A church hosts Buddhist monks—and shares the gospel
When Greg Hand and Pleasant Hill Christian Church agreed to host Buddhist monks during their “Walk for Peace,” the gathering drew a large crowd and unexpected attention. Hand ultimately shared the gospel publicly, and the church faced intense online backlash afterward. The experience also encouraged the congregation to examine what they believe and to speak about Christ with greater boldness.
- Pleasant Hill Christian Church welcomed traveling Buddhist monks and hosted a large community gathering.
- Greg Hand shared an evangelistic message after the monks’ presentation, prompting strong online criticism.
- The congregation responded with renewed conviction, including baptisms the following week.
By James Thompson
When Greg Hand was asked if his church would host a group of Buddhist monks, his gut reaction was to say “no.”
“That was my first inclination, just for the protection of [the flock],” Hand said in an interview. “I’m very protective of the pulpit when it comes to doctrine.”
Hosting the “Walk for Peace”
The monks were nearing the end of a 2,300 mile “Walk for Peace” that had begun in Texas in October and would soon conclude in Washington, D.C. Along the way, they had become social media sensations and were drawing huge crowds at their daily stops for rest and meals. On Wednesday, January 28th, they would spend the night in Gasburg, VA.
Gasburg is home to Pleasant Hill Christian Church, where Hand is an elder and the senior minister. Despite his own reservations, Hand brought the question to the church’s other elders. They were all in favor of hosting the monks. That wasn’t the answer Hand had expected, but upon reflection, he decided that he agreed. The next Sunday, he explained to the congregation that their church would host the monks, and that this would be an opportunity to show hospitality to people of another faith.
When Wednesday evening arrived, Hand estimates that around 350 people showed up to see the monks. In addition to church members and people from the local community, there were many visitors from other parts of the country who had travelled a long way specifically for this event. At first everyone gathered outside, but because of the cold weather, the church soon opened their Family Life Center and asked everyone to move indoors.
The crowd waited patiently until the monks arrived. Hand was under the impression that the monks would hold a brief question and answer session before retiring to rest. After taking their seats at the front of the room, however, the monks began a presentation which included two monologues and a session of Buddhist chanting. The entire program lasted well over an hour. Many in the room hung on every word as the monks talked about the search for peace. Hand had the impression that the “majority” of the assembly were there to “support [the monks], and that philosophy.” Many seemed to even be in “awe” of the robed men sitting in front of them.
“I was really shocked,” Hand recalled. “I saw [the monks] as human beings, and I saw that crowd of people that were searching, and my perspective was everything they were looking for … Jesus is the answer.”
A gospel message and an online backlash
After the monks finished speaking, a Brunswick County sheriff’s deputy presented them with an honorary badge to commemorate their visit and then invited Hand to address the crowd before they were dismissed. He took the microphone and started with a joke. “This is the biggest thing that’s ever happened [in Gasburg],” he said, drawing a loud laugh from the crowd.
But after that he turned serious, explaining his initial reluctance to host the gathering and how the church’s other elders had steered him toward a different decision. He also said that the church had received some criticism on social media for welcoming the group.
He then shared the gospel, saying to the monks’ leader: “I believe, and our church believes, that Jesus would have you in this place to know that he is real … Jesus died for us, and we can have eternal peace and love because of his presence in our lives each and every day.”
It did not seem to Hand that the monks or the people in the crowd were offended by what he said. The lead monk even respectfully bowed his head when Hand closed his remarks in prayer.
Many people who watched a livestream of the gathering online had a different reaction. Before he reached home that night, Hand said the internet had “lit up” in response to his short speech. Posts on Facebook and other social media platforms criticized him and the church for presenting an evangelistic message while the monks were present.
The next day, Hand found his secretary in tears. She had been reading through the many emails that had come in overnight. The massive influx of critical and, in many cases, ugly messages was a new experience for Hand and the church, and it took a toll.
Ironically, the monks and those assisting them on their journey were not among those who took exception to Hand’s gospel presentation. After they had departed, Pleasant Hill’s youth minister contacted the group to ask if they had been offended. He received a question in response: How did you offend us?
What the church learned
The next weekend it snowed in Gasburg, but 91 people still braved the elements to attend Pleasant Hill Christian’s worship service. In Hand’s sermon, he said that Jesus “gives us the opportunity to proclaim his name, sometimes in places where people think it shouldn’t be proclaimed. But I am going to proclaim it.” At this point, overcome with emotion, Hand had to pause for several moments before continuing. The congregation filled the gap with applause.
Tiffanie Steffey was at church that morning. She grew up attending a Methodist congregation and was sprinkled as a child, and she had been wrestling with a feeling that she should be immersed. When Hand asked at the end of the service if anyone wanted to commit their life to Christ, Steffey knew it was time.
“I knew I wanted to be a leader like Pastor Greg,” Steffey wrote in an email. “I wanted to not be ashamed. I wanted the doubt [about baptism] to be gone.” Hers was one of two baptisms that took place before everyone headed home.
Hand says that while the backlash was painful, he believes this episode will be a “blessing to our church in the long run.” The congregation has been emboldened to share their faith, and many, including the youth in the church, have been encouraged to more closely examine what they believe and why.
Brunswick County is a rural community with a population of about 15,000, and Hand says that most people there “grew up in the church, or if you didn’t grow up in the church and weren’t a Christian, you were respectful of those who did.” In that sort of environment, it’s not surprising that this interreligious encounter was a new experience for the congregation at Pleasant Hill. However, their experience may indicate that churches in similar communities could have more interactions with other faiths in years to come.
According to Chris DeWelt, professor emeritus of intercultural studies at Ozark Christian College and a Christian Standard contributor, believers should start with kindness and openness rather than confrontation when in contact with non-believers.
“I do think that it is so much better to show a willingness to be congenial than a willingness to be combative,” DeWelt wrote in an email. “That does not mean that you compromise on your faith or that there is ‘guilt by association.’ If that were true, as Paul said, we would have to leave the world!”
If another group of Buddhist monks happens to travel through Gasburg again, Hand says his church would respond in the same way it did this time.
“I would do it again,” he reflected. “I would say the same thing again. They got a good night’s rest in a warm place. And I think that’s something that Jesus would have done.”
Author: James Thompson
James Thompson is an international campus minister and a freelance journalist.
