Inactive in the steeples

When I first started working for the Century about six years ago, I was given the assignment of interviewing Will Campbell for the magazine. I’ll admit it: I didn’t know who Will Campbell was. I understood from others that he had written a beautiful memoir and that he had been active in the civil rights movement. Beyond that, I was ignorant.

I called Campbell at his farm in Tennessee and asked if we could talk. He said, “Why not? I don’t have anything to lose. Not much to gain either.”

I had just returned to church, making the trek back into the faith of my childhood as many people do. I was tentative about the whole business, not yet confirmed, and worried that the culture of church might be too much for me. I asked Campbell if he went to church. He said,