As Beshear announces COVID-19 deaths, he speaks of faith. His pastor isn’t surprised.
It’s the hardest part of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s daily 5 p.m. COVID-19 updates, giving the latest number of Kentuckians who have died from the coronavirus.
Everyone wants to hear him say “none,” but that is not happening during this surge. It is devastating.
As of late Wednesday, 73 Kentuckians have died from complications created by the virus.
Often, after giving the death count, the 42-year-old governor adds that his faith teaches him that there is life after death in a better place where there is no pain or sorrow.
He pauses and then goes on to other information of the day.
The Rev. Rob Shrader, associate minister of Beargrass Christian Church, a Disciples of Christ Church in Louisville, is not surprised with Beshear’s comments on faith.
Shrader is a personal friend of the governor, first lady Britainy Beshear and their two children, Will and Lila. So are his wife, Lisa Hoffman, and their children. The two wives teach middle school Sunday school together once a month.
“It’s a little unusual to hear a politician talk of faith but I know how important faith is to Andy Beshear,” said Shrader in a phone interview Tuesday. “I personally find it refreshing and I think a lot of people do.”
The Beshears attend Beargrass Christian and the couple are deacons in the church of about 1,000 members. Andy Beshear grew up attending Crestwood Christian in Lexington, another Disciples of Christ congregation.
The governor and first lady attend church regularly, help serve communion and assist with administrative duties of the church, said Shrader.
Shrader, who joined Beargrass Christian in 2018 after ministries in London and Campbellsburg, said he met the Beshears about a year or so earlier when he was a guest preacher for the ordination of one of the other Beargrass ministers
“We hit it off from the beginning, especially our wives, and one of our daughters is Lila’s age,” he said. “We are friends.”
So what does the minister hear when the governor mentions life after death?
“There are lot of different interpretations about what is involved with life after death,” said Shrader. “One of the first places we go to is the Gospel of John, where Jesus talks about preparing a place for us after this life where all is good.
“It’s a strong faith statement.”
The minister was referring to John 14. In it, Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms. If that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”
Beshear also mentions his faith when he is asked about a handful of churches that have continued holding in-person services despite his ban on gatherings of any size.
“My faith would never let me put anyone in that situation,” Beshear said on Sunday. “This is life and death.”
He told reporters on Saturday that “my church is incredibly important to me. My faith is incredibly important to me. It’s an important part of my family’s lives.”
Shrader said he texted Beshear when the Democratic governor first announced that churches should stop holding in-person services.
“I told him my phone was ringing up with calls and was wondering why this should be done,” said Shrader. “Our decision to close was one of the most difficult we have ever made.”
Shrader recalled what Beshear told him: “We have a faith in which we believe God gave us a mind. We must use that mind to love others and that’s what we must do.”
Beshear also referred to his faith in his Dec. 10 inaugural address.
Before noting he was going to sign an executive order restoring voting rights to more than 100,000 non-violent felons who had served their sentences, he said “my faith teaches me to treat others with dignity and respect.”
One of Beshear’s first ads in last year’s general election campaign for governor featured the Democratic candidate talking about how his grandfather and great-grandfather were Baptist preachers and how their faith guided his principles.
Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, who was seeking re-election, criticized the ad, saying, “I think it’s insulting to the Baptist tradition. I think it’s insulting to the people of Baptist faith to try and couch what his grandfather and great grandfather did as sort of covering for his pro-abortion stance.”
Beshear’s campaign said it was “disagraceful” for Bevin to attack his faith and responded with an ad titled “Dignity,” which underscored Beshear’s pledge to return “dignity” to the governor’s office.
When asked how he feels about Beshear’s stance on abortion, Shrader did not answer directly.
“There is a historic slogan that guided the founders of our denomination in its early days and since, ‘In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity,’ he said. “By that standard we know there are Disciples (and members of Beargrass) on both sides of that abortion debate and likely some families who have been forced to face that devastating choice. Our position is to love them, all of them, no matter what.”
The church the Beshears attend is “full of people with different political opinions, like Christ’s disciples,” said the minister.
Shrader added that there certainly are some members of Beargrass who disagree with Beshear’s political beliefs, “but I think more people are appreciating what he is trying to do and see it as doing it out of love, a type of love Christ taught.”
“I personally think it is an example of what all of us should be doing, trying to protect others,” Shrader said.
Beshear said at his Tuesday news conference that he tries to follow the biblical teaching of Jesus Christ, who said the greatest commandment is to love God and your neighbor as you do yourself.
Shrader noted that Beshear earlier this week asked Kentuckians to keep on practicing strict social distancing rules all the time and especially this Easter Sunday, when families often congregate.
“I think when Andy said that he shows he is experiencing the grief many of us feel,” said Shrader. “Of course, we would much rather gather with family rather than stay at home.
Beshear’s son, Will, was to be baptized this Sunday at Beargrass, said Shrader.
“We will have to put a hold on that, of course, but the faith remains,” said the minister. “People of faith are blessed to be a blessing.”
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 1:16 PM.
