Inspiring Conversations with Russell Pointer of Reformation Church Nashville

Today we’d like to introduce you to Russell Pointer.

Hi Russell, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When I was a child, I always had two passions: Sports and church. I was preaching from a high chair and organizing sports games in the backyard for as long as I could remember. I grew up as a preacher’s kid, so I saw all of the ugly parts of ministry. My grandfather was a minister, and he said that ministry killed him during one of his final moments on a hospital bed.

As a young man, I disliked church and chased my passion for sports. I graduated as a three-year varsity letterman from Gallatin High School. My love for sports led me to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where I graduated with a degree in Kinesiology. Attending an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) was transformational because Morehouse educated my mind and formed my identity.

After graduating from Morehouse, I graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to pursue a Master’s in Sport Management. I studied sports and worked at the Tennessee Fund during the year that Colin Kaepernick and other NFL began to protest by kneeling during the national anthem. When I started researching the disproportionate number of Black coaches and administrators compared to Black players in sports, I developed a passion for justice. I felt successful in sports, but I did not feel fulfilled. In Knoxville, my love shifted away from sports and back toward ministry. I was searching for work that led to more fulfillment in helping change lives.

As I began falling in love with helping people through ministry, I enrolled at Vanderbilt Divinity School. If you sense a more profound calling, Vanderbilt is the perfect place to go but do not feel called to conventional ministry. I still held my passions for sports and ministry in tension, and I began to question why I was so fearful of ministry.

I realized that my church critique was a calling to help change it rather than to leave the church. Rather than bringing God to sports, I get my background in physical wellness to church to advocate for holistic care in spiritual communities. Discerning my calling in each phase of my life is an ongoing process. I am currently a second-year Doctor of Ministry student at the Boston University School of Theology. My research is at the intersection of racism, theology, and economic justice.

While at Vanderbilt Divinity School, I became a church planter, and I started Reformation Church Nashville (@reformnash) on September 1, 2019. We go by “Reform,” which is both our name and calling. We began with about 8 members and no institutional support. God has allowed us to thrive in the pandemic and in the virtual space as we are getting close to our three-year anniversary.

Our five ministry tenants are as follows: Spiritual development, educational advancement, social action, financial empowerment, and health & wellness. We are called to people who do not know God, so we unapologetically engage Christ and culture. Reform has allowed me the grace to courageously grow and become myself, so my greatest responsibility is to allow that same grace in return as we all grow and root our identity more in Christ.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it has not been smooth on my journey into church planting, which is a type of entrepreneurship. Being a doctoral student while pastoring people is not easy. Dealing with myself is not always easy.

I am blessed to have notable examples in my family of both excellence and perseverance. I am connected to men and women who have survived some of life’s worst traumas like rape, domestic violence, or divorce and found enough healing to keep living. I come from the bloodline of people who endured slavery, and I have learned to leverage my experiences and lean on my community to make it through tough times.

I was not prepared for the division within my family due to starting something “new” and “different.” Both sides of my family heavily identify with the Churches of Christ. As Reform began advocating for women to use their God-given gifts in ministry, our family still has a rift. When we decided that being a part of Christ’s church is distinguished by how well we love rather than the words written outside of the building, our family had to have difficult conversations and “agree to disagree.”

I was unprepared for the mental-emotional toll of disagreeing with my parents based on theological differences. My family is probably not much different from the religious differences found in other families around many issues. I have had an opportunity to live out my faith and love people who believe differently than I do, and I encourage my church family to do the same.

I knew that the path I chose would cost a lot, but the cost of decisions can only be calculated when the impact is being felt. When I decided to give God everything that mattered to me, I was not prepared to lose over 3,000 followers. I had to cash out on my investments because I knew the church could not pay me as the pastor and reach financial sustainability. I could not calculate the way that my family would be attacked by being close to me in proximity as I was doing what the Lord called me to do.

The most significant challenge has been finding the motivation to keep going when it seems like nobody is supporting you. I was used to preaching to hundreds and thousands on Sundays and Wednesdays. It was humbling to preach to about ten people. There were a lot of people that made pledges and promises that disappeared. I found a way to keep going when I felt like giving up.

I am a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. When I became a member of the Chi Chapter at Morehouse College, I was taught to embrace the process. Church planting has taught me to embrace both God and the process in a completely new way. I encourage everyone from this context. Whether it is a business, a church, a family, or a podcast, prepare for your season of struggle and loneliness.

We’ve been impressed with Reformation Church Nashville, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Reformation Church Nashville was launched on September 1, 2019.

Reform is both our name and our calling. Our motto is “A Gospel That Walks.” We exist to save souls, create opportunities for holistic health, and reform our community. Our values are love, inclusion, equality, transparency, justice, empowerment, and family. We have both in-person and virtual members. We serve hundreds of people weekly through in-person worship, virtual worship, and Bible study. We meet Sundays at 3 pm CST.

As part of our commitment to holistic care, we bring in mental health professionals to meet with our church quarterly. We also have found ways to intersect physical wellness with faith by conducting Worship and Workout and uploading YouTube workout videos. We have partnered with multiple schools to incentivize students for positive test scores and provide gifts of appreciation for our teachers.

We have partnered with local nonprofits to offer love and support to several causes, including those who are homeless, children in the foster care system, front-line workers during the pandemic, tornado victims, and many more people. Our brand is love. We strive to love God, love ourselves, and love other people. Loving people is not always easy, but we have committed our lives to love “in spite of.”

We believe that love is the ingredient that is needed to help facilitate community reform, personal change, and spiritual transformation.

Facebook: Reformation Church Nashville
Instagram: @reformnash
website: www.reformnash.org

What’s next?
I plan to graduate with my D.Min in May 2023. After that, I plan to do more work around facilitating educational opportunities and helping to create economic systems that can use cooperative economics rather than competitive economics to combat poverty.

I plan to work with Reform and other local communities on using cooperative economics that can empower marginalized groups, similar to Black Wall Street in Tulsa, OK. I believe that believers have a specific mandate to bring God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, and eradicating poverty is part of people experiencing heaven on earth through the diligence of God’s children.

Jesus spoke about money more than almost any other topic. I hope to help create countercultural economic systems that benefit businesses and people that need support. I have long-term goals that are only released in my prayer time that will hopefully change lives make it possible for all to build generational wealth.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://linktr.ee/reformnash
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/russellapointerjr/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/russellapointerjr

Image Credits
Reformation Church Nashville and Media Team