“Billy Watson, my mentor, was the general manager for the Ford dealership in Lebanon,” Shutts, a 1997 graduate of Lebanon High School, said. “I met him in the lobby of my church, and it developed into a relationship of teaching and mentoring.”
Watson, who is 30 years Shutts’ senior, was immediately drawn to the teen, who said he didn’t have a strong father influence growing up.
“Billy took me under his wing, teaching me all about ministry,” Shutts said. “I gave my heart to the Lord at the age of 15 but didn’t really have many role models in my family, except my grandmother.”
Shutts calls his grandmother, Mary Shutts, the “first and best Christian I have ever known,” and said she was the pillar of faith for his family.
“I was fascinated by preaching and teaching the Bible,” Shutts said.
Watson hired Shutts to work at the then Charlie Watson Ford in Lebanon after he returned from bible college with a diploma in pastoral studies. He and his high school sweetheart, Holly, got married and started their family.
“The Ford dealer was family owned and faith friendly and I liked the car business,” Shutts said.
Eventually Shutts went on to get his undergraduate degree in biblical leadership and a master’s degree in biblical studies. His goal was to eventually become a pastor of his own church.
Meanwhile Watson was always with him, helping him find his path and sharing his own life experiences. Shutts said he recognized that a lot of young men didn’t have the resources that he had and that stayed with him.
Shutts and Holly have two children, daughter Cadynn, who is now 21 and son Carson, now 20. Holly went to beauty college in 2002 and started working in salons and today, she owns her own salon business in Waynesville.
“We were in a small group fellowship, and it became clear that everyone in the group wanted to stay together,” Shutts said. “There were 25 of us and together we birthed New Freedom Church.”
Shutts said the new church was totally a grass roots effort. The small group was meeting weekly, and the numbers were growing so in 2006, the group became a more formalized, non-denominational church, meeting in a rented space in Waynesville.
“We moved the church to Lebanon in 2006,” Shutts said. “After a year we had an opportunity to buy an old vacant historic church there and we stayed there for eight years.”
In 2015, the members of New Freedom Church learned of an opportunity to purchase a building on Miller Road in Lebanon. Though it was mostly turnkey, it needed some updates, so Shutts and his congregation began renovations. It took three years to bring everything up to date.
“Last year we did a full renovation of the exterior and now we have a 30,000 square foot building on 15 acres,” Shutts said.
Now with a growing congregation of about 300, Shutts embarked on a project designed to share not only his story but also the story of how mentorship can transform lives.
“I saw this need in everyone, not just men, because we all have been given a hand up by someone in our lives,” Shutts said. “I wanted to put my experience on paper.”
Through his biblical studies, Shutts already knew that mentoring stories are found throughout the scriptures. He found many biblical models of mentoring, including one of the most powerful relationships between Barnabas and the Apostle Paul.
“Barnabas opened the door to Paul and gave him a chance,” Shutts said. “And my mentor Billy gave me that same chance.”
Shutts’ book, “The Barnabas Principle,” tells the story of one of the lesser-known apostles in the new testament who partnered with Paul, who is arguably the most well-known. Shutts uses this relationship as a framework for his book and weaves in personal examples of mentorship and how it works in practical, real-life ways.
“The summation is that one relationship can change your destiny,” Shutts said. “I ask the question in the book ‘who has opened the door for you?’”
Shutts believes mentorship is vital to individuals becoming who they are meant to be, calling good mentors a “shortcut to learning.” Mentors can offer advice and wisdom on many things, but one of the most important is how to discern right from wrong.
“I don’t know if I would have had the confidence to enter the ministry without Billy,” Shutts said. “He encouraged me when I didn’t have the confidence and taught me not every door is one we should walk through.”
For more information, log on to TheBarnabasprinciple.com
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