Home » Bible professor creates old fashioned, radio-style variety show exploring God’s work

From folk music spurring the civil rights leaders to film themes, from Christian contemporary pop hits to even commercial jingles: music has the power to change the world.

That’s what Lipscomb Associate Professor of Theology Lee Camp was pondering when he came up with the idea for Tokens, a radio-style variety show that will host its third performance and taping, The Politics of Jesus, on Tuesday, Sept. 2 in the Shamblin Theatre.

“I had been thinking a lot about the overlap of music and theology, the way a lot of good music raises perennial theological questions, but in a more succinct way than we theologians often do,” said Camp with a chuckle.

Apparently other people found the idea interesting as well as each of the fist two shows played to a full house. Tickets sold out so quickly to this third showing, that a second 9 p.m. show was added, which still has seats available.

Cost to attend is $12.50 for adults and $10 for students and educators. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, or through the Lipscomb University Box Office (call 966 7075 for box office hours).

Along the way, Camp was encouraged to step out on faith and begin production of a faith-grounded, enjoyable variety show mixing local musicians, interviews with best-selling authors and stories told by the Tokens Radio Players.

Early in his thought-process, Camp attended a New Year’s Eve show by the king of radio variety-show comedy – Garrison Keillor, host of A Prairie Home Companion on National Public Radio. “I thought to myself, this is a fascinating format,” Camp said.

Then his home congregation Otter Creek Church of Christ held a class on faith and creativity. Throughout the class the teachers kept urging attendees, “If you have an idea that keeps nagging you and you are afraid it will fail, do it!”

That pushed Camp over the edge and he solicited help from Lipscomb alumni and fellow Otter Creek member Randy Goodman, also president of Lyric Street Records, to help him recruit musicians and produce an entertaining program. Producer Paul W. Smith and Music Director Jeff Taylor help Camp produce the show.

The result is an old-fashioned stage show that has been described as combining Thomas Merton (contemplative Catholic monk) with the Grand Ole Opry (Little Jimmy Dickens). Or perhaps Bill Moyers (PBS interviewer) with A Prairie Home Companion (“Powdermilk Biscuits”). Musical performances combine satirical skits such as “Dear Preacher Man” (a spiritual advice column with more advice than spirit), and pre-recorded interviews with authors such as Jim Wallis, Shane Claiborne and Brian McClaren to produce a “powerful celebration of where we see God at work in the world,” said Camp.

“It’s part theology lecture, part cultural analysis, part old-time radio show, part conversation and part good music,” he said.

The Sept. 2 show will feature musical performances by bluegrass and harmonica player Buddy Greene, folk music performer Odessa Settles and Christian rock musician Derek Webb. Author interviews will include Wallis, author of God’s Politics; Randall Balmer, author of God in the White House: A History; and Claiborne and Chris Haw, authors of Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals.

And as always, the Tokens house band, the Most Outstanding Sinai Mountain Boys (Jeff Taylor; Aubrey Haynie; Pete Huttlinger; Chris Brown; and Byron House) will perform along with the Tokens Radio Players, which includes Lipscomb’s own David Fleer.

“We’ve had immensely positive feedback,” said Camp. “I have found that many people deeply resonate with the idea. A lot of musicians have been really taken with it.”

Each episode of Tokens is dedicated to searching for the “tokens of the work of God in all sorts of cultural artifacts, regardless of whether they were written by believers,” said Camp, referring to a quote by William Stringfellow that inspired him in creating the show.

“Discerning signs has to do with comprehending the remarkable in common happenings…” said Stringfellow, “… to behold tokens of the reality of the Resurrection or hope where others are consigned to confusion or despair.”

The two previous shows explored the themes “Appalachian Longing for Home” and “Jubilee: Land, Greed & Grace in American Folk.”

“When we launched the show seven months ago, we had no idea it would become so popular so quickly. The next step is to make Tokens available more widely,” said Camp. He and the producers are currently pursuing distribution agreements for Tokens with public radio stations and satellite stations among others.

In the meantime, portions of the Sept. 2 Politics of Jesus show will be available for download from the Tokens Website, www.TokensShow.com, about three weeks after the show. The site also has additional information on the performers and snippets from past shows.

The next Tokens show, titled The Christmas Revolution, will be held Dec. 9 in the newly refurbished Collins Alumni Auditorium on the Lipscomb University campus.