Sarah Sparks

“How the Light breaks in during times of despair.”

Shortly after the birth of my daughter Maggie, I began having serious health problems that led me on a years-long journey of visits to doctors and specialists with no real answers until 2017 when I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and years later, hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. These conditions cause debilitating symptoms that come and go in flares, with no promising treatment or cure. The doctors told me I would deal with these conditions for the extent of my life, as they could only provide methods of pain management.

As crushing as my diagnosis was, things only seemed to get worse as my health problems became so frequent and serious that I eventually had to let go of my beloved career as an art teacher that I had worked and trained so hard for. Even after retiring, I was often bedridden and had little energy to give to my family and small children. I often lay depressed in bed, stripped of purpose and identity, and wondering what would happen to me in the next chapters of my life. 

It was in this dark place of fear that God’s light broke in. I began to see the positives that can come with change. As I let go of mourning what I thought my life “should” be, I began to cherish every day with my family and friends more. The more I joined community message boards online, the more I realized that things could be so much worse, and I was grateful for the abilities I still had. 

Although I taught art to others for over a decade, I never allowed myself time to create and develop my own artistic practice. I gave all of my time away to my job, my students, and my role as a mom and wife. This retirement provided me the opportunity to find myself as an artist again; to discover the joy and therapy that art can provide. The more I prayed and let go of my grief, the more I found hope in my new life that included deep reflection.

Being hopeful and persistent, I am able to share and empathize with others who are experiencing health problems and moments of grief by sharing what God has done for me in a time when I thought my world was too dark to find my way. I reflect on this hope each time I sit down to create. In this work, I used the symbol of the dragonfly to represent God’s light.

In various cultures, dragonflies symbolize change, especially change in the perspective of self-realization. This kind of change has its source in mental and emotional maturity and the understanding of the deeper meaning of life. Dragonflies symbolize rebirth, transformation, and spiritual enlightenment. Thank you God for your creation of the dragonfly and all other symbols of your love that we see in nature.

Lilly McGlone

My life has been blessed and abundantly enriched by Broadway Baptist Church going all the way back to my childhood. I have felt God’s presence working in my life through my involvement and membership at Broadway during every phase of life thus far. During my years in the Children’s Ministry, Christ’s love was taught to me in countless ways, which in turn, laid a solid foundation for further growing my faith as I became older.

My time in the Youth Ministry was marked by understanding my identity in Christ and the importance of intentionally pursuing a relationship with Him.

The strong roots that were planted for me in Broadway from a young age have spurred me on through college and now into young adulthood.

I have carried these precious lessons and values with me through every step and continue to be spiritually fed by the body of Christ at Broadway Baptist.

Broadway makes up such a large and significant part of who I am today. It has blessed me with fellowship, love and opportunities, but most importantly, with a home, a church home, that sincerely cares for and nurtures my faith in Christ.

And as a Christian, I could not have prayed for more.

George Coleman

My story of faith begins at a young age.  I was raised Methodist and was very active in the youth group of St. Paul United Methodist Church.  Then, during my college years, I married Francie, who was Baptist.  When we graduated and moved to Louisville I told her that we needed to join a Methodist Church, and shortly thereafter we joined Broadway Baptist. 

Corporate worship is a big part of my story.  Maybe, even, why my story matters.  I need worship, and Broadway does worship well!  In a world that more and more focuses on oneself, I go to church to acknowledge a greater power than myself.  Just as I go to my health club to better my temporal physical body, I go to church to better my eternal spiritual body.

I also attend Sunday school where I love studying God’s word with other Christians on this thing called “journey of faith”.  I enjoy doing my part in serving on committees and teams of the church, and I often plug in to many of the missions/ministries that our church is involved in.  I have been ordained as a Deacon and take the obligations of that position seriously.  When people ask me about my church, I tongue in cheek tell them that Broadway is so moderate that even I can be a Deacon there.

My faith tells me that “my story” matters to God.  And, I hope that the results of my faith story positively impact the people that I encounter on a daily basis.  In the Lord’s Prayer, Christ tells us to pray for God’s kingdom to come.  And so, I humbly offer this prayer:  “Holy God, may Your Kingdom come….beginning with me”.

Claudia Wells

God has never come to me dramatically with trumpets, flaming tongues or descending doves but quietly, over time, in the love of family, teachers and friends. I was a “Cradle Roll” baby in a small Baptist church in the segregated South. The first born child of Christian parents who were there every time the doors were open, I heard Bible stories and learned to give thanks before meals and pray before bedtime. I sang “Jesus Loves Me” and felt safe and loved. My world was small and faith seemed easy.

            I also sang “Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World” but before sixth grade I had never had friends of a different race, culture or religion. The world turned out to be much bigger than I had thought. I also had friends who were rejecting their religion. I began to read about other religions and question some of my own beliefs about God, who was also much bigger than I had thought. I wondered “What else is true?”

            When our family moved to Louisville, finding a “church home” was a priority. On our first visit to Broadway Mom and Dad were greeted by Duke McCall, whom they had known as Furman University students and Mrs. Ellis Fuller, whose husband had been pastor of Mom’s home church in Greenville, South Carolina. They immediately decided this must be a good place!

            During my teens and early adult years I felt blind-sided by the war in Vietnam. I learned that experiencing the pain of loss was part of life. Whether by war, illness, accident, murder, suicide or old age, each death of someone I loved has brought great grief that could only be comforted by the assurance that God cares.

            A great professor taught me that art is about learning to see. A great church taught me that faith is about learning to see God.

            Looking back I believe that God has been with me all my life, whether or not I was aware of that presence. At Broadway I have been challenged to study and think deeply about important questions. I am blessed by reverent worship and wonderful music. I am strengthened by spending time with people who love me and inspire me to greater service. Broadway is where I spoke my wedding vows and brought up my children. It is where I am most aware of God’s love. It is where I sense the spirits of my parents and many special people who have meant the most to my life. For more than fifty years, Broadway has been home.

Sharon Lin

My faith story started 50+ years ago at Broadway, so I have numerous examples of how I came to faith and how faith at Broadway has influenced my life, but I believe one of the best examples was 13 years ago. After 11 years of an illness, my body fell apart and I was faced with several serious surgeries. Broadway was without a pastor and youth minister, so the ministerial staff was low. That didn’t stop my church family though. Many church members cared for my family during this time, but the day that jolted my faith (for the good) was the day before my 1st surgery. During that day, 31 church members called me to tell me they were praying for me. I knew all of the callers, but they were all different ages and from different SS classes. The love, concern, and faith of my church family were so evident. I was overwhelmed! It was (and is) extremely touching to know that you have an extended family who truly cares about you, and it can boost your own faith.

I have always felt that Broadway is a family of faith, but that time in my life proved it. Hence, why do I choose to live out my faith at Broadway? I want to be a person who shows love and concern for others in my church family. A call or a note can make a difference and might just be the faith inspiration for someone who may need a church family member’s love at that moment in their life.

Robert Gammon

I was nurtured in an extended family that actively participated in all aspects of their church.  If the church doors were opened towards the ever changing Miami streets, I was expected to be present.  Consequently, my path to a life of faith was lived out before me by people I both loved and respected.

Two influential life events shaped by faith journey:  the suicide of my beloved grandfather and race relations within my city.  The unexpected news of my grandfather’s choice was shocking and thus earth shattering to our family, church and community.  As a teenager in the 70’s, this subject was taboo.  Thus, my path of loneliness and hopelessness was too heavy to bear.  However, a music minister came along and walked along side me and I soon discovered that suicide and hopelessness does not have the last word and that nothing can separate us from the love of God.  Soon thereafter, I was one of the few in my local community whose parents chose to participate in the public school busing program.  I was thrown into a world where I was in the minority and soon realized that prejudiced was something one was taught.  This experience came at a cost for me and my parents.  Yet, it was a life changing event that has continued to change the lives of future generations within our extended family.  

I am an ordinary person who uses the gift of music to share the extraordinary story of God’s unconditional love and grace.  My pilgrimage to Broadway was in response to a strong calling to serve alongside the people here through worship and the arts.  This is a compassionate church family and I am blessed to be on this faith journey with them.

Brittany Lin Ritter

In my life, faith thrives from everything family. Family is how I came to faith, it is how my life is changed through faith, and it is why I live out my faith through Broadway. 25 years ago, I was born into a family of faith to my parents, Steve and Sharon Lin. The two of them had grown up at Broadway themselves and had established a deep rooted dedication to this church.

Growing up as a child, youth, and young adult I have come to faith by celebrating God’s love and will for my family and the family we joined at Broadway. My faith influences my daily life as I battle with everyday temptations that cross my journey. Being a kindergarten teacher, you may think that my faith journey has been easy. Kindergarten is about rainbows and butterflies, right? Of course not. We know as Christians that nothing on Earth is that simple. My faith carries me and, when I feel lost, both my family and Broadway family step in to comfort and encourage me to strive on with God’s will for my life. I choose to live out my faith at Broadway.

Just like a family, there are the best of times and the worst of times. Families argue and disagree, but family is family. My Broadway family and I have not always agreed, but it is my family. When I chose to follow Christ I did so because of the people at this church. My family and my church family have been the fuel to my faith and as Christians we should not only reach out to others who need a family; but, we must take care of our own as well. The Broadway family that I have known is a church that does just that. This is why my family - my church family - is the story of my faith.

Kendrick Wells

I have never seen God, but in faith I have seen the tall grass part as Christ came near.

I have read the Book in faith and experienced the Christ Spirit coming to my side and living in my heart.

In moments of faith in God through the Christ, Christ is the center that gives sense and peace to life and vision of all neighbors as my community, and lights the way of the Cross by Spirit love.

In Broadway, I have known joy in life with the wife God gave me in Broadway only yesterday, 1972.

I have known the security of the accepting and supporting fellowship of men and women living in faith and unified by loving each other in the name of the Christ who is crucified and resurrected;

I have seen the dynamic of the congregation turning its loving unity outward, welcoming all and sending disciples into the neighborhood to carry God’s unconditional acceptance in ministry to all neighbors; and

I have seen worship in word and music infused with the Spirit and pointing forcefully to the Good News that God unconditionally accepts and loves us and calls us to love God and neighbor.

I have never seen a perfect church, but at Broadway I have seen a welcoming church that is formed and reformed by free participation of its members as they look to the Spirit for leadership and the courage of self-examination. 

I have never seen God, but in Broadway I have seen the tall grass bend in the warm Spirit wind of God with us.

Cathy Smith

At a recent Deacons’ retreat we were asked to describe God with one noun and one adjective. I described God as the “unexpected amen.” For me, this sums up why I am at Broadway. Let me explain:

I have been Baptist since before my mother was a thought in her mother’s mind. I am descended from generations of trail-blazing Baptist teachers and leaders. My grandfather was a pastor and former president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. My grandmother, who was born in 1926, earned a college degree – unheard of in those days! My great aunt, born in 1914, received a Ph.D. and was the Dean of Students at Georgetown College. I learned from my family to be an independent thinker and make choices rooted in Christian beliefs that make sense for me.

While my entire family transferred to Broadway when I was two, the choice to stay has been mine. I was baptized when I was ten during a Christmas Eve service. Although I didn’t really need it for years, Broadway instilled in me a strong faith based on love that I have been able to lean on throughout my life. Unexpected amen!

It wasn’t until I went to a Baptist college that I realized the uniqueness of Broadway’s attitude toward faith and the world. I grew up understanding the spirit of love and the idea that Christians “are.” We are people who believe that love should be and is from God unconditionally. We are people who show compassion and do not pronounce judgment on others. At college, I realized that much of the Christian world is more concerned about “are not.” They are not people that dance, drink or hang out with people that might. They are not focused on unconditional love but feel that God’s love and acceptance is reserved for those who follow their rules. It was at my Christian school that my beliefs were challenged and my faith journey took root. The thoughtful prayers of my parents and church family got me through those years. Oh, and the Baptist Student Union who prayed for my soul the entire four years I was there!

Broadway’s music program is a true ministry to me. Through it I developed a love of music. The beautiful and multi-dimensional music I get to sing fills me with meaning and inspiration. Broadway’s minister of music, Roger Lamb, supported me through many difficult times in my life. Unexpected amen!

I know of no other church where I can look forward with such faith to the “unexpected amens” of God. Here I find my family, life-long friends, and my support system that has seen me through my Mother’s sickness and death, divorce, single parenting, mission projects and even house-boating adventures.

It’s the “unexpected amens” that keep me at Broadway. Where else would I have the opportunity to grow, sing and experience such compassion and unconditional love? Where else could I have developed a joy and faith based on the belief that God has the last word – and it’s not “judgment,” it’s “peace.” I continue to revel in the “unexpected amens” I experience at Broadway! I am excited to be a part of our congregation as we move forward raising new generations of Christians who “are.” AMEN and AMEN!

Ron A. Newcomer

I remember as a small child attending Sunday School and Church at Taylor Memorial Baptist Church in Avon-by-the-Sea, New Jersey with my brother Dave (14 months my senior) and my maternal grandmother, Ida Niedrach. During World War II my mother, brother, myself and our aunt lived with my grandparents in a house two blocks from the Atlantic Ocean and three blocks from the church. As a small child I remember spending every Sunday crawling, running and playing in church. Taylor Memorial was affiliated with the American Baptist Association.

About the time I reached the fifth grade Dave and I joined the Baptist Youth Fellowship program at church which met every Sunday evening in the basement of the church from 6:00 pm until 7:00 pm. As a good Baptist in training I always picked a seat on the back row with my brother and the Reid boys, Tommy and Paul who were our age. The youth leader was Mr. Roy Ammerman, a local banker who arranged beach parties, cookouts, hay rides in the fall and Christmas parties. He drove a long convertible that I loved to ride in when we took short trips around town.

One Sunday night our father dropped us off at church just before 6:00 pm and we went into the basement for youth fellowship. During the opening prayer I was moved and compelled to the belief and understanding that Jesus was lord and I needed him in my life. Silently I prayed to receive Jesus as my personal Savior. So I accepted Jesus as my personal savior in the silence and safety of my seat on the back row. I believed then and know even now that I was saved.

That night when our father picked us up shortly after 7:00 pm I jumped in the car and asked if he was saved. I asked “did you ever accept Jesus as your Savior?” I told him I just did and when we arrived home I let my mother and grandmother know. That was the extent of my public profession of faith and continued to claim my faith as a Christian. It wasn’t until I returned from Vietnam in 1967 and moved to Fort Rucker, Alabama where Betty, our son, Tim, and I began to attend Ozark Baptist Church that I made a public profession of faith and was baptized by Rev. Don Miley. At the time of my public profession of faith I was twenty-four years old, a Captain in the United States Army, had served a year as a combat helicopter pilot, was married, and had a two year old son.

While we were stationed at Fort Rucker we attended Sunday School, Church and Training Union at Ozark Baptist Church and I began to learn what it meant to be a practicing Christian. In 1968 we separated from the service and I enrolled in Law School at the University of Kentucky. The first six months we lived in an apartment and did not attend church. The following February we rented a small house on the west side of Lexington and began to attend Rosemont Baptist Church. We spent the next forty years as members of Rosemont where our children were baptized, our daughter married, we taught Sunday School, worked in the youth program, coached basketball and softball teams, ran a basketball clinic, chaperoned youth choir trips, worked in Bible School, was ordained as a deacon (early 1970’s), served two terms as chairman of deacons, and served as chair of the pulpit search committee in 1993. When called I was never able to say no and the load was never carried just by me. I did not do the heavy lifting.

In 2008 after 40 years we left Lexington and moved to Louisville. We lived in an apartment for 18 months while we sold our Lexington residence and purchased a new home here. We moved into the new home in July of 2009 and visited Broadway Baptist in late September. From the moment we set foot in the front doors we felt part of the fellowship. On subsequent visits we were remembered not just by our face but by our names. We were led to join in November of 2009 and have been immersed in the fellowship and community ever since. Each week since November of 2009 we have woven another thread into the fabric of this fellowship, and it was not just our doing but the effort of the existing and subsequent new members.

Over the years that passed from that Sunday evening on the back row in the basement of Taylor Memorial Church in Avon-by-the-Sea, New Jersey I have known who I belonged to and that my salvation was secure. I cannot remember a time in my life when I was in fear or felt insecure about that or anything else. Although I did not make my decision public beyond my family I was confident then and am confident now that I belong to Christ. Each time I have been called upon to serve I heard the voice of God and could not say no. I have enjoyed the journey and look forward to many more years of service and fellowship.

Donna Williams

When life throws you a curveball, what do you do with it?  We all have plans and dreams for our life, a direction we hope to follow.  There have been two times in my life when the direction, along with life’s dreams and plans changed dramatically.  Sometimes the baseball player will struggle with that curveball coming at him but with time he learns what to do with it.

I was raised in a Christian home, in a small Oklahoma town.  I always knew that Sunday morning and evening meant church.  My home church was not of the Baptist faith.  I remember that the overall church message was not positive, a lot of ‘don’t do this and don’t do that’.  Thanks to loving parents and grandparents, I knew how to love fully, to trust and to have faith in my God. 

That first curveball came in my twenties, a diagnosis of a chronic illness, just after four years of marriage to a wonderful man and a 3 week old newborn son .  Thanks to a loving, understanding and helpful husband and faith in my God, I continued to trust that I would make it through all of the pain and complications that followed.  We found a church home at Manor Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas.   At this point, we were far from our own families, so the open arms we found there with loving and caring friends, we were able to cope with all of our struggles, to be fully immersed in church and to be open to and try to understand God’s plan for us.  

The second of those curveballs came years later with another diagnosis, but this time it was my husband’s descent into early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.  He was just 50, so it just wasn’t fair that the curveball of life was doing this to us, especially to a man so loving and giving to all.  Again, we were far from family and had just moved to another city where we had not established a church home.  But God moves right along with his followers.  I knew this but at first I thought maybe God had not come along as we moved. Thankfully, those feelings of abandonment were soon dashed.  I cannot fully explain where, when and how,  but I began to feel  the peace that God would take care of us, even if it meant  that my husband would be taken from me.  I knew that he would be whole again in mind and body when he was taken to Heaven.  I am sure that I could not have survived the years of his illness and then his death without my faith.  During this time, I was unable to attend church but I found comfort in listening to his word through music.  I heard his promises in very powerful messages in song, keeping my faith strong and helping me to keep on going.

So this brings me to Broadway Baptist Church, thanks to an invitation to visit Broadway from long-time friends, Tina and Tom Burress. I found a place where everyone can have their own thoughts and beliefs but still be loving, caring and respectful of each other; a place where I’ve been accepted for who I am and what I am able to do. To worship in the beautiful sanctuary on Sunday mornings helps with the grace and peace that God brings my way as I move through the rest of my life, hoping that the curveballs have come to an end but knowing that if there are more, that I’ll have my faith to help me through and a Broadway family to walk along beside me.

I came across this poem shortly after my husband’s death.  

When you are lonely, I wish you Love
When you are down, I wish you Joy
When things get complicated, I wish you Faith
When things look empty, I wish you Hope.

Mark Riddle

My wife Robin and I were married by Ron Higdon in 1983. Robin grew up at Broadway, and I started regularly attending Broadway with her. Despite my faithful attendance, I had never joined the church, and maintained a 30 year status as a “member-in-law” of Broadway. During that time, our daughters, Brittany and Blair, were raised at Broadway, and the church played an important role in shaping their lives and Christian values. So much so that Brittany pursued a call to attend Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, and became an ordained minister.  

My status changed shortly after Christmas in 2012, when Brittany baptized me in the same baptismal waters in which she had been baptized years earlier. What an amazing and moving experience! I was led to this decision to a large extent by the three strong Baptist women in my life – Robin, Brittany and Blair – but also by the strong love and support from the ministers and members of Broadway during good times and difficult times.  For these and so many other reasons, Broadway has truly been a blessing in my life.

Jennifer Koch

After living in Louisville for almost a decade, I had never really found a "home" church that reminded me of my church from home. We moved into our neighborhood in 2011 and loved having a gorgeous church right in our own backyard. I remember saying to myself, "We need to go there one Sunday soon.” Well, that Sunday turned into another, then another, and as the months and years passed by, I would hear the church bells ring, see the glowing lights from the steeple watching over us, and feel that we were somehow protected in our neighborhood, and somehow connected to this beautiful church.

In 2012, I began working at Chenoweth Elementary, a school right in our community.  I immediately loved our school and soon came to see volunteers on a regular basis coming to read with our students, goodie bags with notes wishing us a wonderful year and thanking us for our service as teachers, and members of Broadway who volunteered in our Outdoor Classroom to help revitalize this space. More and more often, I noticed this community outreach and I thought, "How wonderful that this church is so involved in and giving to our school, I'll have to visit there soon.”

The following school year, we were invited to "The Blessing of Teachers and Students," and I knew that this was the time for us to FINALLY visit the church in our own backyard. Upon entering, I soon realized that, not only is it a beautiful church on the outside, but it was almost identical to the church I grew up in, not only in architecture, but in welcoming us with open arms. I met several members, knew a handful of families from our school, but left feeling refreshed and peaceful, and I knew that we would return.

That summer, our children attended the Creative Arts Camp and were invited by Pastor Robert to join the Children's Choir, to which there was a resounding YES! from our girls.  

We have come to love Broadway Baptist, the church in our own backyard. The community that reaches out into the world to offer time, talents, and treasures to so many who may never even enter the walls of the church, but the love, care, and outreach continues nonetheless. We are blessed to be just one family in a congregation that takes the light of the Lord and passes that on love on to so many.

Audy Sisk

I have been a member at Broadway since early 1983, after moving to Louisville from Cincinnati. Having been a Southern Baptist all my life, and after visiting several area Baptist churches, we settled on Broadway due to the outstanding and inspirational messages by Ron Higdon, the excellent choir and music program, the open and enlightening discussions in the Ed Perry Sunday School class, and the friendly and caring members of the church. Since joining, Broadway has been a source of joy, comfort, and support in some of the highest and lowest points in my life.

It took me a long time to commit to singing in the choir due to other commitments that I thought were more important at the time. Looking back, they seem so insignificant compared to the blessing and joy of participating in Broadway's outstanding music program. I thank God everyday for leading me to Broadway, where I hope to remain through the end of my days.