Week 32: The Youth Pastor

As Summer wound down, Adeline wanted to make the most of the days she had left before she went back to high school for her senior year. It had been a difficult few months for the teen, but she was devoted to “living right for the Lord,” as her Granny would say. After a few weeks in Georgetown with her aunt Wanda, Adeline was happy to be back home in the mountains. There were some definite advantages being in “civilization” as her cousin Kirby called it. But she wouldn’t trade living in Peril County for anything. 

Now that she was home, several of Adeline’s friends were setting up get-togethers and excursions for them to do. Taylor wanted to go muddin’ over in Harlan County on the ATV trails that had just opened up. And Lauren’s older brother was going to be taking a bunch of folks out on his pontoon this weekend. All of this sounded great, she thought, but she hadn’t had a drop of alcohol or anything else since her terrible New Year’s Eve. And she knew her friends would party pretty hard, trying to squeeze as much as they could out of the last few weeks before school. They had even planned on heading up to a strip mine site this evening for a bonfire party. 

“Nobody ever got in trouble sittin’ at the house with their family,” Granny Maude had told her once. And while it probably wasn’t exactly true in every case, it was an absolute surety with staying with Granny Maude. 

On Sunday morning, Granny woke Adeline early to get ready for Church. “Can I just stay home? Some of us are gonna go out tonight and I’m tired,” she said in a whine that only teenagers can get away with.

“If you want to spend some time with your friends, I understand. But you got to spend some time with the Lord this mornin’,” Granny Maude responded. So, Adeline got up and prepared for church. 

At the service, something different happened that Adeline was not expecting. Brother Watkins, the elder deacon of the church was doing the announcements. “We got a bake sale going on this weekend as a fundraiser for our trip to do mission work in New Orleans next year during lent. And a clothing drive is gonna start next Sunday. We’re looking for clothes for needy kids that they can wear for the fall. Now, I need all of the teens to head to the fellowship hall for a very special surprise.”

Adeline looked over at her Granny, who gave a sheepish smile and shrugged her shoulders. About ten or eleven kids ranging from twelve to eighteen stood up and exited down the back of the church. Adeline recognized a few from school but didn’t know anyone very well. In the front of the room, a man in his twenties stood, holding a tray of sandwiches. He was dressed in black slacks and a purple collared shirt. His hair was heavily gelled and spiked up, with frosted tips. A black goatee surrounded pearly white teeth that seemed to glisten as he smiled at the teens who entered. 

“What’s up, my dogs?” he said as everyone took a seat. “My name is Tristian Collingsworth and I’m going to be the new youth pastor here at BGB. And, I am, like, super stoked to be here sharing the word of the Lord with you cool cats here today!” 

A boy not much younger than Adeline raised his hand. “Uh, Mr. Collingsworth?”

“Call me Brother T, big man! What’s on your mind, home skillet!” 

The boy cocked his head a little and swallowed. “Um, ok. Brother T, what is BGB?”

“That's us, my man. Black Grass Baptist. You can be basic or you can get down with the BGB, baby!” 

Adeline had to fight from laughing. She couldn’t tell if ‘Brother T’ was putting on an act, or acted this way, but his attempts to connect with the youth of the church were not working with her. 

“Now, I got some cheugy sando’s for us to munch on while we rap about JC. Y’all down with that?” Brother T sat the tray of sandwiches down on a table to his side and sat down backwards in a chair, legs agape and leaning against the backrest. 

Some kids got up to get a snack while Adeline and the rest remained in their seats. Brother T reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out some note cards. “Guys, today I wanna talk to you about quicksand. Now, when I was about y’alls age, movies and TV made it out that quicksand was everywhere. That stuff was just hidin’ out in the corner of every street, waitin’ to gobble you up. Y’all ever heard a quicksand?”

A few confused mummers of confirmation could be heard. Adeline had no idea where this was going, and checked her phone, discreetly, to see how much longer church was scheduled to last. 

“But I ain’t talkin’ about the quicksand that sucked up that horse in the Never-ending Story! And I ain’t talkin’ about the quicksand that Princess Buttercup and Wesley found in the fire swamp. No! I’m talkin’ about the quicksand you and me face every day as we walk on our path with Jesus.” He was more at ease, Adeline thought, as he sat across from them. That position in the chair couldn’t be comfortable, but he seemed genuine in his delivery. 

Brother T took a swig of water from a reusable plastic bottle. “I know what it’s like, guys. Pressure to fit in. Pressure to succeed in school. Pressure to be your best, act your best and do your best, 24/7. All this pressure pushing down on you and it feels like you got nothing holding you up or holding you together. So, you start sinkin’ in the quicksand.” He stood up. “Jesus can be the rock you stand on, guys. He can be the solid ground that you build upon. And all of the pressures in the world can’t break him. You got kids wantin’ you to lie to your parents. Wantin’ you go drink and take drugs. Wantin’ you to go all the way in the back seat of a Toyota. And let me tell you somethin’, guys. You ain’t perfect. You’re gonna screw up. Some of ya might screw up a lot!”

There was a bit of a chuckle from the teens. 

“There’s only been one perfect person on the Earth. The rest of us have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. And get this, guys. You can’t do it alone. If you try to take on the world by yourself, you’re gonna get your rump kicked quicker than a hiccup, let me tell ya. Good thing for us, JC has our back. He’s always gonna be there when we need him. And we need him all of the time.”

Adeline could feel the energy of the room changing. The rest of the kids seemed really energized and motivated by Brother T’s message. She had to admit that she was feeling something stirring in her as well, but she wasn’t quite sure how to explain it. 

Brother T motioned for everyone to stand. “Form up and hold hands, guys. I wanna take us to the Lord in prayer.” They created a rough circle and bowed their heads. “Now,” Brother T continued, “with every head bowed and every eye closed, I’m gonna ask you all some questions. You just nod your heads if this touches your hearts, ok guys?” 

The boy to Adeline’s right was around her age, cute and tall. His hands were a little sweaty, but she was not disappointed in holding his hand. The girl on her other side was around twelve. She had beaded hair ties in her pigtails. 

“With every head bowed, and every eye closed, nod along if you can relate. ‘I’ve done things and acted in ways that do not align with the will of my Heavenly Father.’” Adeline felt a wash of shame flow through her body. She hadn’t given much thought to why she had acted out so much six months ago. But, in her heart, she didn’t think that was the person she wanted to be.

“I have lied, cheated or stolen from someone that I love,” Brother T continued. Again, Adeline felt a pang of regret. She had never been really honest about what she had done on New Year’s with her Granny. Would telling the whole story make her feel better?

“I feel shame for some of the things I have done in my life.” 

“Ugh!” Adeline screamed in her mind. 

Brother T stood in silence for just a moment. “Now, take in a deep breath and blow out all of the guilt and shame that you feel. Release all of the negativity you are carrying around. As you take in a deep, cleansing breath, I want you to imagine the love of Jesus filling up your lungs and extending out through your body and then blow out again, forcing out all of the negative thoughts you hold. Your past is gone. These things have happened. But they do not define who you are and who you will be.”

As Adeline did the breathing exercise, she felt a weight lift from her body. She didn’t know if it was Jesus or simply allowing herself to feel forgiveness, but something was different. Something had changed. A tear fell down her cheek.

There was a rustling and soft, calming music began to play from somewhere close by. “You’ve all taken a huge step on your daily walk with Christ,’ Brother T told them. “Eyes on me. Now, you all need to know fully that the world is gonna come at you full tilt. Call it Satan, call it temptation, call it whatever you want, this is not an easy row to hoe. Dark is the path and perilous is the way, but with Jesus at your side, you have nothing to fear.”

A feeling of dread washed over Adeline. Her friends had been talking about gathering for some “partying” and she had no delusions as to what that meant. Is that the person she wanted to be?

“Now, we got some gnarly board games and chuegy snacks and drinks over in the corner. Let’s gather in some fellowship and just hang until the old folks upstairs get finished.” Brother T’s facade of ‘cool youth’ slipped on uncomfortably. 

She had a glass of lemonade, that was surprisingly made from fresh lemons, and a couple of those sugar wafer cookies that every Southern Baptist church keeps in their cabinets. She learned the boy whose hand she was holding was named Joshua. He went to high school a couple towns over and was staying with his grandparents this weekend. Adeline blushed when he asked if he could text her later. 

Brother T wavered between genuine human and Ultra-Hip Youth Pastor. There were moments he was starting to make honest connections with some of the kids and the next second would come out with something like, “That’s toats razor, my man.” Adeline chalked it up to wanting to talk to the kids on their level and just getting his feet wet. 

After church, Granny Maude and Adeline met up in the parking lot. “How was that?” she asked with a knowing smile. 

“Not bad, actually. He’s got a lot to work on in his delivery, I guess. But his heart is in the right place.” 

Granny smiled and patted her granddaughter on the shoulder. “Well, let’s get you some lunch so you can get ready for your little get together tonight.”

Adeline put her arm around Granny’s shoulder. “What do you think about stayin’ in tonight? I’ll cook us some dinner and we could do somethin’ fun. I’ve heard it from a good source that there’s some gnarly board games out there.”

Sliding her arm around her granddaughter’s waist, the two walked side by side to the car. “Can’t think of a better evening, dear.”