Uncle Chuck

One of the most important things to me about finding your identity in a community is getting involved in a church. The first weekend I was in L.A., I accomodated my friends Les, Travis, Rich, and Ward to a church called Shepherd of the Hills. (Many of the modern protestant churches in L.A. don't have official denomination affiliation). In true L.A. fashion, this church does not meet on sunday morning. It meets at 6 PM sunday night. you also won't find a shirt and tie in sight at this place. You'll think you've stumbled onto the set of the O.C. Young, vibrant L.A. beauty.
This church is also gigantic. Forget any image you have of a mega church. This place has services on saturday night, sunday morning, sunday afternoon, and sunday night. There's a total of seven churches. The total attendance of this church is about the population of Morristown, Tennessee. It's big. Their fourth of July celebration had streets blocked off, stages set with live bands, and a multi million dollar fireworks display. However, I'm not sure if Jesus showed up or not.
The point is, this place is different. However, the worship services are terrific. Most of the pastors are from the southeast region originally, so it's a little taste of home. The first sunday night I was there, it was a fairly full house. We walked in, and found our seats somewhat near the front. The service was amazing, and I really felt like I was at the right place at the right time.
At the end of the service, there were a series of baptisms. One of the "baptizees" was a girl named Jennifer Norris. After the baptisms were over, the church service ended, and everyone broke apart to leave. As we left our seats, I noticed...hey,...isn't that...? Yes. Chuck Norris.
The whole service Mr. Norris had been sitting three seats in front of me, along with his wife and young children. Was this true? Yes, I had just seen Chuck Norris's daughter get baptized.
A week or two later, I showed up to the service minutes after it started. They're very laid back about what time they start. 6 PM usually means 6:15 or 6:20. At any rate, they had already started, so i stumbled around in the darkness for my friends. i found them, and joined the worship in progress. I noticed fairly quickly, however, that Chuck Norris was sitting next to me. Now, it's very hard to focus on worship when you're standing next to Walker Texas Ranger. The whole thing just takes a different spin. We also had communion that service, which was an experience all it's own. Imagine everyone reverently praying with their heads bowed. The communion tray with the bread comes down the aisle, and Chuck Norris takes one then hands it to me. A minute later, the communion drink comes down the aisle, and Chuck Norris takes one and hands it to me. Very surreal.
One weekend my friends and i were looking for Uncle Chuck, but he wasn't there. We saw later on the news that he was skydiving with former President Bush. Huh?
The last time I saw Mr. Norris and his family at church, they sat right behind us. There was no one else around in that area except my friends, me, and Chuck Norris' family. During our "meet and greet" time, I said hello, introduced myself, and shook his hand. That was several months ago, and I haven't seen the Norris family at church since then. To this day, I still feel kind of bad that they're not there. I'm sure they're in Texas, or Norris is filmming a movie or something, but I still feel bad. I hope we didn't lavish them with too much attention in the services. I tried to be tactful and appropriate. But, you never know.
I know there are other active celebrity Christians in Hollywood as well. I know that "Weird Al" Yankovic is Seventh Day Adventist, or something, and goes to church regularly. Once, Travis and Ward went to hear a Christian author speak at a church service, and in the front row they saw "Biff" from Back to the Future, worshipping and participating in the service. John Schneider, from "The Dukes of Hazzard", and "Smallville" is an active Christian in the town, and has been working steadily in film and television ever since "Hazzard."
I know other various working actors in Hollywood who are approaching this weird business from a Christian perspective. One person I've had the privelage to meet is Doug Jones, who I'll write more on later. He definitely deserves his own post. I'll probably get his permission before I blab all about him on the internet, too.
Anyhoo, I guess God is at work in every corner of our society.