-So, we're going to a Baptist church,
and I'm actually really surprised
that I've never been to one before
because I really love gospel music.
I'm excited to learn,
and hopefully I feel the spirit
and we hear some great music,
because I have no sense of rhythm myself,
so I can't bring it.
Let's just go.
Hi!
-Hello there! -Yeah!
-Hey!
Wow, you are a good-looking couple.
-Oh, wow. Thanks. -Thanks, man. Thank you.
-That's really nice. Thank you. -Yeah.
-So, you're the reverend of the church.
-Yeah, that's right. I'm the pastor, the reverend.
-What is the difference?
-Pastor is, like, the leader of the congregation, a shepherd.
A reverend is anyone who's been ordained.
But you can use them all interchangeably --
minister, reverend, pastor.
-Oh, okay. So, I will call you
Reverend Pastor Minister Pickens.
-Yes. Yeah, that's cool, yeah.
-What does that make you? -I'm the First Lady.
-Yeah, we call her the First Lady.
-You're the First Lady! -Yeah.
Isn't that a cool title? -Oh, wow!
I got a lot of questions about that.
-Okay. Great.
-So, I have to ask
because you are the First Lady of the church...
-I am.
-...what does that mean? -The First Lady
usually is the pastor's wife of a Baptist church.
-I don't know what the difference is
between a Baptist church
and other Christian churches.
-I think we all follow the life of Christ,
but in the Baptist tradition,
the congregation owns the church.
So, the congregation votes on what we do,
if we're gonna move here, if we're gonna purchase this,
if we're gonna have a pastor, if we get a raise.
The congregation makes those decisions.
-So, it's all community-based. -It is community-based.
We also believe, to be baptized,
you have to confess with your mouth
and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord,
and we show that by dipping into the water.
So, some faiths sprinkle people.
We dip and immerse into the water.
-Oh, so it's like in the movies where you wear the big robe
and then you get dipped into the...
When I'm seeing Baptist churches
in movies and stuff,
they're primarily African-American congregations.
Is that true for this congregation,
and why is that?
-This is an African-American congregation,
although we have members who are not African-American.
But, no, Baptist churches are not.
We have Baptist churches of all ethnicities.
-What do you think the misconceptions are
about Baptist churches?
-Well, there's this misconception
that we stay in church really, really long.
-How long are we talking?
-You're gonna be here till tomorrow.
No. I'm just joking. -Okay.
-You stay in church for 2 hours
to 2 hours and 15 to 30 minutes.
But anything less than 2 hours,
I think Baptist people will say was not church.
-What is it about the church service
that makes it a 2-hour minimum?
-Well, we like to sing. We like to sing,
and we're waiting for the spirit to come.
When you come to church, you have to have
a spiritual experience.
That's what it's about. And we conjure that up with song
and the Word and prayer.
[music] God helped me [music]
-That's it. You sound good, Zion Hill.
[music] He helped me [music]
[music] God [music]
[music] God helped me [music]
[music] When I couldn't see my way [music]
[music] He helped me [music]
[music] Ooh [music]
-How will I know
when the spirit moves me,
if it moves me?
-Well, it's an individual thing,
but during the church service, somebody might say,
"Amen," somebody might dance,
somebody might sing, somebody might cry.
It's different things for different people.
-Different things for different people,
but you know when it happens.
If it doesn't happen for you until later,
do you have to stay until it does?
-I wish it was like that.
I personally believe that if you come into a spiritual experience
and you don't feel the spirit, you didn't bring it with you.
-Oh. That's, like, a lot of pressure.
I feel like there was an exam I should have prepared for.
-Right? Yeah, you have to come with an open heart.
You have to come expecting to feel good.
And I think if you live like that at church
and you live like that in your life,
those things will happen for you.
-Mother Jones, come, come, come. I want you to meet Zach.
-Nice to meet you. -This is Zach.
This is Mother Jones. Mother Jones is the one
who celebrated 95 years this year.
-95. How did you celebrate?
-With the Lord. Who else?
Ain't nobody else.
-Did the Lord bake you a cake?
-No, but he gave me a cake of love.
-That's fantastic.
How long have you been married?
-Seven years. -Seven years.
-I've been married seven years this month.
-And did you always know that you would marry a person,
a man of God, if you will?
-No way did I ever want to marry a pastor.
-Why do you say that?
-Seth Pickens, my husband,
is a really funny guy,
and I married him, and he became a pastor.
-What was it about him that changed your mind?
-Well, he's really good-looking, right?
-Oh, yeah, he is. -So, that helps.
Yeah, yeah. He's pretty handsome.
He's very nice, and he was kind.
He was really responsible, and he was a man of God.
He loved God, and he was passionate about it
but not too serious and restrictive.
-I had a dog once.
And it was there when I moved in.
It was there tied to a fence.
And I said, "Man, that's terrible.
I love dogs." And I went to untie it.
It started barking at me. And its past experience had been
that anytime somebody got close, you better watch out.
So, it became defensive. I don't know
if you hear me today -- because people
can be the same way.
A lot of times, people
need the warmth, they need the love,
but when you show them love,
it's so unusual to them, they don't know how to react!
-Yeah!
-I'm not calling anybody a dog.
-[ Laughs ]
-How does humor play a role in faith?
-You have to laugh when you think about
how people practice faith, right?
That's kind of funny.
-Now, what do you mean by that?
-Well, I think religion sometimes gets a really bad rap
because of the people who practice it.
So, if you have a lighthearted sense of humor,
maybe you can just really
appreciate God in different ways.
This is the couple I told you
who has been married for 50 years.
-We married here 50 years ago... -You married here?
-...at the church 50 years ago. -Oh, wow!
How do you keep things fresh after 50 years?
-Well, it's easy. Look at her.
How can it not be fresh? -Oh, wow!
-You kidding me? -I tell everybody
I treat him like a king and he treats me like a queen.
-That's right. -And that's the key.
-That's the key. -You treat everybody
the way you want to be treated.
God made me perfect, so I treat him perfect,
and I treat myself like God made me.
-And whenever she wants my opinion, she gives it to me.
-That's right. -So, that works out just fine.
-How have things changed since Seth and Isis got here?
-Oh, they've been wonderful. -Oh, they have been fabulous.
-They've brought young people here.
They're filling up the church.
Because it was an old church, and it was a dying church.
And they've revived --
Young people have revitalized the church.
This beautiful woman and her beautiful,
fantastic husband have revitalized this church.
-Thank you. -And I'm so grateful
for what they're doing here.
-I heard that you and your husband sort of --
When you came here, you shook things up a little bit.
-Mm. A little bit. -A little bit? A little bit?
-A little bit, a little bit, a little bit.
-So, how did you do that?
Did you come in with a plan?
And what did you do?
-No. I don't think you can do that.
I think you just have to be open
to whatever you need, whatever is out there.
And I think that Seth and myself --
We believe that God is love, right,
and that that love is expressed in many different forms.
-Amen. -Amen.
-Amen. -Hug somebody.
-The only thing you have to do
is love and love Jesus?
-I think Jesus is the example, right?
So, Jesus came to show us a greater way to love,
and that's to love with your whole open heart.
That's loving people who persecute you,
loving people who don't understand you,
or people who are very different from you.
It's not as simple as it sounds, right?
"Just love! Ah!"
-Yeah. "Just love everybody all the time."
It seems simple. -Yeah. Yes.
-And then when you try and do it,
you meet some real --
Well, you meet some real jerks in this world,
and it's hard to do it sometimes.
-That's right. Well, that really is the faith.
That's what faith is to me.
The faith is not believing one certain thing.
The faith is the walk. It's the walk.
It's getting to that point. -I don't know
if the walk's gonna work out for me, but...
-Or the roll. It's the roll.
-And the roll! It's the roll.
[ Indistinct singing ]
[music] I will trust in the Lord [music]
[music] Until I die [music]
[music] I will trust in the Lord [music]
[music] Until I die [music]
-So, I didn't get baptized today,
but I am gonna have a drink of water real quick
'cause it's really hot in this jacket.
Ahh. Spirit of refreshments.