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How’s Your Faith? Pastor Jay Hackett talks about faith, COVD19 and these times of crisis [Podcast]

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Pastor Jay Hackett, Peachtree Corners Baptist Church

How does a church ministry work when you have to practice social distancing? In this special
episode of Peachtree Corners Life, Rico Figliolini video chats with Pastor Jay Hackett from Peachtree Corners Baptist Church to talk about life, community, and keeping the faith during this
unprecedented time. Recorded socially safe in the City of Peachtree Corners, Georgia

Resources:

Social Media: #PCBChurch and @PCBChurch
Website: PCBChurch.org
Gwinnett Cares: ​https://www.cfneg.org/gwinnettcares/
American Red Cross: ​https://www.redcross.org
UNITE: ​https://www.uniteus.org/norcross-peachtree-corners/

“You know, I love the fact that, to me this is kinda like a moment in acts, you know, when the church was together, but then the church got scattered and it was when the church got scattered that things really started taking off and the gospel was spread. And so what I love is that we’re seeing the church be the church. And I think we’ve kind of had our hand forced in this. We’ve stayed inside the walls too long and now we have an opportunity to actually be the hands and feet of Jesus.”

Jay Hackett

Timestamp:

[00:00:30] – Intro
[00:01:42] – Ministry amid COVID-19
[00:02:54] – Online Church
[00:10:12] – Activities in the Community
[00:13:23] – Smaller Groups in the Church
[00:20:35] – Making a Difference
[00:26:32] – Moving Forward
[00:32:26] – Closing

Podcast Transcript

Rico: [00:00:30] Hi everyone. This is Rico Figliolini, host of Peachtree Corners Life here in the city of Peachtree Corners in Gwinnett County, Georgia. So I appreciate you coming out. We have a special guest today. Before we get to him and what we’re going to be talking about, which is going to be about faith and how in this COVID-19 world, how ministry works. What is happening, how faith is being challenged and all that. So, but before we get to that, just want to thank our sponsor, Hargray Fiber. They’re a company that’s out there willing to help you and help your employees work in this world remotely and they have free small business solutions to help your team stay productive and connected. So reach out to them. It’s HargrayFiber.com and that tip is stay connected with your neighbors, make new friends. Use, you know, live call or video chat and just say hi to your neighbor and see if they need anything. So now let’s get on to our guest today, which is our pastor Jay Hackett from Peachtree Corners Baptist Church. Hey Jay.

Jay: [00:01:37] Hey Rico, how are you doing?

Rico: [00:01:42] Good, thank you. Appreciate you coming out. Tell, tell us, tell us how is it out there in this ministry work that you’re doing right now?

Jay: [00:01:50] It has definitely changed. I will tell you that. And, you know, a lot of times we get freaked out by change, but a lot of times actually change pushes us out to new adventures and try some things a little bit differently than we have done in the past. You know, we have joked around here at Peachtree Corners that, you know, we needed to go online. We needed to live stream with everything that we’re doing, but we just waited and waited and waited to pull the trigger, and now we’ve been forced to pull the trigger. So, it’s been a little bit different for us to be able to do this and to be exclusively in this format, you know, as we go forward. Because you know, so much of the church is gathering, right? It’s being able to see your friends. It’s being able to connect with new people, and it’s really about community and being able to hug people, shake hands, and really be a part of that. And that’s been a part of this that has been a little bit more difficult for us as we navigate some of these new waters.

Rico: [00:02:54] Now you, I think you’re, if you told me correctly, I think this is like the fourth Sunday, you’re going to be exclusively online.

Jay: [00:03:00] Correct. So we kind of, when things started initially coming out that were saying that people needed to kind of distance themselves and have, you know, I think the number was around 250 when it first came out. And we currently are blessed to have a few more than that that show up on a Sunday morning. And so we as a staff kinda got together and met with our elders and just said, Hey, let’s be on the front end of this and let’s see how we can, you know, kind of go along with what our government officials are asking us to do, what our president’s asking us to do, and how can we go ahead and launch this. And so this Sunday will actually be our fourth week that we are now exclusively online with nothing happening here at the building.

Rico: [00:03:44] So how do you do that? I, you know, I’m sorry, I’m a little remiss in not having watched the last few that you’ve done, but how do you do that? Is it just you? Is the team there? How does it go?

Jay: [00:03:59] Trust me, we have a wonderful team of people that are behind us that they’re able to put this together. Andrew Howard runs our tech team and so a lot of conversations with him and Josh Felons who’s our worship pastor, and just trying to figure out. Hey, you know, what’s the best way that we can do this? Because, you know, it can be awkward. You know, most people like, let’s take singing for instance. You know, we usually have just strained or not even strained, but we’ve shown the message during the week, but we’ve never seen music. And, and that was one of the questions that we had. You know, you’ve got some people that don’t want to sing out, when they’re in a congregation. You know, cause I hear themselves saying, and now you’ve got a husband and wife sitting on the sofa at home, or you know, their family that’s kind of sitting there. Are people really going to engage with worship? And really, you know, kind of reach out and do that. And we kind of unpack that for a little while and we decided that, yeah, you know, we want in a time where there’s so much chaos, we want to try to bring a little bit of stability. And, and so basically, you know, and this is kind of what we’ve heard from our people in the last month, there’s just this makes it feel like we’re there. And so we, we kind of made the decision early on that we were going to do our service just like we would if you were here in person on a Sunday morning. And, and so I’m going to reveal a couple of secrets. Some people think we are live here on Sunday morning. We’re not. We do everything during the week. As a matter of fact, today we just got done filming, for this Sunday. And so then they take that and put it onto our web server and then everything goes streaming live at both 9:30 and 10:45 on Sundays.

Rico: [00:05:36] And you have music going on.

Jay: [00:05:39] We do, we start to finish, just like you were here, welcome and offering, you know, three or four songs, and then I get to jump up and preach to an empty room. So it’s a whole lot of fun.

Rico: [00:05:53] There’s that connection thing that’s missing.

Jay: [00:05:56] Well, it is funny because that’s kinda how I’m wired. You know, Rico, I feed off of the congregation. So you know, when you tell a joke and you’re like, I don’t even know if that’s going to land or not because nobody’s in the room to give me any feedback from that. And I don’t know if people are tracking with me. And so, you know, I, it’s funny, I kind of sit around on Sundays and on the platform that we use through live church, you know, you have the comments that scroll up and down. And so I’m looking for people to heart or a man or, you know, give me something that I would have typically gotten you know, from the room on a Sunday morning.

Rico: [00:06:31] Can you interact with them on that, on that feed also?

Jay: [00:06:36] So what we do is we have two to three of our staff members that are hosts for each of the services that we launch live broadcast at 9:30 and 10:45 on Sundays. And so they’ll interact back and forth, with anyone that’s there through a chat feature. Thanks for any questions. And it’s, you know, the hard part, like I said earlier about being a church is we need connection. And so this kind of gives us that opportunity to, to be able to say, Oh, you know, Rico’s here. And they have, it’s so good to see ya. You know, even though it’s virtually, it’s still a connection, which I think is what any of us want more than anything right now.

Rico: [00:07:13] Yeah. You want to be able to see that, that there are people out there actually listening and absorbing what you’re signing. So they would, they would find this on your website or can you also find this like as a live feed on Facebook or anything else?

Jay: [00:07:29] Correct. So, what you would do right now is through our website, we broadcast it live as well as through Facebook live at 9:30 and 10:45. And then it just goes strictly to Facebook, or on our website following that for the rest of the week. And so, you know, we kind of played with the idea, do we just show it at 9:30 and 10:45 or do we allow it to be seen throughout the rest of the week? And what we found is a lot of our members. Chime in during our normal worship times, just so they can see people and connect. But then we’re getting probably three times as many views outside, what’s happening at 9:30, 10:45 on Sunday. And so, you know, I don’t know if people are just starving for content when they’re stuck at home right now. You know, a lot of questions, a lot of things that people are wrestling with. And so there’s, there’s a heightened sense of going, Hey, I want to know some more. And so let me just kind of see what, who’s out there and what they’re saying.

Rico: [00:08:24] Sure. It’s almost like faith on demand.

Jay: [00:08:27] Correct. The hard part, and, I kind of addressed this a little bit Sunday. The hard part for us pastors is we know that anytime somebody gets in a habit, it’s hard to change. And so I think that’s one of the things that we are kind of wrestling with and talking about now is, you know, not knowing when this ends, you know, people are going to get out of the habit of attending, you know, in person. I don’t know. There’s people that say, Hey, as soon as we can get back, everybody wants to be back. And maybe there will be a little bit of that at first. But I’ve had people say, I love watching you from home in my pajamas, you know, didn’t fight with the kids, didn’t have to argue with the wife on the way to church, and it just made it so much simpler.

Rico: [00:09:07] I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a little bit of that. There’s like, maybe we can’t get there, but the good part is that we can watch here.

Jay: [00:09:14] Correct. And that’s the balance. I think that’s kind of where we’re walking through right now, going, okay, we’ll even, as we’re able to get back together, how do we, how do we
continue this? Because we are reaching you know, more people than we were able to reach actually in person. And so it’s, again, it’s a positive.

Rico: [00:09:30] Right? And you know what, if certainly your message is themed for each of these random. So some of them may want to go back and just re-listen to it. Cause you know, sometimes you want to do that and you want to, you liked what, what Jay said, maybe, and you want to hear it again because you might have missed something. There’s a benefit right.

Jay: [00:09:49] Exactly. That’s been fantastic. My wife loved that. Oh, my notes come up on the chat side and she’s like, man, it makes it so much easier when I have it written down right there and I could follow through with that.

Rico: [00:10:02] Like captions and stuff.

Jay: [00:10:03] Yeah, little captions and things like that. And she was like, man, well, they do that for me every Sunday and just threw me.

Rico: [00:10:12] That’s where we’ll get to augmented reality. People are coming in with these Google glasses and they can see that. Cool. So I mean, you guys are doing a lot. I mean, you know, Peachtree Corners Baptist church does a lot of things, lots of ministry work and a lot of its hands on stuff, but also a lot of it’s outside the church. Supportive local activities. For example, you have a blood drive coming up, for example, in April?

Jay: [00:10:41] Correct.

Rico: [00:10:42] That’s still, is that still happening?

Jay: [00:10:44] Yes, yes. We actually talked to the American Red Cross, today and they were like, man, please pump this up as much as possible. They are in desperate need of blood. They’ve had several of their sites have to cancel on them. You know, with some of the outbreaks and the things that have been happening, they sent us about a 13 page document of all the steps that the American Red Cross is taking right now to make sure that you would be safe in coming to give blood. Making sure that, you know, you hand sanitize before you come in. They check the temperatures, they’re, making sure that there are no symptoms whatsoever before anyone donates and gives. And so everything to, to make it as, as clean and as easy as possible on their end. And so we’re going to be able to host that from the 13th to the 17th of April, right here from in our fellowship hall. And so we just want to help out in any way possible. Cause I know that hospitals and blood banks and man, they’re all in desperate need.

Rico: [00:11:42] Yeah, that’s for sure. And obviously we’re going to, you’re going to be respecting the social distancing and all that stuff.

Jay: [00:11:48] Correct. Absolutely.

Rico: [00:11:50] You also work with a group called Unite. You connected with them. Tell us a little bit about that.

Jay: [00:11:55] Well you know, what I love about the heart of Unite is that, you know, Rico, a lot of times in the church world, we can get territorial. You know, us versus everybody else. And we kind of forget that we’re on the same team. And you know, God has just given us some different opportunities. But he’s placed us all in similar communities. And one of the things I love about Unite is that’s their heart. Their heart is, how do we unite pastors from different denominations across the city? And so I’m in the unite group that’s here in North Charleston, Peachtree corners. And, you know, their main heart is how can we pull resources and how can we kinda, you know, come together to address the needs that are right here in our community. And, and so we have Terry Hoye, who is our representative here in Norcross, Peachtree Corners area. And we’re getting, you know, daily if not hourly updates from her and just kind of sharing what the needs are and where we’re at. And, you know, their big thing right now is they put together a great resource at, GwinnettCares.org. And, and so through GwinnettCares.org you can go to sign up for any need that you have. Maybe it’s a food need, maybe it’s a financial need, a transportation need, childcare needs. Any of those things can be accessed right there on the site. As well as if you’re available to volunteer and to help out in any one of those areas. We would love to have people stepping in and helping with that.

Rico: [00:13:23] Excellent. That’s Gwinnett Cares. The other thing I was looking at too is, you know, obviously again, we go back to church and it’s a very individual, a very personal thing that you do out there. You try to reach people that way, and so there’s smaller parts of the church, right? You have divorce care, for example, and you guys are using Zoom on that. How does that work?

Jay: [00:13:51] It actually is. It’s working better than we expected. You know, I think one of the things that our church definitely thrives on, but I think church in general does, is that personal connection and when we’re not able to meet together, then it’s, you know, it gets to be depression. You know, especially if you’re going through something, you know, with like grief, divorce care, and we need to see a happy face. And, so what Zoom has given us the opportunity to do is actually meet still with these groups. And so we have several Zoom groups that are going out and not only with what we call our bridge ministries, which are those grief share, divorce care. But also with like our life groups, you know, kinda old school Sunday school if you would. You know, when you have a smaller group of somewhere between 10 or 30 that are reading together. And so they’re on Zoom now and so they get together, some of them on Sunday, some of them on different nights during the week. And it’s just an opportunity to kind of do what you and I are doing right now. See each other face to face and catch up on life. You know, really just see, Hey, how can we pray for you? Is there anything you need? What can we do? You know, I think that’s been probably the most exciting thing I’ve seen just from our body of Christ here, is that people are going, man, what? How can we serve? You know, what can we do? You know, I want to help those that are more vulnerable than I am. And how can we step in
and what can we do? And you know, so we’re just trying to bring in those things, collect. If anybody’s out there, you know, whether it’s a senior adult couple that can’t go to the grocery store or, you know, just need something delivered. We’ll just set it on the front porch, knock the doorbell, and you know, knock or ring the doorbell, and then walk away and make sure that we’re still social distancing, doing the things that we’re supposed to be doing. But, yeah. She’s looking for those ways to stay connected with people. And so platforms like Zoom and WebEx have been tremendous for us to offer this process.

Rico: [00:15:42] I’m sure it was a little growing pain, getting it all together, but so everyone’s using Zoom and WebEx. I mean, how do you coordinate all that going on? Or is it individual groups that are doing it and stuff?

Jay: [00:15:52] The individual groups are doing it. So my executive pastor, Brett Davis, is one of these guys that man, that his mind just thinks that way. And so he was able to kind of work with a lot of our life group leaders and a lot of the people that were in those leadership roles and get them set up with everything. You know, cause some of our classes are a little bit more technologically challenged and so they’re like, I’m not sure how to do this. You know, for our older classes, we do a lot more phone calls and you know, just kinda touching base with them that way. Some people are FaceTiming, some people are just, you know, I just, I’m encouraging everybody. Look, don’t let this be a time of isolation that you just lose all contact. But this is actually more than anything. And you know, I know we say send a text, send something, but it’s almost like they go, we’re like, call somebody, you know, we need that. We need to hear the voice. We need, you know, to have a connection with somebody and just check in on them and see how they’re doing.

Rico: [00:16:49] So how are you dealing with kids? Also, you have a lot of stuff going on with students and kids. I mean, there was a, you have the youth ministry. How is that working? Is it easy for them to work with the technology?

Jay: [00:17:01] I think it’s a whole lot easier for them to deal with the technology. You know, they’re showing all of us adults how to do it. So it makes it a whole lot easier for the rest of us. But, you know, we started walking through, we do both a Kids’ worship service and a student worship service on a regular Sunday morning. I saw all three of those running simultaneous with each other. And, and so we kind of have the discussion, do we continue to produce those services as well? But, you know, with some of the restrictions that have come out, we just said it’s going to be easier to just do our main service right now, but let’s make the content, if there’s video elements to that, if there’s game elements to that, the craft element. And let’s, let’s make that content accessible online for all of our parents because I know our parents are sitting at home. You know, I joked with you earlier that my wife and I made the decision, you know, we thought we weren’t homeschool parents. Now we know we’re not homeschool parents. And, you know, parents are kinda at their wits end right now with things. You know, not seeing an end in site. So we’re just trying to resource them and to be able to continue to share with their kids. We send out some videos that go along with our worship service for kids. And so I know some of
the parents, you know, will pull those up either after our service or some will watch them before the service and, you know, just continue to interact that way. And then our students, they’re online 24/7 and you know, my youth pastor Cody Jenkins, he’s been sending out daily devotionals to everybody and just kinda things that he would normally be sharing with them on Sunday and just trying to stay as connected as possible, so that they don’t lose hope here as we’re walking through some of these issues.

Rico: [00:18:41] And it’s very tough. I was noticing the other day that there was a Pinckneyville Middle School band using an Instagram app called Acapella where they were able to share. There was nine of them on the screen, and each of them did their part, their instrument. Then they compiled it and it sounds great. Actually, I think NPR picked up on the story at one point. So is this a good inventive way of everyone’s working together?

Jay: [00:19:10] Everybody’s getting real creative, which is what I love. Yes. Yeah.

Rico: [00:19:17] Yeah, and we don’t know how long this is going to play out, so I mean, at least we know it’s going to be until the end of April. It sounds like.

Jay: [00:19:26] Yeah. Well, and that’s, you know, some of the questions that we’ve got is going, okay, so how do we anticipate when we do come back and, you know, try to make it, you know, I know a lot of the things that we’ve looked at is like Easter, you know, Easter is a week from Sunday and you know, a Sunday that typically everybody gets dressed up and, you know, they’re able to come to church and, you know, kind of celebrate as a family, get together for a meal. And so this is going to be a different Easter for all of us. And there’s a lot of adjustments there. And so a lot of churches that I’ve been just talking to and other pastors have been talking about the fact that they’re actually going to make Easter the first Sunday back. And so they’ll still celebrate Easter next Sunday, but they’re going to try to do any of the things that you would normally see, quote unquote, on the Easter Sunday, which a lot of us go above and beyond that they’re going to actually wait and celebrate and make it the biggest Sunday possible. You know, kind of once everybody gets back and our new set of norms. Kind of begins to get laid out.

Rico: [00:20:23] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if we’re talking four weeks from now that you have to legally, right. I mean, maybe that becomes a homecoming, if you will.

Jay: [00:20:30] Yeah.

Rico: [00:20:35] Peachtree Corners Baptist Church is a big church in the community. It’s right at the, at that road where everyone sort of leaves a caravan of cars. Usually on a normal day of work, it goes past your middle, goes up to the Y and Peachtree Corners, and then everyone sort of splits goes their different ways depending on where they’re going. So being a big church, a lot of people, a lot of different types of people with different walks of life. You even have, I mean, you have a lot of people working in different ministries. I noticed that you talked to us a little bit, you mentioned like mops, moms of preschoolers. You mentioned life group class, some
individuals working at this. So maybe you could share a little bit about some of that and what those ministries are doing or some of the stories that you’ve.

Jay: [00:21:24] Yeah, absolutely. You know, I love the fact that, to me this is kinda like a moment in acts, you know, when the church was together, but then the church got scattered and it was when the church got scattered that things really started taking off and the gospel was spread. And so what I love is that we’re seeing the church be the church. And, and I think we’ve kind of had our hand forced in this. We’ve stayed inside the walls too long and now we have an opportunity to actually be the hands and feet of Jesus. And, I’m loving as I’m watching all of these different groups do their different things and meet needs in different ways. Our mops, which is our mother of preschoolers, they kinda got together and collected money. And, they knew that kids were without meals this week. Being here in Gwinnett County was spring break. And, and so they collected over $700, and that food went out, bought food, did that, and donated it to our Norcross co-op, which are able to help meet some of those needs that were there. Some of our ladies, I still don’t know how they did this, but some of them took different things that were around the house and they made masks, you know, face masks, more talent than I’ve gotten. And so as they kind of delivered those to some people, they helped the health indices through people that were here at our church. And I just, I love being able to see some of those things happen. Some of them bought snack bags together to carry to those in the hospital. We’ve got Jonathan and Lilly who owned the Ichiban steak and sushi up at the collection there in foresight. You know, one of the things they were doing was they were battling with, okay, how do we stay open? What are we doing? And that Jonathan, who’s a member here, that’s the owner of that said, you know what version of this food, we’re going to cook it and we’re going to deliver it over to the ICU unit here at Northside for PSI. Then we’re going to hand it to those in the pulmonary department. And you know, we’re going to just be the hands and feet of Christ and how can we continue to love on people and see some of those things happen. And so, you know, I mean, as a pastor, you always wonder, are people getting it, you know, is it clicking? And then when you start seeing some of these things happen, it’s just, it really does bring a smile to my face. And I’m just appreciative for people that are stepping up and doing some of those things.

Rico: [00:23:43] And it’s good to be able to share that so that people aren’t, because everyone’s home. So it’s like, what do you, what do you know what’s going on? If you’re not out there actively talking, or maybe you’re on next door, the app, or on Facebook, and you know. You know, getting your feed from there, maybe. So even companies have been out there, and I noticed that Firebirds you mentioned.

Jay: [00:24:10] Jennifer who is one of our administrative staff here at the church, got a phone call from Firebirds the other day and they were like, look, we have a ton of produce and things that we have that we would love to. So donate the give away, but every time we call a food pantry, they need prepackaged food. And so none of them can use that. And Jennifer reached out to one of the groups that Susan was a part of here at Peachtree Corners village moms and just offered that out. And so their families could benefit from it. And she said they went crazy
over it and we’re just able to, to really use that. They’re in their own homes. And being able to be a blessing. And so I’ve helped out Firebirds but it also helped out families right here in Peachtree Corners. And you know, just those were exciting things to me as we, you know, just see it play out.

Rico: [00:24:56] So if there are other businesses out there looking to help, maybe they should reach out to you.

Jay: [00:25:01] Absolutely. We’ll help out in any way possible. Or if we can’t, we can help point you in the right direction. You know, it’s, it’s all about who you know, and you get people connected with other people.

Rico: [00:25:14] Well for sure. And there are businesses out there that want to, that want to help. They want to do what, you know, be a good citizen in the community. Especially now. I mean, we all liked, you said, you know, sometimes we’re siloed. We’re all by ourselves. Maybe depending on what we’re doing. And even for where with our own family. We’re just here. It’s like having those horse blinders on. Sometimes, you know, unless you take a walkout, and I’ve done my walks and I’ve seen a lot of people out there though restrictions get more and more. The parks are closed. I mean, the certain places are close. You can’t get too far out there. Unless they completely lock us down in the house. I don’t know. We’re going to be people going out. So you know, and you guys are on like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. I mean, you’re all over the place. So if people want to be able to do that, they can just find you anywhere on the monitor and follow you. #PCBchurch is the hashtag that people should follow.

Jay: [00:26:22] That hashtag we can follow. And we’re on Instagram, we’re on Twitter, Facebook, and definitely through our website at PCBChurch.org.

Rico: [00:26:32] Where, what, what else would you like to share with us that maybe we haven’t covered? You know, I mean, we talked a little bit about the ministry and how it is today to be able to do what you’re doing. And some churches have, like, you know, you have the big mega churches that have done that to a degree and stuff, but have been doing it prior to COVID-19. And even, I mean, I’ve seen your, your videos online a lot. Even had one great video I loved. There was a rock and roll video. That was a cool video. Love that video. I think I need to share that one online. But, so you guys are finding different ways to do things and so what, what can we expect over the next few weeks? What, what, what are you working out besides Easter, which is, you know, obviously the big guy.

Jay: [00:27:26] Yeah. Easter will definitely be a fun one as we’re going forward. You know, a lot of the stuff that we’re looking at is trying to figure out how we can get the best content and the best resources in people’s hands so that they can just continue to walk in their relationship with Christ and begin to be discipled in him. You know, we want things to look good, but production is not the overall. You know, the overall end all for me is that someone is able to take truth and begin to apply to their life and begin to see some things change. And, you know, I think what
we’re going to see in the days ahead and the weeks ahead is, you know, there’s more openness to that. You know, a lot of people are questioning. And a lot of people are finding themselves in a position of going, you know, well, why are we going through this? And, you know, one of the age old questions that everybody, you know, did God cause this, did he allow it? You know, there’s just an awareness, I think right now that’s really given us as a church here at Peachtree Corners, but as well as every church and opportunity to be answering some of those questions. And, just kinda, you know, sitting in it. With the people as they’re walking through it. And, and that’s just kinda what we want to continue to, to share and kind of be an encouragement. If we could, in the days ahead of going, look, you know, what? Life will return to some sense of normal. it may not be what we were used to. It may not be, you know, the way that we always did it, but we know that there will be an end to this. And in the process of it, you know, how do you continue to grow and, and become the man, the woman, the child that God desires you to become, through the process. You know, I think as we look at the future for us right now, our, our summers on whole. You know, as we’re looking through B camps and VBS is, and you know, a lot of the things that are more activity driven now, we’ve been forced to be away from each other. And so we’ve got to readdress how we do some of those things. And so we’ve got some great conversations that are coming towards us, but we’ve got some great people around us through Unite, rather passers Metro, you know, just trying to figure out some good ways that we can connect with each other and help each other. And at the end of the day, the, the good neighbors that, the gospels.

Rico: [00:29:43] I think, I agree with you. I mean, life is going to get pushed back a little bit. Maybe vacation Bible school instead of the first week in June happens the third or fourth week in June. You know, people are looking, it’s an interesting aspect to what we’re going through. Now you have the older generation that have been through tough times. The greatest generation is almost gone. So the generation that grew through the sixties and seventies. Right? Some mortgage rates, the Vietnam war, maybe a long gas lines, all that stuff. We’ve never, this generation really has not even with the recession, 2008 I mean, that was bad. For the most part. Our kids did not. Kids did not get affected by it. And this pandemic is really changing, I think. I mean, I see it in my kids, they’re sitting in the 16 year old seat and the 22 in the 25 year old, how they look at life now cause what’s going on, this is going to have a, a, an effect on them that will stay with them, I think for years to come.

Jay: [00:30:52] I agree 100% and I’m seeing the same thing in my 13 year old, 7 year old. You know, both from a different perspective, but, their questions, nonetheless. And they keep asking different things. And, you know, and, and as a parent, you, you want to stay informed with the things that are going on. But there are certain things that I’m trying to shield, you know, my first grader from so she’s not living in a constant state of fear and nightmares, you know, all these different things that any of us would be going through. And trying to, you know, keeps a stiff upper lip and is the father and the husband and the pastor, the leader in the midst of this. But the reality is we’ve, we’ve never been this way before. You know, so as we do it. For me as a pastor and as a father and a follower of Christ, I’m going to lean into him and just say, all right,
you know, I’m going to trust you in the process. You are my refuge and you’re never going to leave my side. And so here we go and let’s take it one step at a time.

Rico: [00:31:51] I like that. So this is a good point to probably segue into leaving the end of our time together. I do want to say thank you though for being here to talk, about how your ministry, how the church is doing. I’m sure all the churches are facing the same challenges. And some of the same things, maybe different things.

Jay: [00:32:13] Yeah. They definitely are. And all of them are doing it to the best of their ability. And all of us have kinda been forced into this together. But I’m just, I’m thankful for it. Thanks for the opportunity.

Rico: [00:32:26] This has been great. And, and people that want to be able to find out more information, where’s the best place? I guess we’ve mentioned that before, but.

Jay: [00:32:34] I’d go to a PCBchurch.org and be able to follow us. They’re on the website, all the resources that we offer, everything that we’ve got. Or being able to find that and then Gwinnettcares.org would be the second place to be able to find local things and ways that people can volunteer and serve.

Rico: [00:32:51] And if I can impose, and ask you one last thing because you are a pastor.

Jay: [00:32:55] Correct.

Rico: [00:32:56] I never, never, ever do this, but would you be able to say a prayer for us? For the community?

Jay: [00:33:02] Absolutely. Thank you.

Rico: [00:33:05] Thank you.

Jay: [00:33:07] Father. We thank you for this opportunity that we have just to come together and father, we thank you that you are with us through everything that we walked through. Father, your word tells us that we can cast all of our cares on you, all of our anxiety on you because father, you care. You’re not someone who is distant. You are someone who is right in the midst of it, walking through it with us today. And so father, I pray that you and your peace would come to each life. Father God, your comfort would come by those that are listening today that are overwhelmed with anxiety, that have fears and concerns, Lord, with what they’re seeing and what they’re in the midst of God, would they feel your presence right now? God those that are exposed to this disease, those that now have this virus, Father God, would you bring complete healing upon their lives? Father, those that work effortlessly, Father God in the healthcare industry and in the different areas, Father God, where they’re working day in and day out. God, would you strengthen them? Would you protect them? Would you watch over
them? And then Father would all of us, Father, be the children that you have desired us to be. Lord, will we be the neighbors that you called us to be and would we love on each other right now more than ever before? But father, I pray that that would be our new way of life as we go forward. Thank you for this opportunity today we prayed in Jesus name. Amen.

Rico: [00:34:29] Amen. Jay, hang in there with me for a minute while I close out.

Jay: [00:34:33] Yes, sir.

Rico: [00:34:34] Thank you everyone for being with us and I appreciate Jay and Peachtree Corners Baptist church and all the ministries out there, all the faith institutions. Be safe, hug your kids, your family. Cause they, you can, you can do that even though we have to be a distance from everyone else. But remember to reach out to those people that you think might need help or that might need to hear a good voice. So thank you. And, more shows to come. Appreciate you being with us.

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Business

Pest Control Without Harsh Chemicals

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Two men and one woman standing next to a blue SUV with company logo on it and holding a sign for Geo Mosquito.

Local small business owner has found a way to keep mosquitos at bay with natural remedies

Geoff Krstovic, a former firefighter, transitioned into the mosquito control business after a divorce, driven by the desire for flexible work.

“Nobody ever thinks they’re going to be into bugs and chemistry when they grow up,” he said. “It’s not like, ‘I want to be a firefighter. I want to be an astronaut.’ Nobody thinks that they want to go out there whacking bugs or says, ‘I want to be in pest control.’”

But as he progressed in his new career, Krstovic took an interest in how to get rid of pests without using harsh, man-made chemicals.

“The more certifications, the more promotions and everything that I got, [and] the more entomology classes I started taking, … I really started to realize what we were putting out into the environment,” he said.

Pest control technician from Geo Mosquito spraying a customer's yard.
Krstovic treating a customer’s yard. The spraying protocol is customized to each property, resulting in more effective mosquito control.

“I spend 90% of my time outside, and I see so much wildlife. So, when I would see a deer eating a leaf or a rabbit run out of bushes that I just treated, it really made me start to think about the effects of what we were doing to them.”

Not to mention pollinators like bees and butterflies.

“When I [would finish a treatment], I’d look back at the yard and everything that I’d seen flying around was just gone,” he said.

As a parent and a pet owner, he knew there had to be a better way to get rid of pests but still safeguard ourselves and the animals around us.

With a growing concern for the environmental impact, he developed a natural mosquito treatment system. The company he was working for wasn’t interested in his new product, so he started his own business.

Road to pest control

Krstovic graduated from Georgia State with a major in English. He joked that many of his contemporaries in the field have similar backgrounds.

“There’s an ongoing joke in the pest community where it’s like … what do you go to college [for] to be a pest [control] owner? Well, you major in liberal arts, English or writers’ composition,” he said.

Large orange and black butterfly resting on a pink flower bush with green leaves in a backyard garden.
Geo Mosquito protects vital plants and pollinators with eco-friendly mosquito control.

“A lot of the other owners I met had the same degrees. A big part of it is that creativity aspect, and in pest control, you’re allowed to think outside the box, and you’re allowed to adjust and adapt to what you’re seeing and use different methods.”

That desire to do things differently led him to find a way to help keep people safe from West Nile, Zika virus and Eastern equine encephalitis while they enjoyed time outdoors.

With a lot of research and a little help from relatives with backgrounds in chemistry and engineering, he came up with a formulation based on using essential oils.

The dangers of mosquitos

“After you meet your first client that tells you about their experience just walking to a mailbox and they get West Nile, it changes your perspective 100%,” Krstovic said, “because you’re not just out there killing bugs, you’re out there protecting people and their families.”

Mosquitos are often called the most dangerous animal on earth, with the diseases they spread killing over a million people annually according to statistics from the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control.

While the more serious mosquito diseases don’t pose the greatest risk to most communities, there are common ailments that can show up in people and pets, including bites that get infected and heartworm in dogs.

Reaching out to the community

Though people were a little skeptical about Krstovic’s natural pest control methods at first, Erin Rhatigan decided to give it a try.

“Geoff cold-called our house in 2021 and revealed that he actually grew up in the house next door,” she said. “He really wanted to return to his roots and offer his services.”

Rhatigan has three young children, and with her home being situated on the Chattahoochee River, the outdoor areas are beautiful, but also plagued by a lot of mosquitos.

“We’re very focused on spending time outside, and our kids are very, very active, so they’re outside a lot,” she said.

But Rhatigan and her kids are also very sensitive to mosquito bites, and the spraying services she tried year after year weren’t satisfactory.

“I had gone through every franchise. I had used the large companies every season. I was switching because it seemed like it would be effective at the beginning, and then it would lose effectiveness,” she said.

She was also concerned about the toxicity of the chemicals being used.

“I felt like using toxic chemicals on our property was not only bad for our family, but because we are on the river, we’re kind of a steward to the environment as well, … so when he mentioned that the product that he uses to control the mosquitoes was eco-friendly, I was happy to try it,” she shared.

Local solution gets a local investor

The treatment was so effective that Rhatigan isn’t just a customer, she and her husband decided to invest in the business.

A woman and two men sitting at a kitchen table with snacks, drinks and notebooks discussing plans for business expansion.
From left: Erin Rhatigan, Geoff Krstovic and Nathan Rhatigan mapping out 2025 expansion plans.

“It was better than anything I had used for the previous 10 years,” she said. “The amazing thing is that when he sprays the property, you have this effervescence of the essential oils in the air.”

She recommended Geo Mosquito to everyone who’d listen to her, and eventually Krstovic took over maintaining the facilities at Rhatigan’s community pool.

“[What he was doing] kind of piqued my husband’s and my interest because we were looking for a small business to invest in locally,” she said. “I’m now home with the kids, but I have a long career in sales, and my husband is in sales as well.”

Within a year, the couple became active investors.

“We love the origin story of this relationship because it’s reflective of how friendly and supportive the local business community is in Peachtree Corners,” she said.

Caring about the work

Krstovic attributes his success to caring about the work, attention to detail and understanding client needs. He doesn’t just spray the yard and leave; he has a system of mapping out problem areas and educating clients about prevention.

A pest control technician from Geo Mosquito talks to a woman wearing a red top and black pants on the steps leading up to her home's front door.
Krstovic with Geo Mosquito customer discussing potential problem areas on the property.

“We’re looking at anything that could hold a water source and eliminating that, asking our clients what time of the day they’re getting eaten up, what part of their body and what part of their yard,” he said.

“That helps us figure out the species of mosquito that’s attacking them, so we know where to target, because different species have different nesting sites.”

Growing the business

Geo Mosquito has begun working with Vox-pop-uli to upgrade their logo, website and promotional materials.

“Geoff is a typical entrepreneur — protective of what he’s doing,” Rhatigan said. “So going through the steps of changing the logo, coming up with a new tagline, starting to do some marketing, is both exciting and a little scary.”

But the team at Vox-pop-uli has been a tremendous resource — helping them go at their own pace.

“This first year of investment was about seeing what the market interest is and expanding brand awareness,” said Rhatigan. “Vox-pop-uli offers so many services, it’s daunting for an emerging company to manage so many different contractors: creative, graphic design, printing, mailing. But they have a great, responsive organization that has been very helpful.”

Next steps

With a proprietary formulation for the mosquito abatement, Geo Mosquito wants to bottle the solution and sell it nationally.

Additionally, in 2025, the company plans to expand into ecofriendly pest control services for inside the home. They are also interested in working with local municipalities, churches and schools to expand their mosquito control services.

The Local Thread: This business profile series is proudly supported by Vox-pop-uli, championing local stories and the communities we serve.

This article is also available in the print and digital edition of the Jan/Feb issue of Southwest Gwinnett magazine.

Photos courtesy of Geo Mosquito.

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Community

Recreational Soccer Club Celebrates 50 Years of Play

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A group of kids, some in blue jerseys and some in red, playing soccer. Number 41 is kicking the ball towards the goal, where the other team's goalie waits.

According to physicians, educators and child psychologists, there are myriad reasons parents encourage their young children to play soccer:

  • Physical fitness: Soccer is a fast-paced sport that can help improve cardiovascular health, muscular strength, flexibility and endurance. 
  • Motor skills: Soccer involves running, kicking, dribbling and passing, which can help develop balance, agility and coordination. 
  • Socialization: Soccer can help children make friends from different backgrounds and cultures. 
  • Teamwork: Soccer is a team sport that teaches children the value of cooperation and working together towards a common goal. 
  • Life skills: Soccer can help children develop discipline, perseverance and resilience. 
  • Emotional intelligence: Soccer can help children develop empathy and emotional intelligence. 
  • Stress reduction: Playing soccer can help reduce stress and anxiety by releasing endorphins that elevate mood. 
  • Confidence: Consistent practice and dedication can help children build confidence and overcome obstacles. 
  • Gender equality: Participating in sports like soccer can help break down gender stereotypes. 
  • Enjoyment: Soccer can help encourage children to enjoy their childhood and stay in school.

It’s for those objectives and more that members of the Peachtree Corners Football Club (PCFC) are working so hard to sustain and grow their program.

Kids in blue jerseys playing soccer
photo courtesy of Peachtree Corners Football Club

A growing community

Nearly three years ago, three local parents had the idea to build an organization for their children to reap the benefits of recreational soccer.

“We found out that we were linked to the athletic club called Peachtree Booster Club,” said Gavin Meech, a club committee member, parent coach and member of the small group that revitalized the soccer program. “It’s sort of an overarching group that also looks after the roller hockey at Pinckneyville Park in Norcross.”

They realized that back in 1975, a youth soccer program called the Jones Bridge Soccer Club was formed at Jones Bridge Park. Now renamed the Peachtree Corners Football Club, the parents decided to put the time and energy into revitalizing — and growing — the decades-old program.

Kids playing in a soccer match, some in red jerseys and some in blue. They're running on the field and one has the ball.
photo courtesy of Peachtree Corners Football Club

In February 2022, the three coaches had 170 kids. The program now has nearly 300 kids across 30 teams. The club emphasizes community involvement, with over 5,000 volunteer hours annually from parents and coaches. Challenges include managing growth and ensuring sustainability, though the club aims to expand its field space and engage more local businesses for partnerships.

The organization will soon celebrate 50 years of providing youth recreational level soccer to the local community in the southwest corner of Gwinnett County. And registration for the upcoming season is nearly full, highlighting the need for continued community support and involvement.

Goalie on a youth soccer team, wearing a red jersey, blocking a soccer ball with his foot
photo courtesy of Peachtree Corners Football Club

Bringing new energy to an old club

Initially, the group faced challenges in forming the soccer club, including linking with the Peachtree Booster Club and learning administrative tasks.

“That first season was a steep learning curve, and we ended up, I think, with about 170 kids,” said Meech. “So we were driving around Peachtree Corners, sticking the little signs anywhere that we were legally allowed. A few of us were grabbing anybody that would slightly suggest they would help by being a parent coach and things like that.”

Fast forward to this past season where there were just under 300 kids and 30 teams.

Three kids in blue jerseys on a soccer field playing a match. The kid in front has their leg pulled back, getting ready to kick the ball.
photo courtesy of Peachtree Corners Football Club

“We are now oversubscribed,” he added. “Our return rate is in excess of 80% of the kids and their families. So, it’s really become something that once they join, they return, and through word of mouth, more want to join.”

The club is community-centric, with kids from local schools like Simpson, Berkeley Lake and Cornerstone taking part. Volunteers naturally step forward and get involved, with no formal process.

“[Rapid growth] is a great problem to have. So we’re working with [Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation] at the moment to try and see if we can gain more field space,” Meech said. “We started to utilize the big field near the Aquatic Center. It’s similar in size to Jones Bridge field, but it’s got a slightly different classification at the moment.”

Families sitting in outdoor chairs under umbrellas along the side of a soccer field, watching their kids play.
photo courtesy of Peachtree Corners Football Club

Right now, several clubs are using that space, so a huge obstacle is finding some place to play that’s local so that families won’t have to traipse all over the metro area.

“We don’t want to lose our identity by expanding too big, because that’s hard to manage,” he added.

Community engagement and future plans

Committee member Mathew Shamloo credits Meech with pulling him into the mix.

“I’d say that Gavin has a very unassuming gravitational pull,” he said. “There’s no real process to it. I think it’s just naturally the people who want to be involved step forward and, whether or not they are asked, they’re just kind of pulled in inch by inch.”

Shamloo is also a coach, but had no prior experience.

“I had no real ties to soccer before this,” he said. “My daughter wanted to play. My background is in basketball.”

So he utilized some of the fundamentals that apply to any team sport and researched best coaching practices.

“I want her to play soccer because it’s easily accessible, it’s local, it’s right around the corner from us,” he said. “It was like, ‘Hey, there’s soccer. We can start there.’”

Like most parents, Meech and Shamloo don’t have dreams that their kids will turn into David Beckham or Brandi Chastain. But if the kids have those aspirations, PCFC has ties to bigger opportunities.

“I think what we’ve managed to achieve is we have raised the bar on rec sports, and we are able to compete, but we’re fundamentally a rec club,” said Meech. “I think some of the challenges of the past [are] where you get to a point where you say, ‘Well, should we become an academy? Should we offer the next level of competition to the kids?’ But sort of the mentality we’ve had, and kind of our foundation, is no, that Peachtree Corners is a local rec club.”

In order to keep doing what they do in an amateur Ted Lasso fashion and stay around for another 50 years, the club focuses on community and engagement with local businesses for partnerships rather than sponsorships.

Youth soccer team with coaches holding up a giant cookie cake after a match
photo courtesy of Peachtree Corners Football Club

“Our soccer club and families are more than just a group of people that meet for our kids to play a sport,” said Meech. “Traditionally, you engage with local business for sponsorship, but we’re very lucky in the sense that, as a nonprofit supported by parks and rec with facilities, we don’t need a huge amount of sponsorship.”

Expanding the community

Soccer is easily accessible globally because all you need is a ball and a goal and some grass or something similar, so the costs are relatively low, he added.

“We’ve been able to engage with local restaurants, other sporting facilities and work in more of a partnership with them to create this wider community beyond Jones Bridge soccer playing fields,” he said.

Both men pointed out that they go to Town Center or other sporting events with their families and inevitably bump into Peachtree Corners FC players and family members everywhere.

Kids from opposing soccer teams lining up to high five each other after a match
photo courtesy of Peachtree Corners Football Club

“Local businesses reach out to us and try and find out how they can contribute,” said Meech.

Although the club is at capacity, it still invites families and businesses to visit and see the activities firsthand. The committee members want to build awareness and community involvement, as the club aims to continue growing and providing a positive experience for all involved while maintaining its community-centric focus.

For more information about the Peachtree Corners Football Club, visit pcfcsoccer.com.

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From Brooklyn to Belfast: A Peacemaker’s Story

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Man standing in replica of the oval office at The Carter Center

Many of us are consumed by the day-to-day of life’s hustle and bustle, doing our best to navigate our relationships, provide for our families and live comfortably. A select few meet with great success on all fronts.

Fewer still somehow manage to lead extraordinarily accomplished existences with gumption, energy and talent left to spare, positively impacting circles far larger than their own family unit. 

One such exceptional person, and longtime Peachtree Corners resident, is Jim Gaffey. Allow me to introduce you to the most extraordinary neighbor you never knew you had. I had the honor of speaking to him while he was spending time at his second home in the North Carolina mountains.

With a charming wife, thriving children and grandkids entering the fold, the former BellSouth executive is winning in the game of life. But it’s his heart for seeing others win that is something to behold.

He worked up from an entry-level installer pulling cables to a successful career in telecommunications, and from a first-generation Irish American teaching youngsters to read in Spanish Harlem to having a hand in peacemaking efforts in Northern Ireland.

With modesty, Gaffey would tell you that his work in Northern Ireland wasn’t remarkable because there were a plethora of well-funded protests taking place when he was a young man in the 1960s and 70s. I beg to differ.

Why The Troubles were troubling 

After gaining its independence in 1922, Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom to become the independent Irish Free State except for the six northeastern counties that comprise Northern Ireland, creating the partition of Ireland.

The Nationalists, largely Catholics, wanted Northern Ireland to become part of the republic of Ireland. The overwhelmingly Protestant Unionists wished to remain part of the United Kingdom. The violent sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland known as The Troubles erupted in 1968 after having been stoked by hundreds of years of tumultuous history.

protest march in new york city in the 1970s

Gaffey described the rather draconian, anti-Catholic situation, which he prefers to view through the lens of “the haves versus the have-nots” instead of joining the media in playing-up the battle of the religions. In truth, voting laws seemed fair; but in practice, they were very unfavorable to Catholics. 

Local voting was subject to property qualifications which made matters even worse. Business owners — disproportionately Protestant — who owned multiple properties got multiple votes.

“You had some people with no vote at all and some people with overloaded gerrymandering of the districts and sitting in parliament,” Gaffey said. This would ensure a Protestant majority in as many constituencies as possible.

Hence, in Northern Ireland, the religious makeup of your community determined the quality of your housing, public services and the jobs available to you. Peaceful protests were not kindly received.

Understandably, those who had enjoyed centuries of unfair advantages wanted to keep things just as they were. 

Brooklyn boy

The son of Irish immigrants, Gaffey was moved by the civil unrest going on across the pond. He authored an essay about the crisis while studying at City University of New York with a focus on the Special Powers Act passed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1922. The act was meant to restore order but was ruthlessly used to suppress the Nationalists’ opposition to politics that significantly favored the Unionists.

Young man in a button-up shirt and leather jacket in the 1970s
Jim Gaffey at 27 years old

“The Special Powers Act allowed the authorities in Northern Ireland to arrest without charge and hold indefinitely up to six years without a trial or any kind of a court hearing. People were placed in concentration camp facilities,” Gaffey explained. 

The British Army began a policy of internment without trial in Northern Ireland in 1971 during Operation Demetrius which would last until 1975.

Skin in the game

In 1969, when Gaffey’s university paper was distributed to the head of the Transport Workers Union in New York City and to the National Council of Churches, it was decided he should be sent to Northern Ireland to learn what was going on and report back to the United States. The street smarts he’d acquired growing up in Brooklyn were about to be put to the test.

Gaffey first landed in Ireland on August 15, 1969 — the day after the British army had arrived. Armed only with legal writing pads, he was instructed to walk the streets, meet and live with the locals, observe, write weekly reports detailing his findings and send them through the postal system, as was customary then.

“When something big was happening, like the British army going into a certain area, we used telegrams,” he said.

Three white men wearing suits, standing together and smiling for the photo
Jim Gaffey with First Minister Peter Robinson (left) and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness (right)

“The Unionists began to attack and burn whole villages, trying to force out the Nationalists and stop the civil rights movement. The British government decided that too many people were being killed and driven out of their homes. Whole rows of homes were burnt down. All those families had to flee,” Gaffey said.

The U.S. didn’t want to interfere but craved a better understanding of what was going on with their close allies in the United Kingdom.

“People here, even people in Irish organizations, couldn’t understand why two Christian communities were attacking one another,” Gaffey explained.

Between 1968 and 1972, Gaffey traveled to Northern Ireland 12 times, living in both Unionist and Nationalist communities, learning from them. He shared what was unfolding with the U.S. by reporting to congressional officials and testifying to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

An uncomfortable situation

Asked if he was fearful, Gaffey replied, “I was very cautious. I was stopped and frisked in the streets by British soldiers and held for a period of time until my paperwork could be approved by some officer at least 12 times,” he revealed. 

Anyone moving from one tiny community to the other in that area — no larger than Connecticut — or traveling with recognizable people as he was, was likely to be stopped, especially if they were obviously not dock workers or coal miners, the type of individuals one would expect to see there.

Two men standing in front of a small monument and fountain
Jim Gaffey with Nobel Laureate, the late John Hume. Hume won the award for peace negotiations with the IRA.

Observers knew to always carry their passports and visas, and say they were just visiting friends and relatives if questioned. “We were sent in with the cards of American diplomatic officials to call in case it got serious,” Gaffey said.

Gaffey recounts harrowing tales like that of the late John Hume being taken to meet the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the trunk of a car to start the peace process because he wasn’t allowed to know where he was going. 

Hidden under a blanket is how Gaffey was once driven speedily across the border into the Republic of Ireland when violence broke out in Derry. Besides developing an instinct for knowing when it was time to leave, when he wasn’t evading hostilities, he found himself in discussions with very aggressive, angry people resisting the push for change. 

“Communities were devastated, people were beaten. It was a horrible situation,” Gaffey stated.

Forward, march!

“I was in three civil rights marches in Dungannon, Belfast and Londonderry: two in 1970 and one in 1971. I was pelted with rocks and stones by folks who did not like these marches in Northern Ireland,” Gaffey shared.

Just the thought of marching in such circumstances with 12 to 14,000 people organized by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) would strike terror in the hearts of most people. But men like Gaffey are a different breed.

“I was too busy ducking horse and cow manure to be terrified. When you were marching through these farmlands into cities where an election might be coming up, they got pretty feisty,” he said.

According to Gaffey, Nationalist chants were met with cries of “No surrender!” by Unionists who had a monopoly on everything.

— “We shall overcome!”

— “No surrender!”

— “We want jobs!”

— “No surrender!” 

When the guns came out and things got extremely violent, the observers were pulled out of Northern Ireland. 

After Ireland

What Gaffey had witnessed in Northern Ireland motivated him to help even more. He became the National Student Organizer of the National Association for Irish Justice (NAIJ) and traveled across the United States speaking at numerous universities including Yale, Harvard and Berkeley.

His goal? To educate students about what was going on in Northern Ireland and encourage them to become involved by protesting the blatant discrimination against the Catholics.

“We were the financial supporter in the United States for the NICRA who modeled themselves after the Civil Rights Movement in America,” Gaffey said. Able to garner support from the universities he visited, NAIJ chapters sprang up. Gaffey later served as the National Coordinator of the NAIJ.

Reprinted photo of Jim Gaffey and former first lady Laura Bush
Jim Gaffey with First Lady Laura Bush; photo courtesy of Jim Gaffey

As the Coordinator, Gaffey formally represented the NICRA in the United States at speaking engagements, public presentations and protests.

Over the years, Gaffey has met with four sitting U.S. Presidents about Northern Ireland: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. and Laura Bush and Barack and Michelle Obama. He served on a committee of 20 charged with organizing the Obamas’ first trip to Ireland.

Luck of the Irish

John Lennon, who had participated in a march in London, backed the civil rights movement and supported the NICRA. Lennon attended NICRA meetings and spoke at rallies in the United States. Gaffey had dinners with both he and Yoko Ono

“He carried around our first son,” Gaffey beamed. “He was one of the most empathetic people I’ve ever met. Anything that was happening around him affected him emotionally, almost physically. When he was associated with us, he was taking in every bit of information,” he added.

Lennon and Ono wrote “The Luck of the Irish” in 1971, donating all proceeds from the song to Irish civil rights organizations in Ireland and New York. Other supporters of the cause were Arlo Guthrie and the group Peter, Paul and Mary, who entertained at rallies and fundraisers free of charge, as did Lennon.

The lyrics of U2’s signature song, “Sunday Bloody Sunday” evoke the horrors of one of the darkest days of the Troubles in Northern Ireland when British troops shot and killed 13 unarmed Roman Catholic civil rights supporters, injuring 14 others (one later died), during a protest march in Derry on Sunday, January 30, 1972.

The Good Friday Agreement

On April 10, 1998, Irish Nationalist politicians John Hume and David Trimble, the Northern Irish leader, steered the Protestant majority and their Catholic rivals into a peace deal known as The Good Friday Agreement.

“Unfortunately, Trimble doesn’t get a lot of play because his community hated him for doing it,” Gaffey said.

A signed copy of The Belfast Agreement
An original copy of the Good Friday Agreement

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Hume and Trimble that year “for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.”

When it was all said and done, 3,720 people in a population of about 1.5 million were killed in Northern Ireland over a 30-year period during the Troubles.

With 21 miles of “peace walls,” separating Irish republican from British loyalist neighborhoods, increasing in number and size since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, it’s clear there is ongoing turmoil. 

Martin Luther King III

In 2015, Gaffey was asked by those in Northern Ireland trying to settle things down to bring his friend Martin Luther King III with him to meet face-to-face with people on both sides. Gaffey followed through with King by his side.

“I think eventually, possibly within our lifetimes, we’ll witness the unification of Northern Ireland and Ireland into one country,” Gaffey stated. Despite the continued unrest, Gaffey maintains a vision of hope. Call it pollyannaish if you must, but I think I’ll join him in his prediction of a better tomorrow.

Avocation life

Gaffey discusses avocations like they’re as essential as breathing. I suspect he assumes we all partake in multiple activities in addition to our regular occupations. 

In 2002, he founded The Gaffey Group, an international trading company. He’s brought 47 companies out of Northern Ireland to the United States on trade missions. Today, he assists the successful ones by procuring investors.

A group of men in suits walking together and talking outdoors
Walking in Derry, Northern Ireland. Jim Gaffey (right) with his friend, Martin Luther King III and Martin McGuinness, former chief of staff for the IRA

“I’ve gone on trade missions to Northern Ireland with Governor Sonny Perdue and Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle. I also took Governor Bob Riley of Alabama and a team on a trade mission there,” Gaffey said.

Gaffey serves on the Peace Harmony Joy Alliance which mirrors his own belief in leading a purposeful life. 

As an advisor to The Carter Center on conflict resolution, Gaffey has investigated third world and local issues. 

In case you were unaware that it might need saving, Gaffey serves on the ad hoc committee to save the Good Friday Agreement. Deeming it necessary for future success, he calls it a pressure group.

He explained, “It’s always in peril. Although everybody signed a peace agreement, they’ve found less than half of the weapons that were being used. There are still incidents. They’re still looking for people who were never found.” 

Leaving a legacy

Gaffey plans to donate an archive of over 300 documents to The Linen Hall, the oldest library in Belfast. His records of fundraising and support include financials, what they did, who they were raising money from, who they supported as well as communications addressed by leaders of the NICRA. 

Two men standing next to a white cushioned chair at The Carter Center
Speaking at The Carter Center on civil violence in our elections. Jim Gaffey (right) with Reverend Gary Mason from Northern Ireland.

“I can’t believe the news today,” Bono first crooned in the 1980s about the heightened conflict in early 1970s Northern Ireland. Regrettably, we can look at wars going on across the globe today and say the same.

It seems as long as humankind exists, so too will conflict. The only comfort is knowing there will also always be those upholding justice and equality. If you’re lucky enough to meet one such person committed to peace, seize the occasion to hear stories of hope that can emerge from even the deepest trenches of despair. 

There you have it, Peachtree Corners! I hope you’ve enjoyed meeting our very notable neighbor Jim Gaffey as much as I have.

This article originally ran in the October/November issue of Peachtree Corners Magazine. You can read the digital edition here.

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