 4:I think it has changed some of our perspective to how we see things, and I think that would be across the board from Because I'll have members come to me and say, hey, tell us how it's going. We just really are concerned about them. Keep us updated as you can, and I know among our staff I think it's taught us how to understand a lot of things, how to share, how to work together with people, but just how to love people. I've been impressed by their chapel, by their spirituality and being around their young people. It's just we got a lot of new friends, yeah.
Speaker 5:One thing I thought of the last couple of weeks. You know, every time we hit anniversary or every time something goes on with trying to pass legislation, they show for us no footage again of that day, not the actual footage of the event, but they show footage of after the fact, when people were coming out of the school. On the news and I've seen it many times We've all, unfortunately, seen tragedy type footage, but I saw it a few weeks ago and I knew the people. Now I know the people Like I saw these people and I knew them and I saw what their faces look like the day that happened and it was extremely emotional for me to see them and be like, oh, that's so, and so I know what she looks like on a normal day, you know and she was shaking and I guess I just thought about it.
Speaker 5:Like every tragedy, those are people that somebody knows and that's how God sees every single tragedy that ever happens. He knows every single person involved personally and that was a perspective change for me.
Speaker 3:Wow, powerful stuff. Thank you so much for sharing this with me. Yeah.
Speaker 2:That was the Christian Chronicles CEO, eric Trigastad, interviewing Brentwood Hills Church of Christ Executive Minister Jonathan Seaman and Children's Minister Amy Bowman. Thanks to them for making time to share their story with Eric and all of us listening today. Most of all, thanks to the entire Brentwood Hills Church of Christ for putting its love for its neighbors into action. In the show notes we'll put links to the Christian Chronicle reports on the Covenant School tragedy and the Brentwood Hills Church of Christ response. Let's all keep praying our hearts out for the victims of violence of every kind, most of all the youngest victims, and let's pray that we will all have the courage to do whatever we can to prevent the violence that still threatens so many children around the world.
Speaker 5:I feel, robertson, I, kate Carrey, promise to love and be with you forever.
Speaker 6:You can do just about anything you say you're mad at Phil Robertson.
Speaker 1:It is to drink, he becomes a devil. Si we're fine, I don't think we are, babe, I'm not going to be a devil. I'm not going to be a devil. I'm not going to be a devil.
Speaker 4:I don't think we are Phil, get out, it's a fool.
Speaker 6:I'm going to make this work. I want it to work.
Speaker 5:I don't know what to say Master Smith, you've got to die, you need to be born again.
Speaker 2:You just heard the trailer for the motion picture the Blind, which opened in American theaters on September 28. The film is a Christian biographical drama that portrays the true story of Phil Robertson and Miss Kay Robertson and their family. I reckon for many listeners the Robertsons need no introduction because for eleven seasons they were the stars of the wildly popular cable TV reality show Duck Dynasty. In case you weren't one of the few who didn't see the show, it followed the adventures and misadventures of the Robertson family as they ran their family business Duck Commander. The company Phil Robertson started to make products for Duck Hunters. As regular viewers of Duck Dynasty found out, faith is a big part of life for the Robertsons. The show, however, only hinted at what readers of the Christian Chronicle learned through several stories we ran about the Robertsons during the Rise to Fame. The entire extended family belongs to the same congregation, the West Monroe Church of Christ and West Monroe, louisiana. You see, faith is not just part of life for the Robertsons. Faith in Jesus Christ is the center of their lives. But that was not always so, and that brings us back to the Blind, the movie now playing in theaters across America. The film reveals how deep darkness and sin nearly destroyed Phil and Kay and their family until God brought them to new life in Jesus Christ. Here to tell us more about the film and the story behind the film is Al Robertson.
Speaker 2:Phil and Kay's oldest son. Al served for many years as one of the ministers to the West Monroe Church of Christ. He left that full-time role when the popularity of Duck Dynasty caused the family business to grow so fast they needed all hands on deck. But he continues to serve the congregation as an elder and he and his wife Lisa are active in ministry to couples as well as pro-life work around the country. Al, thank you for being here with us. Good to be here, bt, all right. Well, first, congratulations on the success of the movie. It's beating all expectations for box office sales and it's still growing strong in theaters almost a month after its release. Movies don't just happen. So where did the idea for this movie originate and how did it come together?
Speaker 8:Well, you know, since the success of the show which, by the way, was another show that exceeded most people's expectations we call it now our little duck show.
Speaker 8:But you know ever since that we've been looking for ways to find to put more things out there that are obviously friendly to faith, friendly to God, friendly to Christianity, and so there's always been some ideas and we always thought that mom and dad story was probably the most compelling.
Speaker 8:And so my brother, willie, and his wife Corey, who were the, you know, main people that got dynasty on the air, have started a company that really is just trying to help get good content out there. So we're doing a lot of podcasts, which are obviously a venue now for to do. But then this movie was always in the works and in the mindset, so it was about probably two and a half years ago when the when the process started. My cousin, zach, is one of the executive producers and he wrote most of the story based on interviews with the family. So, you know, we just and this is just the first of many we help the many projects to get great, compelling stories of faith out there on movie screens, on television screens, on the internet streaming. However we can get it done.
Speaker 2:You know, I listened to a lot of other interviews that you and your other family members did to promote the film, and one of the things I heard several of you say over and over again is how hard it was, how painful it was to watch some of the scenes in the movie, things you really don't want to relive or remember. So why did you go through it anyway? What do you hope this film will accomplish that makes reliving those painful memories worth it?
Speaker 8:Well, you know it's interesting that you bring that up because dad was the most reluctant you know, because it was the worst part of his life, you know his prodigal years to put on a movie screen and you know it's embarrassing to him. I mean he's always been open that his life was bad during that period, but you know to see it on a major motion picture screen with actors, you know portraying it was a lot and so. But you know they sent me in to talk to dad I'm not as the Phil whisper in the family and so they sent me in to talk to dad and he was hesitant and I said I get it, dad. I mean, look, I was a prodigal for four years. It would be embarrassing to put my worst things on a movie screen as well, I said.
Speaker 8:But when Paul wrote the book of Romans, he didn't start in chapter four. You know that's where the good stuff starts. He had the first three chapters for a reason because sometimes to understand good news we have to understand bad news. And so I told him. I said this story in this format is going to reach people. We couldn't otherwise. And he agreed and that's exactly what's happened. It's been amazing.
Speaker 8:I mean, just before you and I started recording this podcast, I just got a text from North Carolina.
Speaker 8:The movie was shown on a college campus there and they're still baptizing people all these weeks later. That had they had a bad industry there that night and we're leading people to Christ at the movie theater and that's still going on that college campus. So you know, it's stories like that that really motivate us to do what we do and really that was the whole thought behind the movie and behind kind of bearing our soul. You know we talked about it in books but we've never done anything like this in a movie format. And look, this thing goes on. I told Dad, I said you realize how many people there have been that have lived in the world and no movies ever been made about them, because you would have to be really good or really bad to have a movie made about you. So the fact that this is out there for future generations, I mean there'll be people long after we're gone on to heaven that hopefully will be blessed and led to Christ by the movie.
Speaker 2:What's a scene in the movie that's particularly meaningful to you, without giving away giving away any spoilers.
Speaker 8:Well, it's funny that you asked because it changes for me. I've seen the film probably four times now because I wouldn't really end on the front part where it just got so much in the weeds. I mean I was able to watch it complete, you know, with the score already there, and so that's changed a little bit. I think the first time I watched it there's a scene where Dad kicks us all out of the house and it took me back to that night, you know, and it was raining and the film portrayed it as raining and it was just so scary, you know, to leave your home and never sure whether your family's going to be back together. So I think the first time I watched it it was that, obviously, because it impacted me.
Speaker 8:But you know, the last few times I've watched it, the biggest impact to me is that the church our church that they were still at, that Dad and I are still shepherds at reached out to us and, like, took us in and showed us so much kindness. And so you know, I've been a part of now all my years of leading and being a minister there, able to reach out and be a place where people could come home to, and so that's what we did, and so I think I move now to tears every time I see those scenes that they help us get a house and they helped us, you know, until Dad came back, and so those are the things. The church was there for us and it really is what motivated me to be in ministry all the years I was. That's beautiful.
Speaker 2:So here's a personal curiosity of mine what is it like to have actors portray, portray you on a screen? How do you work with those people, and what is it like to watch them play you and your family members?
Speaker 8:Well, it's surreal. I can tell you that we had a musical out a few years ago, back when everything was crazy. It was in Vegas, of all places but there was an actor that played me there. It was the first time I'd ever experienced it where someone is on stage which he was very talented and can sing and I'm not that talented, although, you know, I grew up in the church Christ, so I can sing, yes, you can. But he it was so surreal and in this case, this kid that was playing me was the same age as my grandson.
Speaker 8:We first had a conversation, so you know, when we were talking, obviously it's an older man talking to a young boy and so I'm trying to kind of like find out what he's thinking about it. And we met, actually via zoom, because they were getting ready to film, and so I said are you working on your accent? Because you don't seem to have much of one. And he said well, I've been listening to people from East Texas. They sound pretty close to you guys. So it was, it was surreal. It's fun. The actors that played mom and dad, because there were three different ones for three different age ranges the, the the two playing them as adults are both Brits and so when you meet, you know you meet them when they're not playing mom and dad and they're speaking in this British accent and you're just like how is this going to work? And yet they pulled it off and it was amazing. So it's, I would say the word surreal is what comes to mind.
Speaker 2:Your dad said in one of the interviews I think it was on the one of the podcasts yeah, what did he think of the actor who played him?
Speaker 8:And and he said not much not much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not much, because he did such a good job and like it was painful.
Speaker 8:When he first said it to me, dude, we all just kind of looked at him like, oh no, did he just say the actor was no good, but he actually met? And then we clarified that he was actually so good that dad said I didn't think much of that, it looked just like me.
Speaker 2:It's been, I think, about six years since the show ended. It's run on A and E and I went back through the Christian Chronicle Archive of all the stories that we wrote about you and your family Peak popularity. A lot of the stories are about how many visitors came to the West Monroe Church of Christ just to catch a glimpse of y'all and have their pictures taken to get autographs. So since the show ended, how has life changed for you? Has it gotten back to a little more to normal? How have you taken things and run in a new direction?
Speaker 8:Well, first of all I have to compliment our church family because you know they didn't ask for this back when we were became famous and we were even filming episodes centered around the church and especially when I came on the show. Obviously I was still working for the church at that time and so you know they didn't ask for it and yet they leaned into it and, you're right, it went a little bit sometimes obtrusive and kind of crazy and busloaded. You know, being let out. I mean, basically we were, we outgrew our space, but just for a period, so it was a little bit kind of fan crazy at first, but that has really morphed into now just a real open ministry opportunity. I mean it was then as well because we've always invited people to come, but now less on the crowd numbers but more on the seekers and so like that has an unashamed Bible study as part of our Bible class curriculum. So every week he's there, he's sharing the gospel.
Speaker 8:We baptize people every Sunday that come from all across the United States and Canada and around the world. Really Sometimes I still preach and so you know size. Still there, jason, mister, still there. So it's an opportunity for us to still have face to face ministry with people, and so our church has embraced it. Our live stream audience now is huge because of the podcast and also because of the show, and we have a whole ministry team now that does nothing to but deal with people who were basically looking for us but finding Jesus, which is much more important. Is that right?
Speaker 2:Does that ever feel kind of awkward? It does, but you know again it's just about mindset.
Speaker 8:You have to realize, when somebody wants to take a picture with most people that would seem weird, but like that's become part of our lives now, for over 10, 12 years now, and so we realize that it means a lot to him. It's very humbling for people to want to get to know you at that level, and sometimes people don't have boundaries and so it's not always. You know, sometimes you'll have a weird situation, but for the most part most of them they're just in love with our family, but they realize now that we serve Christ and so they want to know about that, and so we've just taken that as a vehicle to be able to do that, and so that's really kind of been our motivation.
Speaker 2:Well, thanks be to God for all that Thanks Al for being on our program today. He's an elder with the West Monroe Church of Christ in West Monroe, louisiana, a member of the Robertson family of Duck Dynasty fame. The movie is the blind and it's playing now at a theater near you and if you don't catch it there, it'll be streaming very soon, I believe, on your favorite streaming services. We'll put the links in the show notes, al. May you and your family continue to find yourselves in the grace of God as he draws people to himself through you. Thank you, bt.
Speaker 8:Appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 2:Be honest now. Do you go to church when you go on vacation or travel for work? I couldn't find any recent research on this, but according to Gallup, only one in five Americans go to church every week, so I can't imagine too many of them make the effort to go to church when they're away from home. Our next guests, however, not only go to church when they travel. They say that showing up in new congregations as strangers is one of their favorite things about going on the road. Chris and Connie Stennett are retirees in full time RVers from Oklahoma, where Chris's last full time job was as minister to the South College Church of Christ. Since retiring, the Stennets have been traveling the country, visiting Church of Christ congregations at almost every stop along the way, and they recently wrote a piece for the Christian Chronicle link in the show notes about a trip that took them to 13 congregations in 10 states. Chris, connie, thank you for joining us today. Where in the world are you as we record this?
Speaker 7:We're in the Apalachicola National Forest south of Tallahassee, Florida.
Speaker 2:And what are you doing?
Speaker 7:there. Well, we serve as park hosts in a day use area. It's called the Leon Sinks Geological Park has a unique geological formation here and we get to open and close the gate, clean the bathrooms, clean the parking lot, take out the trash, just generally try to assist the park service, the National Forest Service, with some labor issues. They just don't have enough people.
Speaker 2:RV life.
Speaker 6:Yes.
Speaker 2:That's right, you can't. This is a podcast, so this is an audio only. But for listeners, right now, Chris and Connie are sitting in their RV I can see it in the background and so this is our first ever podcast recording where a guest is recording with us from an RV in a national park.
Speaker 6:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's a banner day here. So whenever my family used to travel when I was growing up, my dad was a preacher. So 70s, 80s, 90s kind of drove my sisters and me crazy because my parents insisted on finding the local church of Christ and we would go, whether it was Sunday morning, sunday evening or Wednesday night. And as I was growing up I just figured that was normal for everyone, that everyone did that, and so when I found out in life, I found out that a lot of people don't go to church when they're on vacation or they're traveling for work. You seem to make it a priority, like my parents did, and so what do you think people miss out on when they take a vacation from church to when they're traveling?
Speaker 7:Well, they miss an encounter with God. First of all, I mean, you miss worship. Would you skip a family reunion? You know, you miss checking in with your father and with your brothers and sisters in Christ. You miss a lot of really good and interesting things. We've heard some amazing insights in Bible classes and preaching. When I'm preaching, I only hear what I've studied, but when I listen to others, I hear what they've studied.
Speaker 6:And you meet so many wonderful people. I will tell you that I'm a total cheapskate, and so one memorable day it was actually my birthday. Many years ago we were on vacation. We went to Vicksburg, mississippi, for Sunday morning worship Bible class, had a great time, met wonderful people. They said today's our fellowship lunch. Can you stay? Well, sure, why not? So we ate with some great people. Then we got on the road and drove down to Natchez, mississippi, found the church there for evening services and that was a story on its own. But we walked in, had a wonderful worship service with wonderful people and they said hey, you're in luck, it's our evening potluck. And I was like, seriously, this is fun, you know. So we joined them for dinner and when I climbed into bed that night I said it's my birthday, we've had two free meals. It doesn't get any better than this.
Speaker 2:Amen, I when you said Chris, when you said it was, would you skip a family reunion? One of the things I've noticed over my 47, almost 48 years is and I can't tell you how many congregations I've visited all over the country I have never been to one where I did not know someone who knows somebody that I know, at the very least.
Speaker 7:You're absolutely right, it's amazing.
Speaker 2:It is, it is, and so I feel like wherever I go, even as a total stranger, I meet somebody whose family it's an amazing thing. So how many congregations have you visited in your travels? And by that I mean congregations where, chris, you weren't scheduled to preach, you just showed up as strangers, unannounced 17 in 12 states 17 in 12 states.
Speaker 2:So that's a lot of congregations, probably more than a lot of people have visited in their lifetime. So tell us a story about your best experience visiting a congregation while traveling, that's so hard to answer.
Speaker 7:It's like what's your favorite flavor of ice cream. They're all wonderful experiences in their own way. We talked about this a little bit and we kind of think our best experience was at Springfield, vermont. We did not really expect to meet with a large congregation and it wasn't a large congregation, but when we got there we discovered that there were a tremendous number of connections with us and to Harding and Oklahoma Christian and to that part of the world. They got involved with a disaster response. There was a 500-year flood event that was going on in Vermont at the time.
Speaker 7:So we had just wonderful interaction with the church and when we first arrived we pulled in and stopped and parked and we went inside and we introduced ourselves and got introduced to some people. One of the men stood up to make announcements and he said we have some visitors with us here today. We knew that they were visitors because they parked wrong. Parked wrong. Everybody in that congregation backs into a parking space. We nosed into a parking space and they immediately identified us as out-of-town weirdos. But it was so great because when they start teasing you immediately you know you're with your family. There you go.
Speaker 6:So we stayed there for a full month and got very involved. They invited us over for potlucks and for one-on-one dinners and it was just a wonderful experience for us. We just felt like we were with our family.
Speaker 2:My family. Whenever we talk about all of our travels and this isn't supposed to be about me, but talking about churches we visited, it just brings up stories In our family as many congregations as we visited. There are a few that are legendary for us, and one is I don't remember I was a kid when we went there. It was a small congregation outside Buffalo, new York, and we showed up on a Sunday night Right and it was the friendliest congregation that we ever visited in our lives. They rolled out the red carpet for us when we walked in the door and, to this day, our family. When we talk about churches we visited that were just outstanding, that congregation is at the top of the list just for how friendly and welcoming a word has. We still remember it 30, 40 years later. So, without naming names, did you ever have a bad experience and what made it less than good for you as strangers visiting?
Speaker 7:Well, yeah, actually we've got a couple of sad stories, but I think the worst experience that we had was when we showed up at an evening worship time that was scheduled according to their sign and we got there as they were dismissing and people were going away, and one of the men who turned out to be one of the elders of the church talked with us very briefly and was pretty dismissive of us. He just said well, it's over, our time is up, and In reality, he did not know whether we were members of the church or not, whether we were visitors from the community. He didn't really know anything about us at all, but the entire experience was pretty dismissive. We didn't enjoy that.
Speaker 2:Connie, do you have one?
Speaker 6:It was the same thing and what actually happened was we drove up and the church actual church building was all locked up, but then all of a sudden an adjoining building started. People started coming out the doors and one woman just laughed and she said, oh, you just missed it. I was like, okay, you'd think you'd be a little more apologetic or something, and that was kind of why we wrote in our in the article about meeting in a different location, because we were just, I guess, expected to know that they don't meet in the main building, to meet in the adjunct, you know, and we've discovered that on more than one occasion.
Speaker 2:Is that right? Yeah, not meeting where they publish that they meet.
Speaker 7:Well, in the auditorium we're in the main part of the building. They'll meet in the fellowship hall downstairs or behind the building, or something like that.
Speaker 2:So, as visitors to so many congregations, what have you learned about making strangers feel at home and welcome in church?
Speaker 7:I think it's really important just to visit, just to say hello, shake hands. Now, because we're visitors, I get to do things that are a little unusual, so I will walk up to someone and introduce myself and ask if there are you a member here, and if they say no, I'm just visiting, I always say yeah, me too, and we just have some common ground there. I think it's very, very important and we kind of emphasize that in the article that the signage and the social media and the website information needs to be current and accurate. Service times need to be correct. We've run into some very strange variations on that, when signs don't match their actual worship times and so on. It should be a small thing, I would think, to get those things corrected.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 6:And just treat people like you would, if you're inviting them into your home and really we've been blessed to find that most of the time, absolutely, and you know what it's like, since you visited so many churches, to walk in and feel like immediately I'm home, I'm with my family, and then you have those other experiences that you mentioned where you are not home.
Speaker 7:It's a little cooler reception.
Speaker 2:Yes, so you've traveled all over the country. It sounds like you were in Vermont. Right now you're in Florida. You mentioned Vicksburg and Natchez, mississippi, so it sounds like you've traveled the whole, maybe eastern part, of the United States. The business congregations I'm just interested, I'm curious what are some of the differences you've noticed between congregations in different parts of the country?
Speaker 6:I would say really not much, and that surprised me. People are people everywhere and I think Christians are the best people. The only real differences that I think we've noticed is in the way they do communion and the contribution. It has astonished us how many congregations now have either a box or a basket either at the front or the back of the auditorium to put their money in, and in one congregation the contribution basket was on the table with the Lord's Supper and you had to walk up and put it in there during the worship.
Speaker 7:It was a little odd, a little intimidating, considering the contributions. Also, we've only encountered one congregation in all of this that provides an electronic means where people could swipe their card and make a contribution that way. I really think that that's something that other congregations ought to explore. That congregation one of the men talked to me about that briefly and said that there is no fee that is charged to the church for using that and that might be something that more congregations should explore.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm just going to admit it right here. Our contribution is withdrawn automatically from our bank account twice a month and the way we keep our.
Speaker 2:we make a pledge every year at our congregation and that way our pledge comes out. And no matter what, is there anything that you've noticed that congregations like you know, some congregations I don't know if any of them do this anymore have visitors stand which I'm not real sure visitors are comfortable with that? My dad always used to read the visitor cards at the end of the worship service, you know, to welcome those people, some people you know, the Bellevue Church of Christ in Bellevue Ohio. Every time I go there they give me a loaf of Amish friendship bread. So have you noticed any, any customs that congregations extend their hospitality in a special way?
Speaker 7:Let me write that down. That was Bellevue, Ohio, where you get the free bread.
Speaker 2:Bellevue Church of Christ. Homemade Amish friendship bread Every time I'm there.
Speaker 6:I would say no, because most of the congregations we've attended have been of 40 or less and everybody knows that we're the visitors. There was one church recently. We found out that the core group is of about 30 people and there were like 70 people there. So they were as many visitors as members and they didn't even bother, you know, and actually that was not a cold congregation, but they were more standoffish because they don't really know who's a visitor.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I remember going to the Church of Christ in Gatlinburg when I was a kid in the middle of summer I think, and you know, if they'd asked you know, will visitors please stand? I think 90% of the people in the room would have stood up, so I know exactly what you're talking about. Well, chris and Connie Stennett, thank you for staying in one place long enough to talk to us today. Listener, chris and Connie would love to come visit your congregation. Chris is even willing to preach and teach for free if you need him to fill your pulpit for a week or two, and they have transportation. They're sitting in it right now. As they give this interview, we'll post contact information in the show notes as well as a link to their story.
Speaker 2:Chris, connie, go with God, thank you. Well, we need to go to. Thank you to you, the listener, for taking us along with you today, wherever you listened. It's an honor and a joy to bring you these people and their stories. Thank you to our guests today Jonathan Seaman and Amy Bowman of the Britwood Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, tennessee. Thanks also to Eric Trigastad for interviewing them. Thank you to Al Robertson of Duck Dynasty and the West Monroe Church of Christ in West Monroe, louisiana.
Speaker 2:Don't forget to go see the blind in your local theater or stream it at home. Last of all, thank you to Chris and Connie Stennett. If they show up at your congregation, make sure you give them a warm welcome and don't give them a hard time if they park wrong. Don't forget to check the show notes for links to the resources and stories that we shared with you in this episode, and don't forget that we now have complete episode transcripts available for you in the show notes. And, as always, click on Christian Chronicle dot org to find all of what we cover today and so much more.
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