Duawn Mearns - God's Going To Reveal Something I've Never Seen Before
Exploring faith journeys and inspiring ministries that embody the good news of God. This is the Cumberland Road. I am your host, TJ Malinoski. We might view our faith journey with the desire to have a polished and perfect relationship with God. Today's guest talks about it being okay to not have everything all figured out. What is important is to be open to God working in our life. In the words of Reverend Duawn Mearns, it means to be open to where that is, when that is, and what that is. Reverend Duawn Mearns is the senior minister of the Covenant Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Ada, Oklahoma. He has a bachelor of science in sociology from Bethel University and a master of divinity from Memphis Theological Seminary. Recently, Duawn was endorsed by the Red River Presbytery for this year's general assembly moderator. Duawn shares how his wife and three children are great influences on his faith journey today. Join me on this conversation of the Cumberland Road podcast with Reverend Duawn Mearns.
T.J.:Duawn, thank you for joining me.
Duawn:You're welcome. Thanks for having me, TJ.
T.J.:My first introduction to a podcast was through you.
Duawn:Oh, really?
T.J.:Yeah. Yeah. You you have a podcast for your church. What's it called?
Duawn:We have, it's just simply called the Covenant Podcast, and, you can find it on Spotify or iTunes and it's under Covenant Church of Ada.
T.J.:My first introduction besides listening but actually being on the podcast was on yours last year and I think we were talking about how to celebrate the sacraments in the time of the pandemic. Is that what we talked about?
Duawn:That's exactly what we talked about. Yeah. Yeah.
T.J.:So it was it was from there that pushed me over the edge. You know, I was kinda thinking about this idea and once I got a taste of it, So yeah.
Duawn:It's pretty it's it's a lot of fun, isn't it? Are you enjoying it?
T.J.:Yeah. I do. I do.
Duawn:Good. Good.
T.J.:So, yeah, you definitely influenced moving forward on some ideas that I had had going on. So hey. Cool. Thanks.
Duawn:Yeah, man. You bet. Thanks for coming on the we'll have to we'll have to do another one, where you come on the covenant. Again, that's fun.
T.J.:How to celebrate the sacraments post pandemic?
Duawn:That sounds like a fantastic idea.
T.J.:I don't know. Sounds like a theological discourse. Well, Dewan, I like this opportunity to to talk with other Cumberland Presbyterians about their faith and their journey, and I typically open with a question about beginnings. And so I'm going to pose the same question to you. Can you recall an early encounter with God?
Duawn:I guess I can't recall a time where didn't have God. I raised I tell people I was born on a Wednesday and I was in church the next Sunday, and that Sunday night and the next Wednesday and the Sunday after that, My mother was a big believer when the doors of the church were open, we were there. I kid with people that I never got to watch a Super Bowl when I was a kid or a teenager because we're Sunday night church, and you never once did it cross my mind to ask my mother if I could stay home and watch the Super Bowl. So my experiences with God is something that I was raised or church was a big part of our life. God was a big part of our life.
Duawn:My encounter of, I guess, accepting Christ or however you want to put that, it wasn't a Paul on the road to Damascus kind of experience. It was just a point that I grew up and it was, yeah, I believe this. This is something that's always been a part. So the earliest experiences I have with God, the answer would be, point where I never remembered that not being a part of my life.
T.J.:Now you grew up in Hector, Arkansas, and the church that you attended was called Hector Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Duawn:Correct.
T.J.:And so was that a family church? Did all of your family attend?
Duawn:No, no. Actually, the first few years I was born and raised, and my entire family were freewheel Baptists. This is a funny story looking where I'm at now, is my family got mad at the pastor and left the church because of the preacher. Our neighbor happened to be a Cumberland Presbyterian in Hector and she invited us and that's how we got involved at that. I think I was 11 or 12 when that happened.
Duawn:Then we went to the Cumberland church. Always just think it's funny that I ended up being at Cumberland because of some sort of sideways with the preacher, and here I am now that the pastor in the church.
T.J.:Well, you mentioned your mom, who obviously had a great influence on your faith. Who else has had a great impact on your faith journey?
Duawn:Man, dude, that's a long list. Definitely my mom, my family, there's so many teachers, theologians, and just mentors in life that if I started naming, I'd probably miss a bunch. But you know who has the biggest influence on my And this might sound just kind of cliche, but my wife and my kids to this day. I've always believed in God's love and grace and forgiveness, but having kids has just defined that and maybe even redefined that for me. Every day I learned something from them that I did not know.
Duawn:I'm a firm believer too, is I read a book one time where someone said, and I can't recall it because this is off the cuff, that every time you meet someone, it's an opportunity for them to teach you something. Every time you meet someone. And so I've started to look at that, and sometimes what you can learn from them is what not to do. But I think if we're open to God working in the world, is that teachers, mentors, I mean, they might be in line in front of us or behind us at the grocery store. Just those everyday situations, I think we actually learn more than any other.
T.J.:So you were introduced to the Cumberland Church as a preteen or teenager.
Duawn:Mhmm. Correct.
T.J.:How did you did you hear the call to ministry?
Duawn:You know, I actually when we joined the Cumberland Church, and I started to get involved in church camps and CPYC, and I was actually a youth advisory delegate to General Assembly in 1994, was where I met youth for the first time. Didn't even know what a youth advisory delegate was, but it was like, Hey, it's a free trip to Albuquerque with other youth. Just anything I could do. And then I went to Bethel College and it was just through that journey of feeling, I always felt some sort of sense of call to ministry. And I wouldn't even say that it was until we were in seminary that that was sort of defined, defined as pastor, preacher.
Duawn:But I think that was through just other people speaking, surrounding myself with friends and people, because I think one of the big ways that God talks to us is through other people. I mean, the the Bible's full of those examples and so sometimes if if we're if we're I I tell people, if you're listening or wanting to hear a word from god, sometimes listen to the person sitting next to you Because that's the people, the children of Israel and slavery cry out for God for help and God sends Moses. Here you go. Here's your voice. Here's your answer.
Duawn:So I think for me, the calling, I just kept hearing over and over from people surrounded me. I see some gifts in ministry and those types of things is kind of where it began. And then as I got into seminary and surrounded myself with people and teachers and friends, it kind of was defined as this role of ministry.
T.J.:So you were a candidate in the ministry as a true definition because, you know, candidate is an explorer. You know, you're exploring the call to ministry. So you were truly exploring the call to ministry as a candidate up in into your seminary years?
Duawn:I would say, yeah. I would say, yes, that's that's what I was exploring and sometimes I felt like, okay, this is what I was supposed to be doing or this is what I was supposed to be doing. But yeah, it it's I knew ministry was a path I wanted to be on, or I was supposed to be on, but I wasn't ever 100% sure what does that look like until, yeah, seminary, Memphis Theological Seminary really helped shape me and guide me and direct me to that.
T.J.:It was in seminary when you began serving just one was it one or two churches?
Duawn:Two churches. Two churches. Actually, I was associate pastor at Hopewell Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Mount Zion and was preaching full time at Hopewell and doing more youth directing at Mount Zion.
T.J.:Okay. Both of those were in Mississippi, right?
Duawn:Correct.
T.J.:And so you did that during your seminary years.
Duawn:The last two years of seminary, it kind of came to the point that this was the defined direction for me, because that's the first time I'd ever worked in a church. Here's a funny story is when I was first hired, didn't really know I mean, we were learning, right? And I thought my job was to preach. And I really fell in love with sort of crafting a sermon. I remember the senior pastor at the time I was hired was one of my mentors, Reverend Steve Mosley, who somebody in the church that I was preaching at, he called and said, Hey, she's in the hospital.
Duawn:I told him, I said, Man, that really stinks. I'm so sorry to hear that. I'll pray for her. He paused and he said, Aren't you going to go visit her? And I said, What?
Duawn:What? I never had a clue that there was preaching and pastoring. And so it scared me to death. I've got to go to hospitals and visit people at hospitals. And I look back on that, but once I did, I really fell in love with that aspect of it too.
Duawn:Being a pastor is something I love. And during this whole pandemic, that was, I would say, is the one thing that really left a hole in me more is having people in hospital I can't go, going to visit people that are grieving or sick because death was still happening. But it was just interesting how that light kind of came on that I'm supposed to be doing this as well and through that process. But yeah, it's those two churches that they helped raise me.
T.J.:It's so funny that you would admit that.
Duawn:My wife says I admit more than I should anyway.
T.J.:Well, each of our journeys, you know, it has us traversing in some form of ministry. Dewan, talk for a few minutes about what's happening in your life and in your ministry now, where you are and and what it's like to serve.
Duawn:Yeah. I think I think right now in in my ministry especially here at the Covenant Church, is where a lot of people we're hoping getting close to post pandemic. Last year, it was just, man, it hurt just closing things down and canceling things. Our associate pastor here, the Reverend Kathy Lofton, who she was with us on this journey. We we used to always joke, I wish someone would have wrote a book on how to do church during a pandemic but we looked on Amazon.
Duawn:That book does not exist. And and so now, it's like, I wish someone would have wrote a book on how to come out of a pandemic once your church has been closed, but that book doesn't exist either. And so we're excited because we're starting to do things and trying to do them in a safe and appropriate way, which is very hard to discern sometimes what that looks like. But going through that process, and it's really been exciting for us because it's like for the first time in a year, we're not meeting to cancel things, but we're meeting to how can we open things back up. That is exciting for us.
Duawn:I hope everybody else who's gone through this process. So as far as where we're at ministry wise, what we're doing, that's that's where we're at. We're we're meeting. It seems like weekly staff meeting session deacon board and but we're excited about what god has for covenant and the Cumberland Church and and everybody coming out of this.
T.J.:Well, where do you see god working in your life today? More on a personal note than in terms of just your ministry.
Duawn:Where's god working on my life today? Man, I think God's working on a lot. Mean, one thing that I have always always believed is that I don't have it all figured out. I don't have all the answers. And I believe that today, God's going to reveal something to me that I've never seen before.
Duawn:And tomorrow, God's going to reveal something. And so I think for me, far as my personal journey, my own spiritual journey, is to be open to where that is and when that is and what that is. Because I never want to get to the point to where I think I have it all figured out. Then I become a Pharisee, I think is what they're called. Or I guess I never want to come to the point where I think I'm the teacher and stop being the disciple and stop being the student.
Duawn:And just like anybody, we all need to be humbled sometimes. And so every morning I try to wake up and just remind myself that today I'm a disciple. I'm not the teacher. I'm not the rabbi. I'm the disciple, and go through life that way.
Duawn:It's kind of like I said earlier, I try to live my life now where every moment and every person is a teacher, and God's trying to teach me something through this person. That has been one of the humbling things I've tried to do in my life, but I think it's helped me appreciate every moment. It's helped me to maybe dip into this eternal life Jesus talks about that's here now. That's just something, I mean, today, right now, at this moment, sitting here talking to you. It's a moment in which God is hopefully revealing something to both of us.
T.J.:Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's expand that question beyond just you. Where do you see God working in the world today?
Duawn:You know, it would be very easy for me to say I don't. And it would be very easy for a lot of people to say we don't. And as a matter of fact, I think there are many religious people that might spout that. But, you know, I see God in the simple. I see God in the everyday situations.
Duawn:I see God in the fact that I'm able to pick up my children this afternoon, and they're going to give me a hug and they're going to tell me that they love me, and we're going to have dinner. I think sometimes the things that are going wrong that are negative, we take them and like we put air in that balloon and blow them up and they seem bigger. And the and and the ways that God has blessed us. And the ways that God has given to us. In the ways that today is a beautiful day.
Duawn:And the sun is shining. It's just we don't blow that balloon up. In the ways in which we are blessed and we have so much, we don't blow that balloon up. But the things that are negative, the things that, I mean, just turn on the news. It's all bad news.
Duawn:There's nothing good, but there's so much good happening in the world. There's so many people who are getting help. There's so many people who are recovering from sickness and illness. There are so many people who are experiencing love and showing love. There's so many people who are reconciling relationships and showing forgiveness to other people.
Duawn:There are so many wounds that are being healed. We just don't make a big deal out of them. And so I think God is at work healing, healing, healing. I mean, may our prayer be to open our eyes so we can see it around us every single day. And God simply asks us to be a part of it.
T.J.:Well, looking at that healing aspect of God for the church that we serve and for the church that we're a part of, what hopes do you have for it moving into the rest of this year and in in the years to come?
Duawn:You know, I think somewhere along the way, and I don't know why, this is just a personal belief of mine, and so people can just disagree with me all we want to, The church, somehow we lost our influence on society. Church used to be, and I'm talking about as a whole, right? Just not the Cumberland church, but church used to be an influential piece society and the world. And I hear people say that it's their fault. It's their fault, right?
Duawn:It's the politician's fault or it's society's fault. And I think it's our fault. I think it's our fault. Somewhere along the way, we as good Christian Jesus disciple people decided it was more important for us to argue and bicker and complain over what the right way to believe and the right things to believe that we forgot that Jesus just simply commanded us to love other people. And it's causing division.
Duawn:And we're we're letting the divisions of the world filter into the church. And so I guess my hope, my prayer is is one of unity, one of oneness, one where maybe, maybe, just think about this, TJ. Just think about this. What if, what if like the society, like the people, you know, we have a politically divided society. I think that's something we can all agree on.
Duawn:What if they looked at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and said, Look at them, they have people with different views and different perspective, but man, look at they're all getting along just because they're bonded over the love of Jesus. Maybe that's the example that we could set, and maybe it's a far fetched dream. I know, it's a far idea. But I think the idea of Jesus taking 12 followers and telling them to go out and change the world, and they did it, well, that's pretty naive in itself. I guess the question, what's my hope for the church?
Duawn:Is a place to where we can all have different views, different opinions, but we're all one as Christ has called us to be one. And that the rest of the world look at us and say, if they can do it, maybe we can't too.
T.J.:Well, Dewan, how would you how would you help the church strengthen those bonds of unity? So it's a hope for the unity and for an example out in the community and out into the world. How can we strengthen that as Cumberland Presbyterians?
Duawn:I think it starts with I mean, I say that, it starts with me. It starts with me showing that to other people, you know? It starts with me loving other people. Then maybe that person would I I say me, it starts with you too, TJ. I mean, that's what I would say.
Duawn:Can't be, All right, let's go do this, and then kind of sit around. It's like, Let's make an effort to not participate in that stuff and not participate in the division. You see somebody on Facebook and you got to blast them back also. Maybe this time just don't respond. There's a first step.
Duawn:I think it's small everyday things that all of a sudden they become habits. They become habits. And all of a sudden forgiving someone is not something we're struggling to do. It's just a part of our life. Loving someone is not something that we have to intentionally do every day.
Duawn:It's all of sudden, this is just who we are. Not getting mad because someone has a different view and opinion on us. All of a sudden, the more we get used to doing it, then guess what? It becomes And I think that's one of the things that made, you know, the early church so appealing, they grew and grew, is because they lived this way. And that's an appealing way to live.
T.J.:And it's a daily practice.
Duawn:It starts it has to be. Yes.
T.J.:Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if there's a place of arrival, like a destination, like a faith journey. I think it's a a daily practice of strengthening those bonds of unity.
Duawn:It is. It's the same way as learning how to ride a bike. I mean, right? You don't just jump on a bicycle and start going, right? I mean, it takes, you know, learning to pedal, learning to balance, crashing into a few trees or, you know, I mean, you have to concentrate on what you're doing.
Duawn:But then when you learn to do it and you keep practicing and practicing, I mean, we have this phrase in our society. It's just like what? Riding the bike because it becomes second nature. I think that's the same thing with us, our faith journey and the things, you know, if I want to be better at loving my neighbor as myself, I can say that all I want to. But if I don't identify some steps to help me to do that on a daily basis, it'll never happen.
Duawn:But those steps, once I practice them over and over and over, then pretty soon, I'm not thinking about pedaling or keeping back. I'm just riding my bike.
T.J.:I think we have to be in the presence of our neighbor.
Duawn:Sure.
T.J.:Yes. You know, how do I love my neighbor unless I'm in the presence of my neighbor?
Duawn:Dee, that I believe that a %. I mean, it it seems that if there's someone that is a different title than me, instead of us moving closer together, we move further apart. Every person is defined by a story. You have a story. I have a story, and we all have unique stories.
Duawn:And I can hear something about TJ. And did you know TJ was this or he did this? Oh man, I don't agree with that. And I'm just going Or I could step towards TJ, and I could say, Tell me your story. And somehow, first of all, you're probably gonna say, Half of that was rumor, and it wasn't true.
Duawn:That's why gossip is so evil. But then the other place you can say, Okay, yeah, I kind of do see things this way. And here's why. And what I'm going to learn is there's some sort of story there that I might not at the end of the day, totally agree with you. But at least I understand you.
Duawn:And I have some sort of sympathy toward you. And if you're right, if I don't enter into that, if I don't move towards you, then I'm still gonna be stepping back and throwing rocks at you.
T.J.:Yeah. You have to be in my presence.
Duawn:Yep. Absolutely.
T.J.:To be in my space for you or anyone to understand me and vice versa. I have to be in the space of my neighbor To gather context.
Duawn:That's just, I mean, I think, I would say, the whole unity and loving neighbor, and that is the first step is a step towards someone instead of a step back from someone. Maybe, I was preaching on this where I used to always use this excuse, God calls me to love my neighbor, but let's just face it, some people are so unlovable. So that's a cop out, because if I'm not able to love someone, that's not their fault. That's mine. That's mine.
Duawn:Because Jesus didn't say, Well, just love that person that you know, didn't stab you in the back. And so that's why it should be intentional on us to It's going to stink. Yeah, I don't like that person. You mean you're asking me to take a step forward to them and hear their story? I mean, yeah, it's it's it's hard to do but I think if we're going to take this message seriously, this discipleship seriously that Jesus called us to do, then sometimes that's part of the practice, I think, is just doing that.
T.J.:Yeah. Yeah. Definitely be placing ourselves in that place, in that position, and practicing and Yeah. Trying to get better at loving our neighbor.
Duawn:Correct.
T.J.:Dewan, I appreciate your time. I appreciate you sharing. How can we continue to follow you on your faith journey?
Duawn:Well, so you mentioned earlier, I have a podcast I could do. You can check it out on iTunes. I've had some people within our denomination on there too, as you have.
T.J.:What is the name of it again?
Duawn:It is, if you went on iTunes, I think Spotify, it's Covenant Church of Ada, And you'll find all sorts of stuff on there. I'll be talking with somebody like you are, or I might have just some small message or something, but it's a cool thing to do. You can keep up with me on that. The Covenant Church has a Facebook page like most people do. We do live streaming our worship services on there.
Duawn:And if you happen to be this summer, going to General Assembly, I'll be there. I'll be a delegate to General Assembly. And we're hoping and praying that we're going to be able to do this and missed doing it last year. So I'd love to meet any of you guys, and that's kind of what I got going on this summer.
T.J.:All right. Dewan, thank you for sharing. Thank you for being on this podcast.
Duawn:Well, you for having me, TJ, and I appreciate you doing this. I've listened to several of these podcasts, and it's kind of, it's really cool to get to know other people in our denomination and get to hear their stories. Because again, I think hearing people's stories is a very important way of bringing us together.
T.J.:Yeah. Alright. Thank you. And thank you for listening to today's podcast. Grab a friend and travel with me on the next journey down Cumberland Road.
