'We were searching for God, we just didn’t know it': Monroe was part of 'Jesus Revolution'

Monroe was part of the “Jesus Revolution.”

Pastor Louie Barnett of Bethany Eagle's Nest Community Church and Randy Pierce of Arkansas, formerly of Monroe, said the plot of the recent film closely mirrors what happened at Monroe’s First Baptist Church in the early 1970s. There was even a splitting of the congregation.

“Jesus Revolution” is based on the true story of Pastor Chuck Smith (played by Kelsey Grammar), an old-school Baptist pastor in California. In the early 1970s, Smith’s church was dying, and he wasn't able to reach the younger generation. Then, he met hippie/street preacher Lonnie Frisbee (played by Jonathan Roumie).

Smith allowed the charismatic Frisbee to play contemporary music and preach to his congregation. Soon, crowds of hippies and lost youth were coming to church, which angered many of the older members. Eventually, the congregation split into two churches.

Frisbee’s ministry set off spiritual awakenings among youth across the country.

“Hippies were getting saved and coming to the Lord. It started out in California. (Smith) made churches more welcoming to people who had long hair and got saved off the streets,” Pierce said. “That’s our story in Monroe, Michigan.”

In the film, Smith and Frisbee offered hope to the hopeless. In Monroe, it was Pastor Joe Atkinson of First Baptist Church on North Custer Road.

“Pastor Joe was our Chuck Smith. He led us in the church and had long hair and sang,” Pierce said.

“Pastor Joe Atkinson opened his church to welcome us,” Barnett said. “He opened his arms and heart to us when we were looking for a church.”

Barnett, a longtime area pastor, said he was among the lost when he returned to Monroe after serving in the Vietnam War.

“Drugs were infiltrating the small towns. I fell in that world. Looking back, it was a search to fill that emptiness in our hearts, to fill that emptiness inside and also trauma from the war,” Barnett said. “We were looking for something we couldn’t seem to fulfill in our hearts. We were searching for God, we just didn’t know it."

Then, Barnett found Smith and First Baptist Church.

“I was not raised in the church. I had no concept of the things of God,” Barnett said. “In Monroe, people like me were getting saved off the streets. God was moving upon the heart of the hippies, the lost generation, as they were referred to. I was part of that. I was saved and shared that with my party and drug friends. Some of them began to get saved and to find the Lord.”

In April 1977, just like in “Jesus Revolution,” First Baptist Church broke into two churches: First Baptist and Redeemer Fellowship at Evergreen Drive and Telegraph Road.

“That’s what we lived through, the split. Traditionalists were against the things of the Holy Spirit and against embracing us who were saved off the streets,” Barnett said.

“Joe prayed for people for healing. It wasn’t a usual Baptist thing,” Pierce said. “Eventually, those who had received the Holy Spirit in a supernatural way had to leave, and they formed Redeemer. My opinion is that the old-line Baptists didn’t want to have anything to do with speaking in tongues, praying for miracles. A lot of people were not happy with Pastor Joe and hippies coming to church and bringing a guitar.”

When Atkinson moved to Redeemer, two-thirds of First Baptist Church, more than 200 people, went with him.

“He decided he would leave rather than get into a major fight,” Barnett said. “We were compelled to just be under his leadership. He welcomed us. He loved us like Chuck Smith did.”

Redeemer met at the former Cantrick Junior High School and at St. Mary’s auditorium in the early days. Then, land was donated, and Redeemer's current church was built.

Atkinson remained a pastor until he died Nov. 9.

“He was a pastor all of his life. He was called into ministry at a young age. He served right up to the very end. He was a pastor emeritus at Redeemer,” Barnett said.

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Both Barnett and Pierce also went into ministry.

Pierce became a Christian in 1973. Two years later he moved to Dallas. He attended Bible college and became a minister. He was in full-time ministry for 13 years.

Barnett said he began considering the ministry in 1974.

“That was the beginning of coming to the Lord,” Barnett said. “I just wanted to do whatever God wanted me to do. He began to stir (ministry) in my heart just a few months later. About 1976, I had a heart to help people and point them to God.”

Barnett was a youth pastor at Redeemer for a couple of years. He's still in full-time ministry.

“Louie is still leading worship, playing guitar and playing the style of songs that we played back then,” Pierce said.

Both men said the movie brought back memories of their entries into Christianity.

“The movie was amazing,” Barnett said. “It mirrored my life. I just watched it a third time and cried through the whole movie, remembering how lost I was and how I was looking for God and didn’t know it.”

"The Jesus Revolution" also features Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Joel Courtney. It’s rated PG-13. Copies are available at the Monroe County Library System.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe was part of 'Jesus Revolution' in 1970s