Jimmy Byrd - Seeing God In The Midst Of Frustrations
Exploring faith journeys and inspiring ministries that embody the good news of God. This is the Cumberland Road. I'm your host, TJ Melanosky. Seeing God in the midst of our frustrations can be a difficult task. It may be much easier to be disillusioned by our loss, suffering and pain. Today's guest shares how we can find God shining even in the midst of our frustrations and find hope in our togetherness as the body of Christ. The Reverend Jimmy Byrd is the minister at the Clarksville Cumberland Presbyterian Church. And he talks about how important humor is in the Christian faith and his journey of transitioning from youth ministry to the calling to the word and the sacraments. Join me on this new journey down Cumberland Road with Reverend Jimmy Byrd.
T.J.:Jimmy Byrd, good to see you.
Jimmy:Good to see you, TJ. Good to see you. It's been a while.
T.J.:It has. We talk often, but actually have not seen each other in a long time.
Jimmy:That's right. Yeah. I can't remember the last time, honestly. It's been a while.
T.J.:It has. Well, Jimmy, tell me what you're up to. Tell me where you're at now.
Jimmy:All right. Well, I started at the Clarksville Cumberland Presbyterian Church here in Clarksville, Tennessee back on January the first of this year of twenty twenty one. After having been at New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church down in Whitwell, Tennessee for nine and a half years and felt the call to come here to Clarksville. And so I answered that call. So it's been really good.
Jimmy:It's been a good experience. It's been a good journey so far.
T.J.:And you're official now. You're officially installed as the minister at Clarksville just in the last couple weeks.
Jimmy:Yeah. Yeah. About two weeks ago, they got everything official, had installation service and so that felt good. I was able at that point, I thought, well, like the previous pastor's name was on the phone on the screen there, like in the office. So I said after I got official, told the office administrators, hey, we can turn that over to my name now.
Jimmy:So I just wanted to wait till that was all said and done.
T.J.:So does it, being installed at a church, is that kind of like tenure as a college professor? Is it really hard to get rid of you now that you're officially installed? Yeah,
Jimmy:I guess so. Yeah.
T.J.:Have to uninstall you?
Jimmy:Yeah. They're stuck with me now. So I don't know if that's good or bad, but and we'll see.
T.J.:Well, you're a minister and also a son of a minister.
Jimmy:That's correct, yeah. My father James Byrd, he's been in the ministry for, well, let's see in 2020, I guess it was last year he celebrated fifty years of being ordained. And so he's been in for quite a while and been a big help to me over the years, that's for sure.
T.J.:So you haven't had a chance. All you know is church life, Christian faith, session meetings, general assembly meetings.
Jimmy:Yeah. All that. I grew up going to general assembly every year. That was like our family vacation, like so many other Cumberland Presbyterian preacher's kids or PKs as we're called, that'd be the family vacation. And so funny going to general assembly as a kid and now going as an adult and taking my kids to general assembly.
Jimmy:What a weird change of events there, I guess.
T.J.:Well, you know what they're getting into because you did it.
Jimmy:Exactly. Yeah. Now, I was pretty good. I stayed out of trouble. You know, one year at General Assembly, I actually learned how to swim.
Jimmy:Was it general? One of dad's friends, Reverend Gary Black, were all went to seminary together and all, he taught me how to swim during the week. He wasn't a commissioner, my dad was, but he wasn't. So we all go down the pool in the afternoon and during that week, he taught me how to swim. That was pretty neat.
T.J.:Oh, that is cool. Yeah, that is cool. So good things do happen at General Assembly.
Jimmy:Good things happen. That's right. And I love going. I really do. It's like a family reunion when you go.
Jimmy:And that's what's so special about it. But I do, it's fun taking my kids and reliving. I think about it when I was a kid and now here they are going. And a lot of that's happened with my dad being a preacher. I remember as a kid having to go visiting with him in people's homes And that could be okay.
Jimmy:And it could also just be just something I dreaded because I'd have to go and sit sometimes and be quiet and he's talking and all, and it'd be so boring. But if they had kids and that was great, I could go outside and play with their kids. Or if it was an older, usually some of the widows, they loved having children come by when dad would visit. So they would give us candy, me and my sister, we get candy and all. And then a few years ago, I was visiting one of the widows at New Hope And I had Daniel and Matthew, my two sons and we're sitting there and I'm looking, it's just like a surreal moment.
Jimmy:I'm like, Oh my gosh, she's handed them candy. Because she was so excited to see you. So it was very surreal in that moment.
T.J.:Yeah, I bet. I bet you that threw you back into time.
Jimmy:Yeah, it did. It did.
T.J.:So being a kid and going to pastor visits with with your dad, did any of that rub off on you?
Jimmy:You know, I think so. Absolutely. Because I remember him the way he would interact with folks as he visited and just real conversational and talking and all. And just, I've just kind of made that the way I visit folks just real personable and just, you know, just real relaxed. And he was that way.
Jimmy:And sometimes he would just show up and they would even call ahead of time. He'd just show up at the house and see if they're home and go in and talk. I try to be a little bit better about that, you know, call ahead of time to make sure somebody's home or if they want company. But yeah, it definitely rubbed off on me, that's for sure.
T.J.:Well, let's shift gears a little bit. And I wanted to ask you, would you share a meaningful experience that you've had with God?
Jimmy:Had many over the years, I guess you could say, different times and all, but here recently I had one that has really stuck out to me and really affected me, think. Went to visit one of our church members here at Clarksville who, it's been about ten years, guess, was diagnosed with cancer and took some treatments and started doing better. Then it came back and took some more treatments, started doing better, then it came back again. And there's really nothing else they can do for him now. And so I went out to visit him the other day and not really know when it's first time I visited.
Jimmy:It's been so hard to try to visit folks with COVID. And if somebody is comfortable with me coming over, then I'm more than welcome to go do so. And so they said, yeah, come on out. So I went out there and like I said, didn't know what is he gonna be in the bed? Is he hooked up to some machines or whatnot?
Jimmy:How's this gonna be? Well, he and his wife, they were in the carport when I got there and just, hey brother Jimmy, good to see you, come on in. And I was really, I was shocked. And so I go in and he shows me around the house and shows me some antiques that's been handed down to him over the years, different things, talk about how they built this house themselves. And he and his wife just so in love with each other.
Jimmy:They've been married now for over around sixty years or so. And so we sit down and I'm still trying to process all this. I'm like, so he's, from my understanding, he's dying of cancer, but he doesn't seem like he's a lot more energetic and up and going. But that's when he explained to me how his diagnosis was and he wasn't taking treatments anymore and that he eventually would really start to go down. And he had me read his obituary.
Jimmy:He said, wanna show you something. This will help you get to know me a little bit better. So he handed me his obituary and I read that and we talked about some things in there and shared some stories and all. But he said, I've accepted this. I know he said, it's all part of life.
Jimmy:You live and then you die. And he said, it's gonna happen to all of us. He said, I've accepted it. He said, if I lived another two weeks, he said, I'll be 86 years old. Which he has, he's still going.
Jimmy:And just I was amazed at his attitude over this. And I really just felt God's presence in this moment, because I could tell how much God has touched this man to where he's so comfortable with dying. And that when he dies, that he knows where he's gonna go, he understands. He just trying to help his wife to get ready and family to get ready and get all these things ready to go. But he's accepted it.
Jimmy:And he says, every day I wake up and he said, I give God thanks for another day here on this earth. And just really touched me. It really did to see someone because I know and I'm a pastor, but I still struggle with that and thinking about that and thinking about dying someday and leaving my family and all this. But this man was just so at peace with all of these things. I just really felt God in that moment.
Jimmy:Really did. I was thinking there's no way he could feel at such peace if God wasn't here. He didn't have that relationship with the Lord. So that was very special.
T.J.:Yeah, it sounds like it stretched your thoughts on death and dying in that process to to something different. Yeah. We often think it's scary or it's it's painful. It's something to be avoided. Mhmm.
T.J.:And then you get to meet somebody who has a totally different approach. That's gotta be powerful.
Jimmy:And he's not looking forward to leaving his wife or anything, but he knows that she'll be well taken care of. And he knows that at that point his suffering will be over and he'll be with the Lord and he's ready to embrace that when the time comes. And so it just, it really moved me. That really touched me. And it really, I guess made me think a lot more about in the moment, how we just take life for granted so easily.
Jimmy:We get so busy, so distracted that we forget to slow down and enjoy what's around us. He said, every day he looks out, he loves the beautiful flowers that's growing out there and just living out on the farm they live on and all these things. They mean so much more to him now because he knows he won't be seeing them that much longer and just just really, really got me.
T.J.:Meanwhile, you're racing from appointment to visit to meetings. And here's this fella is just inviting you to slow down.
Jimmy:Exactly. I needed that. I did. Yeah.
T.J.:Jimmy, I've known you for a long time. And you had an early start in ministry. You were doing ministry while in college. And you've had a great impact on a bunch of people throughout your life. What gifts have you received from others to help you along in your ministry?
Jimmy:I remember early on work because I started out working in youth ministry, started out Union City Cumberland Presbyterian Church when I was going to Bethel. So driving back and forth there twice a week, every Sunday, every Wednesday and working with the kids. And then also while I was in West Tennessee after Bethel, I had moved away, come back. Then I was working when I was at seminary, was working at West Union Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Those two places got me well, claimed with Camp Clark Williamson down in West Tennessee, going to camps there and being involved and helping out.
Jimmy:And I remember early on though, I was sitting there one night and really just struggling, just like, who am I? God's called me in the youth ministry. Are we sure about this? I don't know, this is kinda weird. Said I'd never do the ministry and all this.
Jimmy:And how am I supposed to act? What am I supposed to do and all that? And I remember early on, I sat around and talking to Dave Kurtz of all people, one of my buddies then we all went to school together And he's like, Burn, just be yourself. He says, Don't worry about trying to be like this person or that person, or compare yourself to this youth minister or that pastor or anything like that. He said, Just be who God's called you to be, be you.
Jimmy:And it just has always stuck with me. And I said, You know what, that's right. I can only be me. I try to be somebody else, but it's kinda dumb. I'm gonna do my best to just be the person that God's called me to be.
Jimmy:That's always been very powerful to stick with me. Just that little conversation. Every now and then when I kind of struggle about my calling and all, I think about that at times. I'm like, all right, I just gotta be me. And that's been good.
Jimmy:That's been powerful to me.
T.J.:Yeah, what a great gift. Even though it was given to you a long time ago, you're still reaping the pain.
Jimmy:Long time ago, and just such a simple statement. Yeah, you hear that all the time, hey, just you be you, be yourself. But in that moment, it really hit me. It hit me right at the perfect time. And it's just always stuck with me.
Jimmy:So thank you, Dave. If you're listening.
T.J.:What other gifts have you received? Again, I see you as somebody who's often been giving through youth ministry and in the different places that you have served, New Hope, and now at Clarksville. But surely you have been the recipient of some great gifts of people that you've encountered over the years.
Jimmy:I know one thing, New Hope gave me the gift of just being able to think outside the box. A lot of times in ministry at that church, one of the first things they told me in one of our first session meetings was, they're like, hey, you know what, we understand if we keep doing the same thing over and over and over again, our church may not be around ten, twenty years, fifty years from now. We just keep doing the same over and over, we're open to new ideas and new things. And so that gave me freedom to try new things at that church and to do some different types of ministries there to do a hanging of the greens Christmas service and to try special things at Easter and all that that they never done before. And it's stuff that they celebrated and they still do now to this day, the stuff that they still sticks true to them, that means a lot to them, I guess.
Jimmy:So that was a kind of gift for me to to be able to have that freedom to try something, because I like to be creative and I like to try to think outside the box in ways to worship and all. And that helped me to grow, and I think it helped them to grow, too. And so that that was really cool.
T.J.:Bert, I've always admired your sense of humor that you bring to a meeting or to the ministry. Talk for a few minutes. I know it comes out of you naturally. Not everybody has that. But talk about humor and what it means to you and how you think that applies to the Christian faith.
Jimmy:Okay. Yeah, humor, I think is very important. Sometimes we can take ourselves too seriously, take things too seriously. And we just, you know, we can let the world get to us so much and sometimes we just gotta sit back and laugh. And I try to Inject a funny little story or joke or something in my sermons and things like that, just to try to try to always lighten the mood.
Jimmy:I always like to lighten the mood a lot of times. I hate it if a meeting gets too heavy. I try to find some way to lighten that mood a little bit there. Even when I was moderator of Tennessee Georgia Presbytery, and you have to give a moderator report to submit. And even in that, I tried to put a little humor in there.
Jimmy:I told a little funny story. And I put a Sudoku puzzle in there that people could work if they got bored during presbytery. Because I know that happens to all of us at one time or another. And you get bogged down on something and you kind of drift off there. So I put that in there, thought, hey, I'll give you something to do.
Jimmy:But I don't know, I just try to find things to, it's fun to laugh. It really is. It's fun to laugh. It's fun. It's just such a good emotion.
Jimmy:And so if I can help somebody laugh and take their mind off their troubles for a few minutes, then it's worth it. It absolutely is.
T.J.:Well, what is it about the Christian faith and your relationship with God that gives you your daily purpose? You just draw from that well every day.
Jimmy:Like, just being able to go out and to serve and to help and to do it whenever I can to try to help improve somebody, in whatever situation they're in, if they're feeling down to try to help them out or lift their spirits, I guess. I don't know, it gives me purpose, I guess, each day. Well, I like to be kind to people. I like to, and our Christian faith is about treating others with love and respect. And I like to do it.
Jimmy:If I go to a restaurant and the waiter, sometimes you can have slow service and it drives you crazy and all, but I try to remember, maybe they've had a rough day. I always just try to have a kind word, thank you. Thank you means so much nowadays. You don't hear that enough, I don't think. You try to say thank you or say please, just let them know, hey, you know, I don't know.
Jimmy:I feel like I'm rambling now.
T.J.:Well, Bird, you know, I keep going back and forth. I call you Jimmy, call you Bird. You respond to either.
Jimmy:Yes. When
T.J.:Bird, when I first met you, you were already in youth ministry. And that was kind of the the career path and calling that you had at that time. But it was much later that you were prayerfully considering the call to to ministry to the word and sacraments. So, talk about that for a few minutes. I know that was a challenge and a struggle during that time period because you were very happy doing youth ministry.
T.J.:Absolutely. And really good at it. You know, going on youth mission trips, going on on to camps and having retreats. I mean, it was just it just fit your personality. And it just it was a good fit.
T.J.:But somewhere along the line, there was this pull or this nudge, and I don't wanna put words. I want you to talk about it. This pull to ministry of the word and the sacraments. Talk about that for a few minutes. What was that like?
Jimmy:It was weird because, like you said, I loved working with youth and doing youth ministry. And that was my plan all along was to do that. That, all right, God, if you've called me to ministry, which I said from the very beginning when I was a kid, seeing my dad be a preacher. God, I will never go into ministry. I'm glad you called dad and all these other people, but not me.
Jimmy:That's not my path. Of course, sometimes our plans don't always work out the way that we want to. And God called me into youth ministry. And I remember the first time I sat there and actually said it out loud that I'm called to youth ministry and I kind of got a smile on my face. I'm like, that's pretty cool.
Jimmy:I like that. I've liked working with kids and I'd work camps and stuff before then. So I was like, this will be a great calling. And this is something I think I'll enjoy doing the rest of my life is working with teenagers and having youth groups and all. And so that was my plan.
Jimmy:Even when I went to seminary, I wasn't going to be ordained. I was gonna go and take the Christian ed course and take youth ministry courses and things. And that kind of changed while I was there. Folks said, Hey, if you're coming this far, if you just take another year or so, you can get your MDiv and you can have all that, and then you'll be able to baptize the kids and serve them communion and all that. I said, Well, that's a good point.
Jimmy:And I said, Later on, God might call you to be a head pastor. And I said, Well, yeah, that's not gonna happen. But I do like the serving communion and baptism. Yeah, so I like that. So I went ahead and got my MDiv and then I went to Lebanon Cumberland Presbyterian Church straight out of seminary working full time there.
Jimmy:Finally a full time youth pastorassociate pastor. And so in that role there, really got to grow in both finally, as a youth pastor and also grow as just in the associate pastor role with more than just the youth, the whole congregation at large. And I began to build some great relationships with especially some of the older folks in the church, the more I got to know them and all. And it just felt so natural. But my first love was working with the youth.
Jimmy:But I remember after about eight, I guess eight and a half years of being there, I started to feel that nudge, like you said, that pool. And I was like, God, what are you doing? I mean, this is where I'm supposed to be here. I'm working with these you. That's what you called me to do.
Jimmy:I said I'd do. What are doing? Changing this now. And so I really, I wrestled with it and I struggled with it. And to the point that I felt miserable inside.
Jimmy:And I was like, all right, if I'm not doing what God wants me to do here and I'm acting out of God's will by not surrendering now to going into be more of a head pastor role, then I'm doing these kids a disservice. I need to be doing this. And so I finally, I said, all right, this is what I'm supposed to do. Then I'll start, I'll throw my name out there and see what happens. For, I mean, it wouldn't no time started, things started lining up and going to New Hope.
Jimmy:I think it was the perfect place to go, I really do. It's a great fit, a perfect fit. And going there from a church that was much larger to a church that was smaller, mean, it helped me get to know people a lot better, a lot faster. But at the same time, they had a few youth there that were late high school, early college. And it's almost like the best of both worlds in that sense.
Jimmy:Here I was the head pastor of the church, he didn't have a youth pastor. So I got to work with them and take them on mission trips too. So I still kind of had a little bit of one foot in each, I guess. But I just began to grow as a pastor. And it just felt so natural.
Jimmy:It really did. Once I finally let go of all the fear and all of that, of moving from one to the other, it really felt like that's what I was supposed to do. And so I'm very thankful for that. I'm very thankful. And it's so interesting.
Jimmy:I could take a lot of those gifts as a youth pastor and still apply them in church as well to the larger body. And sometimes some of the ways I would teach a youth lesson, I can incorporate that in the way I do a sermon now and the way I do different things. It just flow together really well. It's just interesting how that's worked out. It amazes me when I look at it.
Jimmy:I'm like, Okay, all right. Well, yeah, God, if you're in charge, I guess so. I guess it would work out the way, but it's been good. It's been really good. And so I'm very thankful for that.
Jimmy:Instead of being upset and and, I can't believe that I got called away from the it just now it's a good thing. It really is.
T.J.:Well, Bird, we are halfway through 2021. You were in a new role in ministry there at the Clarksville Church, and it looks like the COVID pandemic is beginning to change a bit. I wanted to ask you, where do you see God working in the world today?
Jimmy:I'll tell you what, looking back over this last year and in the frustrations and in the fear and everything with this pandemic and everything going on in the world, but especially the church. I know this is gonna sound strange, but that's where I've seen God is in those frustrations, especially as as folks have started coming back to church now. Can you imagine going to church all your life or most of your life and all of a sudden, for a year and a half, you're not going anymore, you're at home. And either watching it on Facebook or YouTube or however, if a church was able to do that, some churches weren't even able to do that. The folks that are coming back, you see this happiness about them and you see this peace about them because they're back with their church family again.
Jimmy:And that's where I've seen God is in those frustrations over the last year and a half in talking to people that miss their church family so much, that miss the way we would do communion. Whoever you thought that we'd be changing the way we do communion and not passing it around and all in traditional ways that we're used to. And now we're drinking out of like an all in one, eating a piece of Styrofoam and drinking cough syrup or whatever that is. And it's really got people frustrated and having to socially distance. Church folk are not meant to socially distance.
Jimmy:We're meant to be together and to hug on each other and shake hands and just be there and talk and fellowship and cry together and laugh together and eat together. We haven't had potluck meals in forever. And so in those frustrations is where I really saw God because we miss it so much. And we see God in those moments together when we're fellowship and in communion, all these different things that we do together. And so being separate, really, would think, well, God's far away.
Jimmy:No, God's right here in midst of all of this. And when we come back together, I hope that we never look at these things the same again. It's so easy to take all this for granted. And I'm hoping the first time that we celebrate communion the way that we're used to again, it's something that we hold onto and we don't take it for granted. And all these things like that, even passing offering plates, all this stuff and singing in the choir, as things are starting to get back to some form of normalcy or familiarity, we're starting to see people just peace come over them as they're getting to do these things again.
Jimmy:But I'm hoping that we never look at it the same now.
T.J.:Yeah, that's interesting to be able to experience frustrations, and all the difficulties that come with that and all the emotions that come with that. And you are saying this is when you feel the peace in the presence of God. And normally we think of the opposite of that.
Jimmy:Yeah. And I know, as I said, sounds weird, but I really do. I sense God in those moments. And then we really, when things start to come back and we start seeing more people and we're getting back to how things were, then you really seeing God just shine through these moments even more so now. And there was a beautiful moment at New Hope back in the fall that when we did communion together.
Jimmy:Because down there, because this really hit for us, we had to stop doing church all through the month of March. Well, when it started the rest of March, all of April, May, we started doing some outside services like driving stuff for a while, had to get creative, which is really good. But then come fall, when we started to slowly kind of trickle back in together, we had those all in one things, but I thought I was trying something different here. Some other pastors were doing some different things, taking like the condiment cups with the lids on them and putting the juice in those and then getting little pieces of bread and wearing gloves, of course, and doing it all the right way, but cutting it up and putting it in little baggies for people. So I remember having communion with that one day to try to give them a little bit something more.
Jimmy:And I said, all right, the body of Christ. And you can hear everybody tearing into their little baggies all across the sanctuary. And in that moment, just hearing that sound of everybody doing this together, it touched me. And then I said in the blood of Christ, and then you could hear them lifting off the little lids off the cups. And I'm getting older, so it gets easier for me to get more emotional, I guess.
Jimmy:But I just felt tears in my eyes in that moment because it's like we're together, we're doing this together. And just the sense of this and the sounds of it and everything coming together in that moment to me was just, it was beautiful. And it felt like we had taken a good step forward in that moment in a sense. I don't know, just something special about it, but the church is meant to be together and being a part, you can see that frustration in people. But that's where I see God because we want to be together.
Jimmy:God wants us to be together. So we're seeing it more now, and I'm saying why.
T.J.:Keeping that stream of thought on the church. Mhmm. You you've been a lifelong Cumberland Presbyterian. Mhmm. So I've been looking forward to ask you this question.
T.J.:As a lifelong Cumberland Presbyterian, what are your hopes for the church?
Jimmy:My hope for the church is is that through the years that we'll just get closer and closer, we'll get that closeness and that more family togetherness that it's always been there. Like I said earlier, going to general assembly would always feel like a family reunion, seeing folks I hadn't seen in a year or longer and catching up and all. And it's something special to us. We're smaller. And so that's special to us being smaller and special to us that maybe some other denominations I had, they're so huge and all these they get together and there's so many people you can't see everybody, but the general assembly within no time you're singing about everybody.
Jimmy:I enjoy that. And our churches are so special. Every church is so unique in our denomination. And I think back all the churches I've served over the years from Union City to Louisville First, to West Union, to Lebanon, to New Hope, to here to Clarksville. And every one of us is full of good folks.
Jimmy:Good folks that just love the Lord and love each other. And so many that just love being a part of this Cumberland Presbyterian family. So to me, the Cumberland Presbyterian church is family. It's all about family and growing up in it, that's all I knew as a kid. Now I gotta admit that when I went to college, when I went to Bethel, I wouldn't have to get up and go to church every Sunday, dad's church every week, had a little freedom there.
Jimmy:And I went to the CP church in McKenzie several times, but same time also, I got to explore some other churches like Baptist Church, Methodist Church, Episcopal Church. And I enjoyed was the different styles of worship. Now, I was never thinking about leaving the Cumberland Church or anything like that, but I just wanted to experience the different styles of worship and all. And that was fun. I remember one night going to a Sunday evening service, it maybe a Southern Baptist or something?
Jimmy:I don't know, it was a small church there. Lively music and the pretty fiery sermon that night at service. And at the end, of the service, they sang this song, and they sang, and they sang, and they sang. I said, oh my goodness, what's going on here? And then finally the preacher got and said, he said, we're gonna keep singing because I know somebody out here tonight needs to get baptized.
Jimmy:And I know it and I sense it. And he says, we're not gonna end this service till that person comes forward and gets baptized. So we kept singing. And I'm like, oh my goodness, I've got, a test. I got to get back and study for it.
Jimmy:I got a test tomorrow. And so I'm like, what do I do? And so I was there with my girlfriend at the time. And so I was like, all right, I'll take one for the team. So I started to stand up.
Jimmy:I was gonna go. She's like, what are you doing? And I said, I'm going to get baptized. I gotta get out of here. I got stuff to do.
Jimmy:No, you're not. She slung me back down in the seat. Finally, whoever was supposed to go up, guess they finally went up. Yeah, that was something I never experienced in Cumberland Presbyterian Church. So it was fun to have these different experiences at different churches, but when it all said and done, I mean, is a denomination I just love.
Jimmy:I love the people, I love our family atmosphere. And so it's always been special to me, always has. So where do I see us going forward, I guess? I'm hoping that we'll continue to see more churches spring up around our country and around the world. It sounds like we've got some good folks out there doing some great work.
Jimmy:So I'm just hoping we can raise up more ministers through our presbyteries and just really keep keep it going.
T.J.:I thought you were gonna tell the story. I I believe we were at the same church. It was a Sunday night. We were at Bethel. There's a small group of us that went to a church.
T.J.:I don't I don't remember where. I don't remember what denomination. But it wasn't long into the worship service that people were passing out, laying
Jimmy:on the floor Yes.
T.J.:And all other kinds of things and activities. And I thought that you were going to tell that story because I don't remember who the first one to exit was. But I just remember when it was time for me to go, I was actually having to step over people
Jimmy:in the aisles to Yes. Yes. To get out
T.J.:of there as quickly as I possibly could.
Jimmy:I was scared to death. I had never seen that before. And people talking in tongues and people falling out on the floor. That was my very first ever experience with that. So I was kinda curious.
Jimmy:It's like, all right, what's gonna happen next? You know, just really but at the same time, I was terrified. And because we don't do that in the Cumberland Church. We barely get an amen half the time, so much less anybody get up talking in tongues or falling in the floor. But yeah, that was quite an experience there.
Jimmy:I I I left. I don't remember when or how. I just yeah. Somehow ended up outside. I don't I I may have got scared and just ran out.
Jimmy:I don't know. But that was yeah. That was interesting.
T.J.:Jimmy, thank you for sharing. I appreciate it. I do.
Jimmy:Sure, thank you.
T.J.:For our listeners, how can we continue to follow you on your faith journey?
Jimmy:Well, you're welcome to check out Clarksville Cumberland Presbyterian Church. We have a Facebook page and a YouTube page and sermons are on there every week. So if having a hard time sleeping and you need something to kind of lull you to sleep, can turn in, just fast forward to the sermon time and just listen to that. And maybe that'll put you out or something. When it comes to social media, I'm pretty boring, I really am.
Jimmy:I get on there, I've got a Facebook and a Twitter and Instagram accounts on all of them. And I check them, but I don't post a whole lot, I guess, mainly stuff, whatever my boys are into, if they something's from sports or try to find a good sunset or just sometimes things get on there can get pretty heavy on social media. So if I find something funny to put on there to try to lighten the mood, I'll do that. But otherwise, I guess I'm kind of boring on there, but you're welcome to hop on there and find me on there somewhere.
T.J.:Alright, and if you're ever in the neighborhood of Clarksville, Tennessee, stop by the Clarksville Cumberland Presbyterian Church and you'll find Reverend Jimmy Byrd there as well.
Jimmy:Absolutely, you're welcome to come, come by, see us and say hi. A lot of folks in this denomination that made friends with over the years, so it's just good to see folks. It's always fun to have someone stop in and say hello, so feel free to do so.
T.J.:Well, Jimmy, thank you. Thank you for sharing your faith journey and bringing humor and your hopes for the church as we continue to try to serve God.
Jimmy:Sounds good. Thank you.
T.J.:And thank you for listening to today's podcast. Grab a friend and travel with us on our next journey down Cumberland Road.
