A maroon hood to go with his red coat
HENDERSON, Tenn. — Frances Johnson hurried home from Alabama Christian…
Growing in spirit, through a layer of ice
After a winter storm cancels Freed-Hardeman’s Bible lectureship, the university offers a workshop to help believers mature in their faith.
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HENDERSON, TENN. — Call them the chosen frozen.
On a chilly Wednesday morning, a little more than 100 hearty souls carefully made their way into Freed-Hardeman University’s Dryden Auditorium. K.J. Moore, a minister for the Katy Church of Christ in Texas, led a song before university President David Shannon talked about the early church described in the book of Acts.
Christians, even those baptized decades ago, can learn a lot from that 2,000-year-old church, Shannon said.
K.J. Moore leads an opening hymn at Freed-Hardeman’s Spiritual Growth Workshop.
“Everybody here has room to grow tremendously,” he said. “Will you grow spiritually?”
The topic, timing and attendance were vastly different from what organizers planned for the university’s 90th annual Bible lectureship. But a brutal, late January ice storm forced a change in the program. For the first time since 1994, the university postponed its full-scale lectureship until next year and offered instead what officials jokingly referred to as “lectureship 89.5,” a three-day Spiritual Growth Workshop, presented online and in person for those able to make the trip.
@christianchronicle HENDERSON, TENN. — Keith Harris, incoming president of Freed-Hardeman University, leads “We Shall Assemble” during the 2026 Spiritual Growth Workshop. The university, which is associated with Churches of Christ, replaced its 90 annual Bible Lectureship with the workshop in the aftermath of a record-breaking ice storm. The event continues through Feb. 6. #freedhardeman #spiritualgrowth #bibleworkshop #churchofchrist ♬ original sound – The Christian Chronicle
Don Reel looked like he’d summited a mountain as he entered the auditorium, bundled up and carrying an ornate walking stick that resembled a wizard’s staff. He and his wife, Carol, traveled 90 miles south from their home in Tiptonville, Tenn., to reach campus. Don, a 1969 FHU graduate, has preached for 50 years and currently ministers for congregations including the Burrus Chapel Church of Christ in West Tennessee. He and Carol rarely miss the lectureship.
Don Reel, left, follows along in the book of Acts as FHU president David Shannon speaks on “Want to Grow Spiritually? Surrender to His Lordship.”
He bought the walking staff for $13 at Montgomery Bell State Park in Burns, Tenn. It’s great for climbing hills and starting conversations,“but it’s no help on ice,” he said with a chuckle.
Although power outages were brief in Henderson compared to communities to the east, including Nashville, the storm crippled FHU’s campus for more than a week. At one point, the ice was so thick that roads couldn’t be distinguished from sidewalks, Shannon said. The Henderson Church of Christ moved its Jan. 25 worship online and offered a limited afternoon service on Feb. 1, the day the lectureship was to begin.
Attendees carefully make their way from the parking lot to the auditorium at Freed-Hardeman University.
Campus workers, led by director of facilities Shannon Sewell, spent long hours chipping ice away from the auditorium’s stairs and walkways for the event, which began three days after the scheduled lectureship. The workers were heroes “who worked tirelessly through this brutal weather,” said FHU vice president T.J. Kirk, “getting to campus early, often not leaving until late at night, making sure the power stayed on, the heat kept blowing and pipes didn’t freeze.”
During the workshop, Hiram Kemp quoted from a well-known verse, Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” That’s easy to do when the sun is shining, said Kemp, a minister for the Cumberland Trace Church of Christ in Bowling Green, Ky. But Paul’s admonition to the church in Philippi is to rejoice through the ice storms of life as well.
Hiram Kemp speaks on “The Path to Spiritual Maturity” during the Spiritual Growth Workshop at Freed-Hardeman University.
The university’s Wednesday classes were online, as they had been for the past week, and chapel was canceled. Nonetheless, small groups of students made their way to the auditorium to hear Kemp, who spoke during the time slot normally used for chapel.
“Personally, I am an introvert,” said Huey Allen, a freshman business major from Huntsville, Ala. “But as it’s been closed for a long time, and we normally have chapel every day, it is nice to be able to fellowship directly with the saints, to meet them face to face. … That’s something that is really important.”
While cooped up in their dormitories, students caught up on assignments and hosted their own devotionals, said Brooke Wheeler, a junior nursing and Bible major from Houston.
“But getting together with a lot more people, getting back into it has been really nice,” Wheeler said.
Students (from left) Emily Taylor, Daniel Hamrick, Huey Allen and Brooke Wheeler speak with The Christian Chronicle after a session at the Spiritual Growth Workshop.
The original lectureship’s theme, “Our God, His Kingdom,” focused on the Gospel of Matthew. In contrast, speakers at the Spiritual Growth Workshop pulled from a variety of biblical sources as they discussed spiritual maturity, Christian apologetics, money management and “Growing Even When Prayers Seem Unanswered.”
“I actually enjoyed what they did more,” said Emily Taylor, a junior website design major from Dayton, Tenn., “because it’s a more diverse range of topics.” The focus on Christian growth, in one’s personal life and career, was particularly useful, she added.
Kirk Brothers speaks on “Put ‘Mission’ Back in the ‘Commission'” during the Spiritual Growth Workshop.
Kirk Brothers, president of Heritage Christian University in Florence, Ala., talked about the often-overlooked role of spiritual development in the Great Commission, Jesus’ final words to his disciples before he ascended into heaven. Ministers and missionaries often focus on the first part of the commission, Matthew 28:19, “Go … and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
But the main verb in the passage isn’t “go,” Brothers said. A less-quoted command comes in verse 20, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.”
“God built something into the DNA of his people,” Brothers said. Christians are lifelong learners and workers. “A disciple is an apprentice of Jesus who is learning to live like him.”
Doug Burleson thanks guests who made the icy journey to the 2026 Spiritual Growth Workshop at Freed-Hardeman University.
As attendees ate lunch in the university’s dining hall, sunlight broke through the clouds. Streets and sidewalks thawed rapidly over the next two days. In all, the workshop featured 27 speakers and brought in about 500 attendees, said Doug Burleson, assistant dean of FHU’s Bible college and lectureship director. An additional 870 people attended online.
“It was painful to have to pivot away from the lectureship we had spent so much time preparing for,” Burleson said, “and yet we were reminded of what God can do in moments like this. For me, the result of the hastily planned ‘Spiritual Growth Seminar’ was spiritual growth, and for that I am thankful.”
Josh Ketchum speaks on “Equipping the Saints for the Work of Ministry” during the Spiritual Growth Workshop.
Don Reel shows his walking staff between sessions at the FHU Spiritual Growth Workshop.
ERIK TRYGGESTAD is President and CEO of The Christian Chronicle. Contact [email protected].
