“T.F. Tenney is An Enigma to His Own Generation.”

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“T.F. Tenney is An Enigma to His Own Generation.”

Personal Assistant T.J. Clayton—The ninetyandnine.com Interview

By Kent d Curry and Sarah K. Holland

T.J. Clayton grew up attending World Harvest Ministries of Charleston under Pastors W.L Clayton and Tom Clayton. Between the completion of his undergraduate degree in Philosophy and starting his Masters program, TJ moved to Alexandria to take part in the internship program there. While there, he was given the opportunity to serve for over a year as the personal assistant to Rev. Tom Fred Tenney. During that time T.J. wrote several articles for ninetyandnine, including The Quality Man, which may or may not have contributed to his relationship with fiance’ Victoria Hamernick! T.J. is now working on his Masters degree and intends to continue on through his Ph.D.

This interview took place throughout late June, 2007

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90&9: You spent two years as the assistant to Rev. Tom Fred Tenney. How’d you end up with that position? Was it in the classifieds?
TJC: Actually I worked for him for a little over a year. And I found the job on Monster.com Crazy huh? Yeah, because its not true.

Basically, he was in need of an administrative assistant. He told his secretary of 20+ years to find him one. Her office is at the Pentecostals of Alexandria where I was doing an internship. I had only spoken with her a couple of times in passing, but she liked me and asked me. I think it was my smile. Just kidding. Not sure really. She said she just observed me around the office and thought I’d be a good match for Bro. Tenney.

I worked part-time for a couple of months and then went on full-time for a year. The good thing about this job is you never actually stop working for him. I get calls every once in a while asking for my help with this or that. I love it.

90&9: What were your basic duties?
TJC: Well the biggest part of the job was traveling with Bro. Tenney. Wherever he went, I went. I want to say we hit about nine countries and only God knows how many U.S. cities last year. We went from Miami to Alaska, New York to California. I filled up a passport and became a platinum member with Continental, if that gives you any idea. My biggest job was to assist him in traveling and arrange transportation, meals, meetings, etc. Once that was done, I sold his products (books, CDs, DVDs, etc.).

90&9: Did you ever get vacation time off?
TJC: Ha ha. Sorry. Don’t take my laugh as a sarcastic one. I actually did get a week off where I was away from the Tenneys, but I missed them the whole week. My job was pretty much 24/7 for a year. We became family. It wasn’t as much of a job as it was a relationship.

90&9: Where specifically did you travel around the world?

TJC: Chile, Italy, India, Singapore, China, Philippines, Guam to name a few. We did a lot of training and equipping of pastors and regional leaders in the foreign countries. In Chile we did a conference for about 6,000-8,000 total. It was phenomenal. In India we visited with leaders and preached a service for about 100 Hindus. That was life changing.

90&9: How so?

TJC: Well, it really put the great commission and the gospel back into its proper perspective. I mean, these weren’t backslidden Pentecostals or people of other Christian denominations. These were Hindus. Most of them probably knew nothing about Jesus. So, we had to drop our Christianese language and clichés and really just make Jesus simple to understand, which He is. It was Jesus 101.

We couldn’t use terms like “anointing,” “move of God,” or “infilling of the Holy Ghost.” We just had to say, “Look, there was a God who made a perfect world. Some humans messed it up and God was sad. So God became this dude, just like us, but yet, he was God. He took care of the separation problem. Now he wants to have a relationship with you.”

We really made it that simple, and you should’ve seen the tears and weeping the Hindu people displayed at the end of the service. Unbelievable.

90&9: Any individual &/or spiritual highlights you’d like to share?

TJC: Bro. Tenney is a high-profile figure that crosses many categories within mainstream Christianity. I met a lot of very influential people, both within and without the UPCI.

I can’t comment on everything but I will share one of my favorite moments. One was while on vacation with the Tenneys. We had the chance to sit down and talk with Jim Bakker. Prior to this meeting I must admit I viewed Bakker as an embarrassment and a scar on the face of Christianity, and I think we are still feeling some of the ripple effects of his fall almost 15 years removed. But sitting there listening to this man and how broken and apologetic he was changed my mind. I don’t think I’ve ever felt a stronger presence of repentance than I did sitting there with Jim Bakker. I cried and smiled.

90&9: Any horror stories that you’re still trying to forget?
TJC: Ha ha. Sorry again for the laugh. I don’t think he’s even heard this story. First trip I ever made with him, I was selling his books after the Sunday morning service. This church didn’t have an evening service so I was hurrying to pack everything up. I had a friend at the local church helping me sell products. Well, I had his notebook and his Bible (which is like a first edition KJV with notes on every page) and I laid it down by the book table. In my hurry I left with everything to head to lunch, except his Bible. Long story short, my friend was trying to do me a favor and picked it up for me but I didn’t find out for a couple of hours. I don’t think I ate lunch that day :)

90&9: What makes Bro. Tenney special?
TJC: In a post-modern world where nothing is true and authority is non-existent at worse, individual at best, it is good to have anchors, reference points. I’m not afraid to admit that Bro. Tenney and I didn’t see eye-to-eye on every little issue, but even in our disagreements it was good to see someone who was so strong and stable in his beliefs.

But Bro. Tenney is even an enigma of his own generation. I’ve never met someone so balanced, flexible, and consistent. He could walk into a room of “old timers” or young people and relate to both crowds. I can’t say that of everyone from his generation.

90&9: What could our generation learn from Bro. Tenney’s generation?
TJC: Consistency and the value of hard work and persistence.

90&9: Why do they live those spiritual truths so well when we often don’t?
TJC: My personal opinion: convenience and the abundance of options in our society. The Tenneys came up in a world of inconvenience. You couldn’t get anything done by pushing a button. It took sweat and guts. Not that that makes it any better than just pushing a button. It just comes with its virtues that our one-minute-rice generation will never know. Someone once said, “Necessity is the mother of all inventions.” Necessity drove them to get out and get the job done. They didn’t have the options we have today. If we don’t like the way it’s done or the results it produces, we simply change careers, schools, spouses, haircuts, whatever.

I love the options we have, don’t get me wrong. I love them more than anyone, but they have produced a sense of apathy in our culture. We could go on and on about the virtues and vices of these attributes, but the important thing is to recognize the difference and the reason for it.

90&9: So what can we do to emulate them?

TJC: Here is what I believe is the issue. Since convenience and abundance of options leads to change and a lack of commitment, we have to strike a balance between change and commitment. We quote scriptures where God declares the fact that He doesn’t change and we use that to validate our unwillingness to change. But personally, I think God is saying, “I’m the only thing that doesn’t change. Everything else does.” So, change isn’t bad, but we have to decide what we will change and what we will not.

I believe we have to stay committed to what is eternal (God and Bible) and change on what is temporal (styles, methods, culture). Bro. Tenney’s generation was committed to eternal truths—the Godhead, Baptism in Jesus’ name, repentance, Holy Spirit Baptism. We need to be committed to passing those truths along, simply because they are eternal. But I do believe we can spread those truths through many methods, because methods are temporal.

90&9: Fairly or unfairly, Bro. Tenney can be a lightning rod. How did he handle the criticism and what did you learn from that?
TJC: Bro. Tenney isn’t a polarizing figure but he is a controversial one. So was Jesus, but not for what he said as much for who he associated himself with. But in the end, Rome nor the religious leaders could bring any charge upon his character.

Having lived with the Tenneys and grown intimately close to them, I can say the same of them. When he was criticized (and he often was) he handled it with such diplomacy and tact that he literally pulled the rug out from under those that opposed him. He wouldn’t stoop to their level and attack the person rather than attacking the issue. He loves people and is patient with people. This is probably the area of his life that influenced me the most.

90&9: Influenced you the most? What do you mean by that?

TJC: Bro. Tenny taught me to choose my battles wisely; that every fight just isn’t worth getting into. Not just that, but when you do choose your battle, fight with love and a servant’s heart.

Before working for the Tenneys I had a habit of trying to defend myself against every complaint brought against me. Since then, my ego has decreased and I no longer feel I need to defend myself all the time. And when I do defend myself, I find that I do it in a much more loving manner now.

90&9: Were you ever lumped in with him by those critics? How did you handle it?
TJC: Oooooooh yeah. I’m still facing that. But for every critic I gained from my tenure, God put a man or woman in my life that is just unbelievable. I’ve made some close, lasting mentoring relationships outside of the Tenneys. But yes, I have felt the force of working for a man who some view as liberal. The only thing that makes it worse is when they talk to me and find out that I think he’s kinda conservative. Ha ha.

Are you part of the Tenney family now?
TJC: Oh yeah. I try to call and/or e-mail about every other week. To me, they are not the Tenneys. They are Pawpaw and Mimi.

90&9: What are you doing now?
TJC: Eating Cheez-Its in my cubicle wishing I was back in NYC, or reading a book, enjoying a break from grad school.

90&9: Umm, I actually meant: what are you doing with your life now?

TJC: Ha ha. That would be sad if that was all, huh? I’m actually working full-time and going to grad school for my Ph.D. in Psychology, planning a wedding (Aug. 11), and buying my first house! That is really exciting! Other than that, nothing. Ha ha.

90&9: How did you know it was time to pursue your own dreams?
TJC: Bro. Tenney told me I could only work for him if I agreed to go back to grad school after a year. He stuck to his agreement even when I tried to talk him into letting me stay on for another year. Ha ha.

90&9: So had you put the grad school dreams on hold for his position and he knew about that..?

TJC: I only delayed grad school for a semester more than I planned. Yes, he did know about that.

90&9: What do you miss most of those days?
TJC: Our long conversations about theology and philosophy (with both of them). And…their hugs!

ninetyandnine.com

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Kent d Curry is an executive editor of ninetyandnine.com, a college and career speaker, and lifelong Bible Quiz geek. Sarah k. Holland is an associate editor with ninetyandnine.com and long time friend of T.J. Clayton.