My Faith Story by Dan Moyers

Before I tell you a little about my faith story, I want to say thank you.  Thank you for allowing me to be a deacon here at Highland Baptist Church.  I am looking forward to serving you and growing together in our faith.

I was born and raised here in Louisville, KY.  My parents took me to Suburban Christian Church, where I attended Sunday School and Church.  Suburban Christian Church is part of a denomination called the Disciples of Christ.  All of the denominational stuff is somewhat interesting, but for me, the important part was that my friend, Scott Hedges, went there, and my parents had close friends there, and they believed in telling their children the stories of Jesus Christ and singing the songs of our faith. 

As a kid, I was interested in learning about God, and all of the men and women over the ages that have tried to follow the path of God’s love.  I would alternate between earnestly trying to figure out the formula that would be required to allow me to get into heaven, and cynically looking for loopholes and exclusions that would allow me to have fun and still be considered a good Christian.  For a long time, I would also struggle with serious questions about what exactly this or that story in the Bible was really saying. 

But my parents took me to Church long enough for me to have a basic understanding of many of the fundamental stories in the Bible.  I knew that I was a child of God, and that God loved me.  I knew that I should work to love God with all my heart, and to love my neighbor as myself.  I knew it was useful to have a group of people come together to worship God, to share their faith, to support each other when their faith was shaken by events, and to reach out into the community to do God’s work.  All of that I generally describe as “the path”.  So, by the time I graduated from High School, I feel like I generally knew what the path was, and what it felt like to walk the path. 

When I went to college at the University of Chicago, I focused on trying to keep up with my course work and trying to have some social life.  Somehow, I muddled through both of those well enough to convince my wife Sarah that she should accept my proposals – to go out initially, to follow me to various cities in my early career, and finally that we should get married .  The one thing I didn’t focus on too much during this time was my faith.  I kind of thought that I knew that I was a Christian, and that I would get back to that when I got serious about being an adult.

After Sarah and I got married, we lived in New York for twelve years.  The first ten years, we were dual income no kids, and things seemed pretty good.  We both worked very hard at our respective careers, and we both did pretty well.  During this time, I would describe myself as the typical “Easter and Christmas” Christian, with additional church attendance whenever I came home to visit Mom.  However, I will tell you that Sundays were frequently not very good days for me.  I would frequently find myself angry or just out-of-sorts on Sundays.  And, it didn’t really matter if I played the whole day long or if I did extra work in the office on Sundays.  Looking back, I believe that it was a signal that while I hadn’t gone completely off the rails, I was not on the path either. 

The next big event in our lives was the birth of our daughter Emily.  Emily was born on Easter Sunday morning, on April 23, 2000.  Now, I have never completely felt comfortable when my Mother would tell me that certain things happen for a reason, and that God has a plan, etc.  However, Easter Sunday morning does have a special ring to it, and I am gradually warming up to the idea that God works in mysterious ways.  

Nevertheless, it still took me a full year before I decided that one thing I needed back in my life was a regular relationship with God.  So, on Easter Sunday morning in 2001, I decided that Sarah, Emily and I should start going back to Church.  We decided to go to The Riverside Church in New York.  As soon as I entered Riverside, I could feel that this was a step in the right direction – a step back on the path. 

About a year later, I decided that I wanted to move back to Louisville.  I wanted a better work/life balance, and I wanted to finally connect with a real Church home where we could be “Doers of the Word, and not Hearers Only.”  (James 1:22) 

When I came home to Louisville, and told my friend Scott that I was planning on coming back, the first thing Scott did was to drive me over the Highland Baptist Church and show me the sanctuary.  The second thing he did was to drive us over to Sharon Sander’s house for some errand.  Both simple events struck a chord with me that resonated, and told me that this was another step along the path. 

The best way I can describe that feeling is to use a musical analogy.  For those of you who play an instrument or sing in the choir, you may have used a tuning fork.  Back in High School, I remember hitting an A-440 tuning fork and then tuning my viola.  When you get your instrument in tune and it resonates with that perfect A-440 pitch, it is a special feeling.  Well that is similar to the feeling I get when I realize that I am temporarily back in tune with God. 

Over the past 8 years, my family and I have been blessed to attend Highland Baptist Church.  I have experienced many more events that resonate with me and tell me that God is present and working through the members of Highland Baptist Church.  This congregation has fed us physically, emotionally and spiritually.  I am grateful for the love that you continue to share with us. 

I appreciate the opportunity to serve as a deacon and to help share the love that is Highland Baptist Church.