By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
It is common in Athens, AL, for a church to warmly welcome a new pastor and family to their congregation, and that has certainly been the experience of Pastor Ross Hodges, his wife Joanna, and their four kids—Elias, 10, Charlotte, 8, Isaac, 8, and Abel, 7. And while the idea of “team” can have a number of connotations, I experienced firsthand being ministered to by every member of the family as I interviewed them, and was the recipient of great kindness from each of them. I have no doubt that God has brought them to Athens “for such a time as this.”
Ross and Joanna met while in seminary, and both graduated from Westminster Seminary California, located in Escondido. Ross is an Alabama boy, born and raised in Montgomery, and Joanna is from the Chicago area. While they were students, Joanna made it clear that God had put it on her heart to be an adoptive mom, and Ross was on board with that from the get-go. That began an arduous adventure that has resulted in the adoption of four truly heart-capturing kids: Elias, age 10; Charlotte, age 8; Isaac, age 8; and Abel, age 7. Isaac and Abel are full siblings and look like twins.
The road to adoption has been more than rocky, and as is always the case with believers, heartbreak will invariably result in holy beauty inwardly, if you let it. It certainly has been the case with the Hodges, who, amongst other things, dealt with infertility themselves along with having to release a child who had been theirs for nine months back to a biological parent. It was indeed the “dark night of the soul” for both of them, and has equipped them to not only minister to other adoptive parents, but to people who are hungry for God, His Word, and to become Kingdom builders. As Ross tells it, one day he was sitting in a state of what felt like numbing, terminal shock after having lost the baby he had come to love so deeply. He told God, “I don’t think I can make it through this.” And God whispered back, “My grace is sufficient.” And so it has been for both of these parents that have chosen to turn their pain into purpose.
As a first call out of seminary, Ross had been in a church plant position as an assistant pastor, and when they moved from Charleston back to the Montgomery area, they kind of felt as though they would settle there permanently and raise their kids there. Family was close by and things were comfortable. However, both of them experienced the unique restlessness that comes when God is fixin’ to do something new, and their story of getting from Montgomery to Athens has the fingerprints of God all over it.
Joanna and Ross were literally doing what parents do sometimes, and that was having a confab in the bathroom. (Those of you who have had a passel of kids know that sometimes it’s the only place Mommy and Daddy can talk like grown-ups.) The upshot of the conversation was that if God wanted to re-locate them to another assignment, they were open. Pretty generic prayer, and by their own admission, they really didn’t expect what happened next AT ALL. Literally two hours later, Ross checked his email, and there was an invitation from a search committee that had been written and sent in the morning. They had prayed in the evening, and as Joanna tells it, she looked up to the heavens and simply said, “OK, God.”
They arrived on August 1, and it’s no surprise that they have fallen in love with their congregation as well as Athens. Grace is a small church, follows the guidelines of the Presbyterian Church of America, and has a heart to serve as well as be a part of all that God is doing in Athens-Limestone County. Recently, Joanna and Ross attended the fundraising luncheon for the Women’s Resource Center, and we all talked about bawling our way through the testimony of Steventhen Holland, a man who was the product of the rape of a developmentally delayed woman. It was indeed a remarkable story and an unforgettable gathering.
Grace Covenant is also involved in the Kiddie Carnival, the Community Table, and is looking forward to the Veterans’ Day Parade as well as the Christmas Parade. They will have tables on the Square that will reach out to the community to let Athens know what they are about. They have Bible studies, youth group, a women’s musical ensemble, and more. If you are looking for a smaller, caring, traditional Presbyterian (PCA) fellowship, then come visit Grace Covenant, where their commitment to kindness is uncommon.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
