A Greater Capacity To Serve
Lincoln and Cristy Moody have poured their lives into youth ministry at First Baptist Church
Words by Terrell Manasco | Images by Blakeney Clouse
Lincoln Moody lowered himself into a chair and surveyed the room with a wary eye. As lyrics appeared on a screen, dozens of voices reverberated from the walls of this storefront church in Anniston, Alabama.
He thought it was a cult.
January 1995. Fresh out of college with an education degree, Lincoln was “turning wrenches” (working on cars) to pay bills until he found a teaching job. Still reeling from a breakup, he’d accepted a co-worker’s invitation to meet for lunch on Sunday, and then he decided to visit the friend’s church before they met to eat. Lincoln, who grew up in a traditional Methodist church, admits he was leery at first.
“It was weird because it was in a storefront,” he says. “First time I went, I thought it was a cult, to tell you the truth.”
In those days, Lincoln was “drinking and into heavy metal,” according to his wife, Cristy, Director of Operations at Walker Area Community Foundation. Despite his initial skepticism, he came back the following two Sundays. “The way the guy preached was truth and the truth was drawing me,” Lincoln says. “On the third Sunday, the guy said, ‘Somebody here is at a crossroads.’ It was like a realization— I had to have Christ or I wasn't going to make it.”
Emotionally broken, Lincoln was stunned when the minister invited him to the podium. Cristy says Lincoln “railed at him and God for making him come on stage to do this.” For Lincoln, it was a watershed moment.
Not content to warm a pew, Lincoln hit the ground running on day one. All doubts regarding his commitment were obliterated when he sold his beloved 1969 Super Sport Chevelle. “I used that money to live off of,” he says.
For a while, Lincoln worked with the church’s youth and did landscaping work. During this time, several members of the church ministered to him and helped him to understand the concept of discipleship. “When I got saved at that church, people just pored into me,” Lincoln says. “One of the church members gave me a car.”
Finally, in 1996, he applied as a substitute teacher for the Jasper school system. He followed up a week later—wearing, as he says, a “Jesus T-shirt” and cutoff khaki shorts—and was hired to teach history the next week. He now teaches 7thand 8thgrade civics at Jasper Junior High.
The Moodys have been working with the youth at Jasper First Baptist Church for most of their 20 years of marriage, both in leadership roles and behind the scenes. Currently, they serve as the audio-visual team in the youth building.
Cristy’s experience with youth mentorship dates back to her days working for a nonprofit organization, which taught service learning in high schools. “We built a house in north Birmingham and students were the volunteer support,” she says. “We did that for four years in the Birmingham area, and when Lincoln and I got married, we just continued that vein of student ministry.”
A few years ago, Lincoln was asked to temporarily fill in by preaching and teaching at the church on Wednesday nights. After that, he worked with the Royal Ambassadors youth (1st-6thgrade) for a while. Over the years, he’s been offered a youth pastor position at other churches, which he politely declines.
"My mission field is 7th grade,” Lincoln says.
Young people will always face challenges as they mature. Social media, although relatively new, has created its own set of challenges. The answer, Cristy says, is found in The Word. “I think social media has opened up a whole new world in terms of self-worth and self-esteem, and what it means to be a person of completeness and wholeness in Christ,” she says. “Your identity is not in the amount of "likes" you get on a social media post. It's in the cross of Christ and the grace you receive from Him.”
It can be said that the best lessons benefit both student and teacher. Cristy says their experience taught them one particular lesson. “We've learned that we had a greater capacity to serve than what we thought,” she says. “You think you're busy and can't add one more thing to your plate, but we managed to run an entire student ministry and didn't take away from our kids or our jobs. It was a great lesson for us, in that we can do more for the Lord than what we thought.”
And we should. 78