The Calling

Meet Steven Lee

Steven Lee grew up in Waverly, TN coming from a long line of ministers. His paternal grandparents were traveling evangelists for the Church of God of Prophecy, and his father eventually felt the call to ministry later in his life when Steven was just a baby. Ever since he was…

10 Nov 2019 26 min

Meet Mike Waldrop

Mike Waldrop grew up in Georgia where he loved to play sports as a kid before growing up and joining the Air Force. He felt the call to go into ministry, and joined the Baptist Student Union in college, but his obligations and responsibilities with the Air Force took him…

3 Nov 2019 25 min

Meet Reverend Rick Frazier

Reverend Rick Frazier had a great childhood growing up in Nashville with a family that was very active and involved in church. Ever since he was a young boy, he could sense a call to ministry that persisted all the way through high school. He would go on to further…

27 Oct 2019 26 min

Meet Reverend Michael McLaughlin

Knoxville native and UT graduate Michael McLaughlin found work in Kentucky in the mental health field where he and his wife started attending First Presbyterian Church in Somerset, KY. What began as helping out with the youth Sunday school led to Michael becoming involved with more and more church activities…

13 Oct 2019 27 min

Meet Tim Dunavant

Tim Dunavant went from having a church filled life growing up in a small town to living in Nashville where his family stopped going to church, and all things religious fell to the wayside. At the age of 17, he began experimenting with alcohol and drugs, which led to a…

6 Oct 2019 24 min

Meet John Purdue

John Purdue grew up in the college town of Lexington, Kentucky where he could ride his bike right into the campus of the University of Kentucky, and most of his neighbors were professors. Inspired by his experiences at church camp growing up, God led him to eventually make the switch…

22 Sep 2019 29 min

Meet Mark Gaw

Born and raised in Cookeville, Mark Gaw made the decision to not go into his family's real estate business due to a lack of passion. Leading music in church was where his passion lied, and he spent 11 years as an Associate Pastor in Music. With the word of God…

15 Sep 2019 30 min

Meet Buddy Johnson

Buddy Johnson is the son of a preacher who, despite being inspired by his father's storytelling and preaching abilities growing up, remained adamant that he would not follow in his father's footsteps and go into ministry. One day he realized that the ministry was his calling, and would go on…

8 Sep 2019 26 min

Meet Scott Parkison

As a young man, Scott Parkison was a high school dropout who found himself in with the wrong crowds and down on hard times with a feeling that his life was going nowhere. On January 29, 1991, God came to him when he was at his lowest while he was…

1 Sep 2019 27 min

Meet Stephen Morrison

Stephen Morrison grew up in the Midwest inspired by the authenticity of his parents' faith regardless of any negative experiences they may have gone through while attending church during his youth. Considered a bit of a black sheep for his love to converse and ask questions about faith during a…

25 Aug 2019 26 min

Meet Verna Seager

Raised by her great grandparents in Greene County, Tennessee, Verna Seager was separated from her twin brothers for 39 years after her grandparents, who raised her brothers, passed away and the brothers were adopted. Verna was eventually reunited with her brothers thanks to the Salvation Army's missing persons department. During…

18 Aug 2019 24 min

Meet Father Brad Bates

Father Brad Bates had a rough childhood growing up in Georgia that led him to serve in the Navy. Having not been brought up in the church, he felt that he had an on and off relationship with God before finding salvation at the age of 22 after serving, and…

4 Aug 2019 24 min

Meet Sommer Worley

Sommer Worley grew up as an only child in Lebanon, raised by a busy, hard working single mother, with help from her father and step-mother. After finding herself making some bad choices in college, and falling away from God while trying to live and make choices as her own person,…

21 Jul 2019 19 min

Meet Monica Mowdy

Monica Mowdy grew up in Oklahoma watching storms and tornadoes, and marveling in how God is able to create such wonder and majesty through nature. After her rowdy teenage years, Monica originally tried going into early childhood education before taking a step back to work with childcare centers and families…

14 Jul 2019 23 min

Meet Laurie Raulston

Laurie Raulston grew up on her family farm where she learned to appreciate the hard work that goes into everyday life before going off to MTSU where she earned her Bachelors Degree in Business. After holding jobs in various fields, and experiencing difficult events in her life, Laurie made the…

7 Jul 2019 25 min

Meet Marcy Milligan

Marcy Milligan grew up with a strong female role model in her mother, who took care of both Marcy's grandfather, and Marcy herself as a single parent. Now, inspired by her mother, Marcy gives back to her community as a guidance counselor for the Putnam County School System. She joins…

30 Jun 2019 22 min

Meet Pioneers With Babies

Tim and Ashley Smith are the Pioneers With Babies. After a bad storm in 2015 left the family homeless, they decided to look into the homesteading lifestyle, and built a home for themselves off grid in the mountains. They join Denna Hornby to discuss their homesteading journey, raising a growing…

21 Jun 2019 20 min

Meet Mustard Seed Ranch

Tammy Depperschmidt and Pastor Albert Willis are both members of Mustard Seed Ranch, a community-sponsored, interdenominational Christian ministry focused on providing support to children in need and placing them into loving homes. They join Denna Hornby to discuss where their shared passion for helping children comes from, as well as…

26 Apr 2019 26 min

Meet Lyndon Hackertt

Lyndon Hackertt spent two years growing up in the Amish community, but his family moved away to start their own community. Now having embraced a more modern lifestyle with technology, Lyndon has become a student at Tennessee Tech where his passion and studies lie in chemistry. He joins Denna Hornby…

12 Apr 2019 24 min

Meet Dr. Larry Reed

Dr. Larry Reed has spent his life serving the Upper Cumberland as a physician at Physicians' Associates in Crossville. Now retired, Dr. Reed was inspired and encouraged by his mother, a nurse, to pursue a career and education in medicine, and worked while attending morning summer classes at Tennesee Tech…

29 Mar 2019 26 min