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By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Hoss Ridgeway flashed a mischievous smile as he stepped onstage at a Christian youth conference.
An urgent tone to his voice, the 6-foot-4 speaker with bright red shoes and a jacket featuring a Buc-ee’s logo (IYKYK) asked the teens to take out their Bibles.
“I’m kidding,” he added with a chuckle. “I’m doing comedy. Let’s have fun. How about that?”
The Friday night crowd of 250 students and adult sponsors cheered to show its approval.
Ridgeway, a 51-year-old preacher and stand-up comedian, flew to Flagstaff last week from his home state of Indiana.
He traveled 1,600 miles to provide entertainment at a regional event called Winterfest Way Out West, which mixes praise and worship with plenty of time for laughter.
“When I left Indianapolis this morning, it was 9 degrees,” Ridgeway told the audience of church youth groups, mainly from Arizona, California and New Mexico. “And I’m thinking, ‘Thank you, Lord, for sending me to Arizona in the desert.’”
He paused just briefly as giggles echoed through the hotel ballroom in this mountain community, 150 miles north of Phoenix.
This column appears in the online magazine Religion Unplugged.
Photo provided by Hoss Ridgeway
Faith. Family. Fastballs. 