The Gospel according to Andy
By RACHEL ZOLL
The Associated Press
TULLAHOMA, Tenn. After praying, church members retreat to a back room to learn the
Gospel through Barney Fife. Bibles in hand, they watch black-and-white TV reruns to see
how the bumbling deputy can bring them closer to God.
Finding the Way Back to Mayberry is a Bible study class developed
by two Alabama men who believe watching The Andy Griffith Show can
help lead to spiritual enlightenment.
Mayberry may be fictitious, but its lessons are not, said Pat
Allison, a preacher who leads a class at the Bel-Aire Church of Christ in Tullahoma.
Not only are the episodes funny, cute and clean, the principles are there and
need to be emulated.
Allison sees God in Aunt Bees nurturing, in Andys wise counsel and Opies
innocence. Even Barney has something to teach, the minister says, but its mostly
about how not to act.
Someone has to be the instigator. . . . He stirs things up and makes a mess of
things, Allison said of Barney, the sidekick played by Don Knotts.
The idea for the class came from Joey Fann, 33, and Brad Grasham, 38, members of the
Twickenham Church of Christ in Huntsville, Ala.
The concept has spread through Fanns Web site and word of mouth. Classes are being
taught in Alabama, Tennessee and other states, and inquiries have poured in from as far
away as New Mexico.
Fann and Grasham grew up watching Andy keep the peace in the North Carolina town where
Otis, the town drunk, was the jails most frequent visitor, and a dinner date for
Barney and Thelma Lou was about as racy as it got.
Fann, an engineer, said that as a college student he began to see a deeper meaning in the
show.
To take a break and relieve stress, I would pop a video in and watch the
show, he said. Thats when I started to realize that some
episodes brought some good Christian moral values that we all can appreciate.
Fann and Grasham consulted their minister to choose a few episodes for a class last
summer, then found related Bible passages to draw out the lessons.
Among their choices:
- Opie accidentally kills a mother bird with his slingshot, and Andy makes him care for
the orphaned babies. (Romans 8:28, And we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his
purpose.)
- Andy tries selling his house, and Opie makes him tell prospective buyers about the
flaws. (Luke 8:15, But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest
and good heart, having heard the word, keep it . . . .)
- A businessman passing through Mayberry has car trouble on a Sunday. The local service
station owner prefers to sit on his porch and read the paper on his day of rest, and the
man eventually steals a truck. (James 1:3, The trying of your faith worketh
patience.)
About 20 people attended the first class. Within weeks, Sunday night attendance grew to
more than 200, Fann said.
Most everyones familiar with the show and enjoys the show,
he said. When you mention it, you can see peoples eyes light
up.
Fann posted the lesson plans on his Web site, where he evangelizes and offers a little
commentary. Outstanding performance by Buddy Ebsen as Mr. Dave the
hobo, is among the notes.
Actor George Lindsey, who played Goober and lives in Nashville, said he wasnt
surprised by the class since Griffith and his writers purposely wove moral themes into
their stories.
We made a wonderful show . . . If it can be of value to somebody, I think
thats just topping on the cake, he said.
Bill Hill, who researches popular culture and is chairman of the Department of
Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, remembers
discussing Andy Griffith in his childhood Sunday religion classes.
I dont think its a big stretch to do that, he said.
The show always satisfies the eternal quest for the good prevailing. There are
real clear-cut distinctions of whats right and whats wrong. Its always
the good, the more virtuous that wins out.
On a recent Wednesday night, Allison walked his congregants through an episode in which
Andy confronts Opie about a hatchet the boy claims was given to him by a man in the woods.
A skeptical Andy asks his son to admit the man doesnt exist. Opie insists the man is
real and, at the end of the episode, hes proven right.
Could you see Opies convictions? Allison tells the crowd of
about 70, turning the program into a lesson in sticking to the truth, regardless of
pressures.
Reading Romans 12:2, he says: And be not conformed to this world; but be ye
transformed.
As the class dismissed, 64-year-old Barbara Jett clutched her Bible and observed,
There are so many tidbits in there. Its entertaining, yet youre
learning when youre watching it.
Willie Mosley, father of a 3-year-old boy, said he was surprised by how much he learned
about parenting.
At first I was curious. How are they going to get a moral story and tie it to
Andy Griffith?, he said. When you look at whats
on TV today, theyre giving just the opposite meaning Andy Griffith
would.
But does Finding the Way Back to Mayberry trivialize Christianity?
Allison said no, adding that the Gospel itself provides a precedent for teaching moral
lessons through simple, compelling stories.
It is, in a way, like a parable, he said.
Joey Fanns Web site is www.barneyfife.com.