By Katie Ginn
This will surprise no one, but I didn’t go out and get drunk in college. No, my foolish evening plans involved things like a spare key to Oxford Nazarene Church. In fact, I once got in trouble with the preacher for reading the Bible too much.
When Pastor Chet Bush walked into the empty sanctuary that night and found me hunched over in the front row, his hackles were raised all the way up.
You have to know this about Chet: He led that congregation with a calm, even-keeled, nearly unflappable demeanor. He could’ve turned a dog fight into a play date with nary a bite. But when he saw me that night at the church, well, he got a wee bit flapped.
It wasn’t what I was doing, but why. In the midst of my Undiagnosed OCD Battle of 2009-10, I didn’t know how to acknowledge my endless theological questions, trust God to answer them (or not) … and move on in faith. Instead, I thought maybe if I fixated on the Word enough, in a holy enough setting (despite there being no service that night), something might somehow click.
I don’t remember Chet’s exact words to me. They were something to the effect of, “Katie, you need to get up and leave.” Another church was having an evening service that I’d mentioned maybe attending, and I was about to miss it. He wanted me to worship, not sink further into the quicksand of isolation and doubt.
Sometimes a good shepherd soothes the sheep, picks it up, carries it along like a baby. Other times, he applies his shepherd’s staff to a woolly rear end. Come on, get up and move! Needless to say, I did what Chet told me.
Later, at Jackson’s Grace City Church, Pastor David Hederman provided consistent, gospel-centered preaching, Sunday after Sunday, as I navigated all kinds of firsts: first apartment, first (much needed) Christian counseling session, first breakup since college. David and the leadership of Grace City were guideposts in my walk with Christ.
By 2020, most of my fellow Grace City 30-somethings had gotten married, and I started to feel like the odd one out. I suddenly had few peers there – and few available mentors, as Grace City is a “young” church. It was then that I happened to interview Josh and Katie Braddy for MCL. Josh was the new pastor of Broadmoor Baptist Church in Madison.
During the interview, Josh mentioned that his mental health had been debilitating at times – but that with the help of counseling and medication, he was in a better place. I tried not to tear up. Here was the pastor of one of Mississippi’s biggest churches, in one of its most prosperous, image-conscious communities (hello, brick city!), and he openly admitted needing therapy and meds. He didn’t have to do that.
I decided to visit Broadmoor. I texted somebody who was a member, got connected to the singles’ group, and promptly met Stephen, whom I married two years later. Courtship and marriage have grown me exponentially. Broadmoor’s life groups have opened me up – are still opening me up – in ways I didn’t realize I needed. And Josh and Katie Braddy have stood as guideposts for Stephen and me.
Josh has not only counseled Stephen and me (before and after marriage), but he’s appeared on my podcast. Somewhere along the way, I got his cell number. He might regret that.
On September 10, 2026, I texted Josh and said, “You don’t by any chance have the time or inclination to write a column for MCL in the next 2 weeks, do you? (nervous emoji)” And he did! God bless him. Then his Katie trimmed the column to meet my word count. God bless her!
October is Pastor Appreciation Month. So, to celebrate, I … gave my pastor a writing assignment? Showed my appreciation for his writing skills by allowing him to write for my magazine for free? Nervous emoji …
In all seriousness: If your pastor consistently preaches God’s Word, presents the gospel of Jesus and His sacrifice for sin, and loves God and people, thank them today. (If they don’t, consider coming to Broadmoor, or to one of the churches represented in our Cover Story!)
To the pastors who’ve shepherded me, I thank God for you.
In this issue:
- My pastor’s column!
- Our Cover Story interview with four other local pastors about everything from AI to what encourages them
- A powerful story of abortion, shame, and redemption
