Serving the City Across Vocations: An Interview with Chris Sands

My name is Chris Sands and I was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I went to college at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville. I have an undergraduate degree in Physical Education and a Master of Arts in Ethics and Leadership from Johnson University. I love people, I have a passion for seeing our community thrive, and I love God, His church, Jesus Christ, and seeing things from a Christian perspective in the workplace. I’ve been married now for three years to my wife and I have nieces and nephews that I’m raising, too, which I’m excited about. I moved back to Chattanooga in 2016 and have served in ministry here working for a local church and preaching full time as well as working for the city.

Faith Co-Op: Tell us a bit about what you do for work.

Chris: I work for the City of Chattanooga for Mayor Kelly out of the Office of Community Health. I serve as the Executive Director of Community Safety and Gun Violence Prevention. We have a primary focus for ages 14 to 24 as it pertains to the violence going on in our city. With my background, being a teacher, and working with different youth, it made sense. I’ve been able to oversee the 423 Chainbreakers, which is a new group doing boots-on-the-ground work to connect directly with young Chattanoogans to build relationships and steer them away from violence and criminal activity. We go into the schools, mentor kids who are thinking about gangs or already in gangs, and help direct them in a different path. Intervention and prevention are the two primary focuses of the initiative. We’ve been together for almost three years now.

FC: What has your transition been like from full-time ministry to full-time government work?

Chris: Prior to my current role, I was an executive pastor at a church here in town, and in a lot of ways it’s the same there as it is here in government. People don’t realize that, but in both places I’m working with people and I’m kingdom-minded. There are similar challenges in shepherding both communities. Sheep are sheep no matter where they are, and they need love. I feel like ministry has groomed me to work at the level in which I’m working now dealing with different types of people, attitudes, families, and politics. And politics exist in the church, too. So, I’ve been learning how to navigate the two worlds. I’m doing a whole lot of listening to people in my current role and really thinking through how we can be solution-oriented in making sure that we impact what’s going on in the community. It’s all about getting everybody as much as I possibly can on the same page and on board with what’s going on.

FC: What are some biblical principles that guide you in your work now as you make decisions and shepherd people in your role?

Chris: Proverbs 3:5- 6 is my favorite scripture:

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all of your ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.

I try to read those verses and pray them when I have tough seasons, or when I’m dealing with tough people, or when I need wisdom on what to do, what to say, and how to move. I literally pray that prayer. I need wisdom on how to stand up and create an atmosphere that’s conducive for the people who serve underneath me and for the communities in which we serve. I’m a listener. So I listen and then ask, “How can I provide solutions to what we need to do from this point on?”

FC: What does seeking the Lord as your wisdom practically look like?

Chris: A few things. 1) Through listening, what kind of ideas or ambitions can we come up with to create something to help with what’s going on in our communities? For example, we were having a large problem with young people getting in trouble on Sundays from 6 to 8 PM. So from listening to different people, both in politics and in the streets, I realized we needed to provide a safe space for these young people and their families. Because when we started talking to some of the kids who were considered perpetrators and things of that nature, these young people said, “We are hungry. We have nothing to do.” So when I heard that, and as I was thinking through the Proverbs verse, I asked the Lord to give me wisdom and an idea popped up in my head. And that’s when our office was started and we began to really get involved. Since then we’ve been able to touch a lot of young people and build some relationships where we’re starting to see changes with some people who are now drastically changing their behavior.

Wisdom also looks like 2) Servant Leadership. A lot of times I’m not trying to stay in the office, but I want to be boots on the ground. It’s in my heart and my nature to be amongst the people and do what needs to be done as much as I possibly can.

FC: How has your view of work changed with this job transition?

Chris: I would say my perspective has shifted as it pertains to what the needs are. My primary focus now is figuring out how we can serve people from every background. Violence is in every place and space and we can’t fully stop crime and violence. It goes back to even biblical times with Cain and Abel. It’s been throughout our history and our time. But when we start building relationships and start talking to people, we can better understand their needs and offer them what’s going to help. Then we can ask them to step away from violence and offer something else to put into their hands to help change their life and move away from violence. Some of the people who have been in gangs or sold drugs have been doing this to take care of their families. So my perspective is now, “Okay, knowing this, how can we help? How can we get faith leaders involved? How can we get city council or how can we get both the city and the county involved in what’s going on?” And those who really have a heart to see a change really do help. So my perspective has shifted to recognizing it’s going to take all of us to reach all of us.

FC: What are ways that you would encourage people to participate in civic engagement and get involved in what’s happening in Chattanooga?

Chris: Become uncomfortable. Step outside of your circle. Step outside of your norm and go and have a conversation or sit with some people that you normally wouldn’t sit with. See how you can put yourself in their shoes. For example, I still preach and speak on the weekends as an Evangelist, and there are certain contexts where I’ve been able to build relationships with different congregations and parishes that don’t look like me. And we’ve had some tough conversations and have become uncomfortable. But some of these people are some of my really good friends. We’ve been able to start building relationships and community because when we challenged each other, we both became uncomfortable, but realized that it is bigger than us. And if we’re going to be One Chattanooga, and if we’re going to do what needs to be done for the people of this city, then we’re going to have to become uncomfortable in doing that in our approach. 

FC: When we talk about civic engagement, most people immediately think about participating in elections and voting. What are some other practical ways of participating?

Chris: Through my office, we created something for young people/families to do throughout the week. There’s something every day to get involved with:

• On Mondays we have Real Talk Monday where young people come to express themselves as far as some of the issues that they’ve been facing at home, at school, in the streets, and making better decisions and things of that nature. We love to have people come and listen to that on Mondays.
• On Tuesdays we have Taco Tuesdays in the West Side where we go to the community centers in the West Side and feed the young people and listen to them. We would love to have people come to serve meals and listen to what’s going on, without judgment, and to hear from a clear perspective what these people are facing. 
• On Wednesdays, we’re in the Bayberry area, what we call the Old Woodlawn Housing Project. And we feed people out there in the projects. That’s the most violent part of our city, so it has helped reduce some of the violence because people have been feeling loved, valued, and cherished. And they don’t care about what you look like. You can be black, white, Hispanic, polka dot, or purple. What they care about is consistency.
• On Thursdays we have basketball nights. 
• And on Fridays we’ve been going down and working at Nightfall every Friday

Another way to participate is through ministries. Figure out different ways that you can serve schools. Figure out ways that you can find and help the people who are actually doing the work in the community. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, but also don’t be afraid of the answers that you will receive from the questions that you ask. Because it’s going to be uncomfortable. It’s not going to always feel good. But it is good to ask and engage.

FC: Is there something particularly exciting right now that you’re working that you want to share?

Chris: We have a violence conference coming up that’s going to take place at Chattanooga State on August the 6th and I’m excited about that because we’re in the process of bridging the gap with the city and the county to talk about and tackle different ways that we can look at violence.

I’m excited about the mental health meetings and conferences that we’ve been having to really get down to some of the root causes of why people think the way they do, why anxiety and stress have been at an all-time high, and really figuring out how can we walk through these corridors with people and help them become who God has called for them to be.

And I also have a podcast. I would love for people to come talk. It’s called Lighthouse Radio on Groove 93.5 and we talk about different issues and topics. I would love to have different people come hear what the community is saying and actually get involved in the conversation.

FC: What words of wisdom or encouragement would you give to people who are trying to figure out what it looks like to be faithful in their work and as a citizen of Chattanooga?

Chris: This is what I encourage people with in their jobs: Think of Daniel and Joseph, men of faith working in government who served a secular king. They were able to give wisdom and be in leadership because of their consistency, yet they never wavered in their faith. I believe that the world is looking for people to not waver in their faith, to make a stand and say I want to live for Christ no matter what section of work that I’m in. I think that’s what’s missing now, and I want to encourage people with this – Don’t give up on what you believe in your heart is right and what God is calling you to do. Because somebody is always watching and it might be that one time on that one day that our consistency will be what someone needs to say “What must I do to be saved?” I really believe that. 

Don’t be afraid to try. Even if you fall on your face, you are still moving forward. If we believe in building bridges and mending relationships, we’re going to have to try. And it’s going to look like we’re failing sometimes. But when it looks like it’s failing, that might be how God is telling us it’s all coming together. Romans 8: 28 says “And we know that all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose”. So it may not look good, but it is good. And it’s working for our good.