When Pastor Casey Chapman first saw Ulysses on Google Maps, he saw brown.
“I ain’t going out there.”
It was quite a change from Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania, about an hour north of Pittsburgh, where he grew up on five acres, half covered in trees.
When Chapman began looking for somewhere to go, Southwest Kansas was not at the top of his list.
“I was looking for something an hour away from the beach,” he said. “Georgia, the Carolinas, Florida.”
Instead, a friend, Dr. Grace, connected him with an opportunity in Ulysses through Disciple Heritage Fellowship. Chapman came for an interview and discovered that the brown place on the map looked different in person.
“I was just in love with the place,” he said.
After what he describes as answering God’s call, Chapman has now lived in Southwest Kansas for about three and a half years. His parents, who followed their only child west, have been here for just over a year.
Moving from Pennsylvania to Ulysses required some adjustment.
“This was just laid-back and slower,” he said, describing the town as having a “pre-9/11” feel. He admitted he had to mellow out after moving from Pennsylvania.
Even his office contains a reminder of the beach he once wanted. After Chapman joked that he had originally wanted a palm tree outside his window, members of his congregation gave him one.
They told him, “When it dies, I can leave.”
The palm tree is fake.
Chapman, therefore, appears to be staying.
The church Chapman pastors was formerly affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) but is now non-denominational. He describes it as a traditional, Bible-believing church walking alongside the Disciple Heritage Fellowship movement.
Chapman describes his preaching style as partly Southern Baptist and himself as “half Pentecostal,” although the church belongs to neither denomination.
Around 65 to 70 people attend Sunday services. Chapman said he “likes the idea of being under 200 people” because he can know what is happening in members’ lives.
He keeps a list of church members and regularly prays through it. Church elders are assigned sections to help ensure no one is forgotten.
This personal attention extends to pastoral counseling, where marriage, children, grief, and major decisions are among the subjects discussed.
“Sometimes when people come to me, I’m their comforter,” he said.
At other times, he may be an “encourager, counselor, judge, advocate, mediator, arbitrator.”
Chapman estimates that preparing a sermon takes about 12 hours. He keeps a sermon calendar roughly two months ahead, although plans often change. When he gets stuck, he writes down 10 ideas, “no matter how bad or good they are.”
He also listens to preachers such as Alistair Begg and said he sometimes hears Scripture in Begg’s voice while reading it.
Chapman’s theology includes modern prophecy, speaking in tongues, miraculous healing and a generally literal reading of Scripture. He said he has personally witnessed healings and prophecies that later came to pass.
Those beliefs do not mean he agrees with every pastor in town.
“We don’t all agree on end times,” he said.
Through the Ulysses Ministerial Alliance, however, local pastors find common ground in what Chapman calls the foundational principles of Christianity and the identity of Christ. The pastors meet weekly at the Creek, and Chapman currently serves as president.
They also spend time together outside meetings, including game nights and disc golf.
They even joke about members moving between churches.
“One of your sheep is feeding in my pasture,” Chapman might tell another pastor.
“But we’re not out to steal sheep,” he said.
Chapman understands that people connect with different personalities and preaching styles. Someone who struggles to understand one pastor might be “better fed” by another.
Although he does not believe institutional church membership itself is necessary for salvation, Chapman believes Christians should gather together.
“I want to hear the baby cry in the sanctuary,” he said.
A crying baby, he explained, is not an interruption. It is “the next generation coming up.”
As someone in that next generation, I asked Chapman several questions about Christianity, faith, and the difficult issues people may encounter.
If someone were born into a family practicing an entirely different religion, how would that person know Christianity was true?
Chapman said people should seek truth rather than simply accepting whatever beliefs they inherited.
“If they are seeking truth,” he said, they might pray, “‘Lord, I just don’t know. Is it the Bible? Is it the Quran?’”
He believes a sincere seeker can ask God directly to reveal Himself.
Chapman points to his own experiences with prayer, healing and prophecy, as well as the Bible and what he considers historical and archaeological evidence.
But he does not expect people to accept his claims simply because he is a pastor.
“Never take my word for it,” he said. “I want you to look in the Bible and test my word.”
His advice is to “keep seeking, keep searching, keep knocking, keep asking.”
Chapman does not believe belonging to a church institution or entering a church building is what saves someone. For him, salvation rests on a relationship with Jesus Christ.
At the same time, he believes Christians should regularly gather with one another, pointing to Hebrews 10:25.
Work, illness, and family responsibilities can prevent attendance, he said. Missing church occasionally is different from abandoning Christian fellowship altogether.
Chapman believes that the church provides worship, encouragement, accountability, and opportunities to learn from other believers.
Chapman distinguishes between what he calls the first and second deaths.
“We all have to go through this first death,” he said, referring to physical death.
The “second death,” in his understanding, is separation from God. He believes Jesus’ death on the cross offers eternal life with God.
Chapman also does not believe in eternal security, or the idea that someone who has been saved can never turn away.
“Nothing can take your faith from you,” he said. “But you can walk away from your faith.”
He connects that possibility to free will, saying people may turn away after experiencing suffering or prayers that appear unanswered.
“God has not forced anyone to worship him,” he said.
“God hears us instantly,” Chapman said. “His responses sometimes take time.”
He cited free will and what he describes as spiritual warfare as possible reasons for delayed answers, referring to Daniel 10, where Daniel waits 21 days for an answer to prayer.
But, "sometimes God’s answer is no.”
Chapman believes a refusal may protect someone from consequences they cannot see or reflect that what they are asking for is not what God intends.
Not necessarily, Chapman said. Historically, many Christians did not own Bibles or could not read, so daily Bible reading cannot itself determine salvation.
Still, he strongly encourages regular Scripture reading. Christians, he said, should know what their faith teaches rather than relying entirely on a pastor.
For someone intimidated by the Bible, he recommends starting with the Gospel of John.
“Don’t put your Bible down,” he said, “even if it’s just a couple verses.”
Questions do not bother Chapman.
“I don’t have all the answers, and that’s a good thing,” he said.
He expects his own understanding to continue developing.
“I will constantly be learning until I’m dead.”
For Chapman, faith does not require someone to stop asking difficult questions. It requires continuing to search honestly.
When I asked Chapman what advice he would give someone beginning to explore Christianity, he returned to the same message:
“Keep seeking, keep searching, keep knocking, keep asking.”
He recommends beginning with the Gospel of John and continuing to read Scripture, even if only a few verses at a time.
But his advice ultimately goes beyond reading and theology.
“First, love the Lord, my God, with all my heart, soul and mind,” he said. “I’m gonna attend his church. I’m gonna worship him with the body. I’m gonna pray, and I’m gonna read his word and talk to him.”
From there, he said, faith should shape how a person treats others.
“I’m gonna love my neighbor as myself. I’m going to live humbly, not thinking too great of myself. I’m also going to try to live at peace with everyone around me.”
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