Sojourn, Louisville Public Media And Urban Renewal: An Interview With Jamie Barnes

Jamie Barnes does it all: singer-songwriter, worship leader, Worship Arts Pastoral Assistant and also, along with wife Kelsey, one of Sojourn’s community group leaders. 

This past Monday evening, the Barnes community group volunteered to head up one of Sojourn’s SEED projects: to staff the phones for Louisville Public Media’s listener support fundraising drive (SEED is our urban renewal initiative — check out the new SEED website to see the various ways Sojourn is working to bring renewal to the city of Louisville.  And if you’re a local resident, you can volunteer for a project from the site).

Jamie and the gang sat at the phones for three hours, helping to raise donations for LPM, which is made up of Louisville’s three public radio stations, WFPK, WUOL and WFPL.  Afterwards, I caught up with Jamie to ask a few questions:

Bobby:  How did you get involved in this SEED project for Louisville Public Media?
Jamie: Nathan Ivey (head of SEED) contacted my group about this project.  He felt with my connection with the radio stations it might be a good fit.  My group consists of a lot of huge music fans, so naturally they were stoked at the opportunity to go down to the station and help out.
Bobby: Why would a church volunteer to staff the phones at a public radio fundraiser, or work with radio stations outside of religious broadcasting genres?
Jamie: It’s all about community.  Louisville public radio provides a service to the city and has a huge influence on its culture.  I think it is important for us as a church to partner with people who want to see renewal in our town and want to love on it. 

Sojourn understands that music can be a powerful communication tool, so what better way to support change in Louisville than by lending a hand to the organization that serenades the corners of our home?  Besides, 91.9 WFPK has been very supportive of Sojourn music. They regularly play artists that are members and over the Christmas holidays, played Advent Songs nearly every hour.

Christ calls us to be lights of His gospel wherever we go.  A radio station certainly isn’t exempt from that.  Showing other caring Louisville institutions that we want to pitch in to help out our city is a good thing and can lead to some great partnerships.
Bobby:  How long were you there, and what was the experience like?
Jamie: About two or three hours.  It was pretty simple, really.  We were in a big room with a table full of phones.  We just had to answer them as they rang and take people’s information and donation amounts. 

Answering phones is always a scary job, because you never know the demeanor of the person on the other end.  But this was cake…all the callers were very excited to be supporting something they loved.
Bobby:  Any other thoughts you might have about the experience?
Jamie: Yeah.  We definitely hit a slow time of day for the drive.  I think each of us averaged about two-three calls the whole time we were there.  I really wanted it to be picking up and slamming down phones one after the other.  At least that is how I pictured it would be in my head prior to coming.  Support local public radio and keep those phones ringing.  Otherwise you leave a bunch of volunteers bored and depressed!

For more information about Louisville Public Media, visit their website.  And as noted above, check out Sojourn’s new SEED website to learn what Sojourn is doing in terms of urban renewal and ministries of mercy.