Cullman Stands Up: Group shares plans for Oct. 22 event

Organizers for the “Cullman Stands Up” event scheduled to take place Oct. 22 at Depot Park say that while an initial description of the event as one intended to raise awareness against the dangers of social media were not inaccurate, they did not fully communicate the overarching theme — which is one of encouraging the community to stand for the righteousness of God.

Co-organizer of the event, Trent Dean, said that plans were still being developed when organizer Anita Smith approached the Cullman City Council on Oct. 3, requesting a special event permit.

“She kind of had the initial idea and I think she was understandably just really excited and got a little bit ahead of us,” he said.

Dean said that he and Smith, along with co-organizers Matt Williams and Mike Waters, began discussing the event on Oct. 8, as the LGBT-friendly “Cullman Comes Out” event was taking place. Dean said that his intention was to not directly respond to any past events, but that they did serve as a catalyst encouraging them to act.

“I wouldn’t say that our event is directly in response to that or anything, but we do want to encourage training our moral compass to be in line with the word of God. So, I mean, we definitely think that homosexuality is a sin and transgenderism is a sin, but this isn’t about sharing any kind of hate or anything like that. This is really just more about sharing the truth publicly in a loving and caring way,” Dean said.

Dean said that unless one of the event’s speakers discussed it, there would be no mention of any previous events held at the site.

While all four co-organizers share ties with Baldwin Church of Christ — Williams serves as a deacon, Waters serves as both a deacon and evangelist, Smith’s husband, Jack, is one of the church’s elders and Dean attends and teaches Bible classes on occasion — Dean made known that the church’s elders do not consider this a sanctioned event affiliated with the church, and that the scope of the event extends beyond that one buildings boundaries.

Five speakers are scheduled — not all of which have confirmed — with Jeff Warnke leading those in attendance in a song in between each message. Former Cullman County School Board Superintendent Hank Allen will discuss the community, his son, Devin Allen, will discuss families, Gary Hollingsworth will discuss the strength to do God’s will, 4th Street Church of Christ Pastor Billy Randolph will discuss love and compassion, and Waters is set to be the final speaker, delivering a message of maintaining the word of God in the wake of “social movements.”

Dean said that he considers it a difficult thing when discussing the topic of sin, when recalling his own shortcomings and said that Romans 5:1-2 serve as an important reminder to him when inviting others to attend.

“We would like to encourage people to come and bring their lawn chairs and enjoy the Christian fellowship and remind our Christian brethren that ‘having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through him, we’ve obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God,’” he said.

This story was updated on Oct. 18, 2022, to correct that Jeff Warnke will appear independently at the event, Cullman Stands Up, and not in his capacity as a member of the Cullman Police Department. Cullman Police Department is not affiliated with Cullman Stands Up.