"Our Soft Place To Fall"

The people in today’s post have been members of Hayes Barton Baptist Church for only a little over two years, yet I suspect many of you would recognize them if you saw them outside the church at a restaurant or store.  The reason you would recognize them is that they are faithful members of the Chancel Choir so they likely are familiar faces to you because you see the choir each Sunday. And just as you see them each Sunday, if you are around church on Mondays, you are likely to see them as every Monday they work in the Choir Room, sorting music from Sunday Worship and beginning preparation for the next Sunday.  These folks are dedicated members of the choir and of Hayes Barton Baptist Church, and their names are Scotti and Ron Tatum.

Scotti and Ron Tatum moved to Raleigh and visited Hayes Barton Baptist Church in June, 2009; by July, 2009, they joined the church.  Their daughter Lucy Austin had told them that Hayes Barton Baptist Church was “the closest church” to Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville where Scotti and Ron had been members for a number of years.   As Scotti recalls, “Lucy said, ‘Mom this is going to be your church.’”

Scotti agrees with Lucy’s assessment about the similarity to Snyder and can quickly rattle off how the two churches are similar and why they came quickly to feel like Hayes Barton Baptist church is their church home. “The choir, structure, Wednesday nights, the beliefs, the comfort level, and the mindset,” says Scotti with straightforward candor.

While Scotti explains through words the quick connection to the church, Ron recalls that he was the first of the two to sing in the choir.  With Scotti too sick to sing that Wednesday night, Ron went ahead and joined the choir in spite of the fact that he wasn’t too thrilled with being on TV.  Now because of TV, both are recognized in places like K&W in Raleigh and their old stomping grounds in Fayetteville.  “Total strangers treat us like we are buddies because of the TV ministry,” says Ron.

The day Ron was singing in the choir Scotti sat in the congregation and Henry Warren struck up a conversation with her about Sunday School.  “He wrote down all the information about the Koinonia Sunday School class,” says Scotti. “We visited it and haven’t left it.  We have the choir, too, which is like a second Sunday School class for us.”

Native Virginians, Scotti and Ron met on a tour of Baptist colleges and institutions in Virginia.  They remember the first time they saw each other.  “It was in the Foreign Mission Board parking lot,” says Scotti who even remembers what Ron was wearing that day.  Eventually, they married.  “Our wedding was on Christmas Eve in 1967.  We didn’t think about how that would affect our anniversaries,” laughs Ron.

While they have been members of Hayes Barton Baptist Church for only a few years, Scotti and Ron have served on a number of committees in addition to being in and serving the choir behind the scenes.  In fact one of their roles these days is as choir “librarians” which has them cataloging all the music.  One recent “find” they had while labeling the music was a bulletin that fell out of a stack of music they were going through. “We were surprised to find out that Billy Graham had been here for an evening baptism service in 1987,” says Scotti.

Although they do not teach Sunday School at Hayes Barton Baptist Church, Scotti and Ron did so for about twenty years at Snyder in Fayetteville.  “We taught eleventh graders,” recalls Scotti.  “Our starting point was always the Scripture.  It is the only thing today you know is going to be 100% the truth.” “We opened to Proverbs a lot with the kids,” says Ron.  “We are Proverbs people,” adds Scotti.

You can’t get away from talking to Scotti and Ron without asking about their favorite hymns.  They talk with each other like I wasn’t in the room and then settle on “The Majesty and Glory of His Name” with Scotti saying that it is “probably my all time favorite” and Ron adding “God of Grace” is “a good one, too.”

Scotti and Ron see the heritage of Hayes Barton Baptist Church with a shorter perspective than some of the folks in the blog stories but that doesn’t really change what they see.  “This is what a church should be,” says Scotti.  “This is a church of God’s people. It is inclusive.  Welcoming…that is part of its heritage.”  Ron adds that the TV ministry and music are also important parts of the church’s heritage.

The hope of the church, says Ron, “is the large number of children and their parents.”  “This church will be here for the children,” says Scotti, “because of its strong heritage that has it putting the word out about Jesus.”

The home that Hayes Barton Baptist Church has become for Scotti and Ron starts with having their daughter Lucy and son-in-law Richard in the church.  “It is such a blessing, a gift, to be in a church with our kids,” says Scotti.  “It truly is our home.  It is our soft place to fall.  It offers us fellowship.  It is our encouragement.  It’s home and it’s family.  No matter what.  It is our soft place to fall.”