‘Statesboro Blues’

STATESBORO, GA. — She was Savannah’s “Lady of 6,000 Songs,” a nickname given to her by legendary lyricist Johnny Mercer. Emma Thompson Kelly performed weekly at Hard-Hearted Hannah’s above Savannah’s Pirate’s House. She died in Jan. 17, 2001.

I worked for The Savannah Morning News at the time. I made the one-hour drive to Mrs. Emma’s hometown, Statesboro, to cover her funeral.

Twenty-four years later, I finally made a return trip to Statesboro — once again from Savannah, where I was doing a seminar on global trends in discipleship for the Parkway Church of Christ. As I pulled off Interstate 16 and headed into town, I cranked up a piece by another Georgia songwriter, Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues,” recorded live by my hometown boys, Macon, Ga.’s own Allman Brothers.

The fellowship hall of the Statesboro Church of Christ in southeast Georgia.

The pews of the Statesboro Church of Christ, once part of an old synagogue, have numbered seats.

I found the meeting place of the Statesboro Church of Christ — a gorgeous, white-columned and steepled building with a recently constructed annex and fellowship hall. (I expected the traditional A-frame of the Southside Church of Christ in Macon.) The church got its pews from an old synagogue. Along the pew backs were something I’d never seen in Churches of Christ — seat numbers!

Between 30 and 40 folks worship with the church most Sundays. That’s about half of the pre-pandemic attendance, said minister Larry Sheehy. He and his wife, Carol, treated me to lunch. I had met their son, Dale, a few weeks earlier at the Challenge Youth Conference in Texas. Dale is the youth and family minister for the Lake Shore Drive Church of Christ in Waco, Texas. He told me his folks were in Statesboro, so we made plans to meet. I had a great time with Larry and Carol talking about mutual friends, including John Curtis, who knew the Sheehys when they all lived in Jackson, Miss. John resides in Oklahoma now and preaches for my congregation, the Memorial Road Church of Christ, on Sunday nights.

Carol and Larry Sheehy with Erik Tryggestad in Statesboro, Ga.

The Statesboro church meets not too far from the campus of Georgia Southern University, which has some 26,000 students. Chad Lunsford served as head football coach for the Georgia Southern Eagles from 2018 to 2021. Lunsford and his wife, Tippy (who also grew up in the pews of the Southside church in Macon), got to know the Sheehys during their time in Statesboro. Chad Lunsford recently became special teams coordinator for Auburn.

Sadly, the aging Church of Christ finds it difficult to attract students and families with young children. I know that’s a problem across the nation right now, but there’s just so much potential in Statesboro. The tourism bureau even dubbed it “A Place of Southern Possibility.” I’d love to see a young family commit to campus ministry here. Georgia is every bit a mission field.

This is the birthplace of 6,000 songs.

“Statesboro Blues” need not be the one we sing.

A weather-worn sign invites the people of Statesboro to worship with the Church of Christ.

ERIK TRYGGESTAD is President and CEO of The Christian Chronicle. Contact [email protected], and follow him on X @eriktryggestad.

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