Reflecting on a 20-year journey
ROANOKE, TEXAS — Somehow, 20 years have passed since I left The Associated Press for The Christian Chronicle.
After accepting the job in 2005, I actually worked on my first Chronicle story while finishing my commitment with AP’s Dallas bureau.
On a day off from the wire service, I went to interview an older Christian at his ranch home northeast of Fort Worth.
“I was really surprised when I heard The Christian Chronicle wanted to do a story about me,” the 93-year-old Church of Christ member told me.
I couldn’t help but smile.
I took the statement as a sign of Byron Nelson’s true humility.
I mean, why wouldn’t the Chronicle want to write about Nelson, a dedicated Christian known as much for his gentlemanly conduct as his 52 PGA Tour victories?
Three years later, my son Keaton, then 11, traveled with me to New York City. We mixed my work with a bit of fun, riding the subway, eating at a pizzeria and cheering at a New York Mets game. I wrote about our experience but had no way of knowing that trip might influence Keaton’s future career choice. He’s now 28 and an award-winning investigative reporter.
Jack Zorn, the influential minister and founder of Lads to Leaders, showed my 2008 column to his daughter Rhonda Zorn Fernandez. She reached out to me and reminisced about the trips she and her father took to the Big Apple when she was a girl.
In 2015, I flew to Alabama to catch up with Fernandez and explore her role as a caretaker for her parents, Jack and Frances, both of whom had entered hospice care.
“My daddy was blind and almost deaf, but y’all bonded over Blue Bell ice cream and your inquisitive spirit!” Fernandez — who now serves on the Chronicle’s national board of trustees — remembered in a recent text message. “He felt drawn to your sincerity and talked about how fascinating it must be to travel the world meeting brethren.”
It’s fascinating indeed — and an amazing blessing.
Rhonda Zorn Fernandez, a member of The Christian Chronicle’s national board of trustees, presents Editor-in-Chief Bobby Ross Jr. with a box of cards celebrating his 20th anniversary with the newspaper.
Tough stories a part of the job
Before leaving AP, I had devoted 15 years to secular journalism — much of my time spent covering death and disaster.
A naive part of me thought: Hey, I’m going to go work for a little Christian newspaper, and I won’t have to worry about all that hard stuff anymore. I’ll just write happy stories about blessed Christians leading delightful lives.
But only a few months after I joined the Chronicle, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, killing hundreds and leaving thousands homeless.
And I found myself boarding a private airplane with a disaster relief team from the White’s Ferry Road Church of Christ in West Monroe, La. We flew to the worst-hit areas to survey the damage.
As it turns out, it’s hard to be a journalist — Christian or otherwise — and not report on tough stuff. In my time with the Chronicle, I’ve covered more natural disasters than I can recall: Tornadoes. Wildfires. And more hurricanes.
Bobby Ross Jr., center, poses for a photo with Earley Jerome Terry and Rodney Davis at the Lincoln Avenue Church of Christ in Pasadena, Calif. Ross visited the congregation earlier this year while reporting on the aftermath of Los Angeles-area wildfires.
Along the way, I’ve learned to look for hope, even when it might seem in short supply.
I first met minister John Dobbs at the Central Church of Christ in Pascagoula, Miss., as that congregation worked to help Katrina victims in 2005.
Dobbs and I stayed connected via blogging and social media, and in 2008, I reported on the tragic death of his son, John Robert, whom I had met. The 18-year-old was killed on Interstate 10 near the Mississippi-Alabama state line.
“Bobby, you have been a presence during the worst times of my life,” Dobbs told me in a recent email. “Not many can make that claim!”
Honestly, I’m not certain many would want to make that claim.
In 2020, Bobby Ross Jr. interviews John Dobbs and Les Ferguson Jr. about the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The discussion occurred via Zoom in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I guess that’s the nature of news,” Dobbs wrote. “Often it’s bad, and someone needs to write about it. Through the destruction of Hurricane Katrina and the days following the tragic death of my son, you were there, sharing with my brotherhood what we were going through.
“Because of that, awareness and help were obtained,” he added. “For that I am grateful. … Your reporting did not seem obtrusive nor insistent. Your kindness and smile were present during and after. I never read a report of yours and thought it was a bad representation of what really happened. As I read the reports of others, I see your heart shining through.”
“I guess that’s the nature of news. Often it’s bad, and someone needs to write about it.”
A sacred calling
My colleagues and I view what we do as a sacred calling.
We strive to report the news of our fellowship in a way that builds trust with sources and readers — and, most importantly, honors God.
I am extremely grateful to have enjoyed 35 years in full-time journalism.
I’ve helicoptered across Israel and cruised past “Moose Crossing” signs on an Alaskan highway.
Jetlagged, I’ve dozed on a passenger train from the Netherlands to Belgium. Wide awake, I’ve tightened my seat beat in a rental van maneuvering a winding, bumpy road on a Mexican mountainside.
I’ve experienced bumper-to-bumper traffic from Los Angeles to San Diego, cleared customs in Brazil, Cuba and South Africa and ventured north of the U.S. border to cover news from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Montreal, Quebec.
In many ways, I’ve lived my dream as a roving religion journalist — reporting from all 50 states and 18 countries.
I remain committed to this newspaper’s mission and plan to devote as many more years to it as the Lord grants me.
Looking back, I thank God for all the precious souls placed in the path of my Chronicle journey — starting with a famous golfer surprised by our interest in his story.
Byron Nelson’s hat sits on top of a floral display near a photo of the legendary golfer after his 2006 memorial service at The Hills Church of Christ in North Richland Hills, Texas.
Nelson died in 2006 at 94, but my interview with him remains fresh in my mind. I’ll always remember him chuckling as he told me about an admirer who stopped at the Roanoke Church of Christ looking for the golf legend’s ranch.
The golf enthusiast asked the church’s “janitor” if he knew how to get there.
Much to the fan’s surprise, the man sweeping the floor smiled and replied, “Yes, that’s where I live.”
BOBBY ROSS JR. is Editor-in-Chief of The Christian Chronicle. Reach him at [email protected].
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