Dennis Jernigan, Part II

My children know the first part of this story, but for the one or two others who have nothing better to do with their time than read this blog, here’s why I said in Part I that Dennis Jernigan is one of my heroes.

When Julie and Jason were first married and still in Abilene in the early ‘90’s, they became part of Abilene Mission Church. They described this church to us – I think rather cautiously, at first – as a “different way of doing church,” meeting during the week in homes as a Cell Church, then coming together in the rented Civic Center on Sunday mornings for Praise and Worship. Inevitably, we visited them in Abilene and attended AMC for the first time.

First time is a key phrase here; for the first time Barbara and I – raised in rather traditional Church of Christ settings – experienced worship with a praise team. For the first time we attended a church service where people would stand throughout the Praise time (or sit – no one cared which). Some people raised their hands, others didn’t. Some clapped. Some even danced! Well, to my traditional eyes it looked liked dancing; maybe it was just pronounced rhythmic movement while singing rapturously. For the first time we heard men and women participating together in the service. And there was so much joy evident in praising our God and our Savior! No one wanted to stop; the singing often lasted longer than our entire service does at Westover – even on the three baptism days!

And the songs they sang… oh, the songs they sang! Never before had we heard songs about such a personal God – songs about real relationships and real longings; songs that spoke about a real father, not a distant deity. Songs about the Great Jehovah God singing over us, rejoicing over us! We asked about these songs and learned that many of them were by Dennis Jernigan. So we bought CDs and exulted in these new songs. We didn’t know the whole story then, we just knew the music, and it blew us away. One of our friends who also had just been introduced to Jernigan told it this way. “We bought a CD and put it in the car and spent a year playing just the first song!”

After Julie and Jason left for Prague, Barbara and I would – about every six weeks – drive to Abilene on Saturday, spend the night in the motel across the street from the Civic Center and go to AMC on Sunday morning. Then we would put the Jernigan CDs in the player and make the long drive back home that afternoon. Later we would get the chance to hear Dennis in concert on a couple of different occasions. Except they are not just concerts, are they? They are worship experiences.

Now for the 2^nd part of this story. I was excited to hear that Dennis was coming to Westover; it meant that I would have a chance to meet him and tell him what an important part he played in the awakening Barbara and I experienced and continue to seek. And I did meet him. I worked with him during the sound check. We joked about his wanting the piano moved – for one number only. We talked about his barn behind his home in Oklahoma, where his studio is. But when it came time for me to tell him about being a hero to us, the Anderson Family Curse robbed me of that ability.

I could not tell the man what he meant to us. I never said a word.

It didn’t end that badly. I told Rick how disappointed I was that I couldn’t tell Dennis what his ministry meant to us, and Rick said, “I’ll be with him later. I’ll tell him for you.” And he did.

And I thank him.