We’re CSPC members Patrick & Kelly Moody, and this is how we’re living deeply.
Patrick: “When we arrived in Knoxville in 2022, Kelly was six months pregnant, and we had two young boys, Pierce and Dean. After moving so much for my medical training, we wanted something stable. At our last training stop in Canada, things were still fairly shut down from COVID, making church and youth sports tough to access. When we moved to Knoxville, our oldest was turning six and really ready for sports. Some friends pointed us to the CSPC soccer league. Our first practice was a little intimidating. We saw groups of parents chatting like they’d known each other for years, and we sat to the side, feeling very new. But soon, they started reaching out, inviting us into conversations, connecting with our extended family who came to watch games, and encouraging Pierce. That was such a special team to us, and we really started looking forward to fall Saturday mornings and our time on the sidelines. Pierce and Dean have both ended up playing soccer at CSPC and loved it! Our littlest enjoys the concession stand for now, but we know he’ll be out there in a few years. For them, it has been something fun, something steady. For us, it was a gentle doorway into a new community of faith.”
Kelly: “The people who suggested CSPC’s soccer league to us called it ‘the sweetest soccer league.’ I still think that’s true! Our whole family felt welcomed, but not in an overwhelming way. The practices and games were short bursts of connection, which gave us time to feel out this new community at our own pace. After the first season, we felt this pull to keep coming back. We visited CSPC here and there, but it was hard to commit, especially with our newborn, Luke, now added to the family. But when the next soccer season rolled around, it felt like a homecoming. Patrick and I agreed: We belonged here. Finding CSPC felt like a gift. Growing up, faith felt a bit more like a checklist- a transactional thing. CSPC showed me something different: a faith that’s woven into everyday life, not just a Sunday routine.”
Kelly: “I remember listening to Pastor James talk about the three ways to be involved: worship, fellowship, and service. There I was, an exhausted mom of three, trying to juggle it all, thinking, ‘I can’t do all of this!’ But then he said, ‘If all you can do is show up and listen for now, that’s enough.’ That was such a balm to my soul. I thought, ‘Oh, I can do that. I can be present and model that to my boys.’ We agreed to a plan that felt manageable – first year worship, second year fellowship, third year service. So that first year, that’s all we did. We focused on worship, got the boys comfortable in Sunday school, and let that be our starting point. It felt freeing- accepting our pace really allowed us to love worship each week, instead of feeling like we were falling short. We are in our second year, and we joined a community group this fall. It has been the perfect timing. Just like we needed that second soccer season exposure to take the membership leap, this second year has encouraged us to be more vulnerable with friends we love.”
Patrick: “The way CSPC opens its doors is wonderful. Sports were a big part of Kelly’s and my childhood, so looking back it is fitting that it opened CSPC’s doors for our family. Watching the boys get excited, seeing their eyes light up with curiosity- it’s a reminder of how faith can start small and grow big. Dean routinely asks things like, ‘Who came first, dinosaurs or Adam and Eve?’ and Pierce memorized his first Bible verse in summer soccer camp. We are thankful to the Sports Ministry for starting our journey here. God is using this community to teach us how to live out our faith. We are learning it’s not just a piece of our lives; it’s the foundation.”