Ray Russell’s
Spiritual Forecast Ray Russell
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any people across the mountains and foothills of Northwest North Carolina are familiar with Ray’sWeather.com because it’s where hundreds of thousands of us turn to get our weather forecasts with the most “local” flavor. And, if you’re one of those who goes to Ray’s Weather site to get your weather information, you probably know that what began as a hobby for Ray Russell, a computer science professor at Appalachian State University since 1991, has morphed into a very successful business that covers the weather across our region with 60 weather stations in all and 10 employees. But, what you don’t know is that Ray’s 35 year career as a computer science professor was almost set aside when he came home from college in his freshman year and announced to his parents that he was switching his major from computer science to Bible. It was 1975 when Ray made the decision to attend Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tennessee, with the idea of majoring in computer science. Several things influenced him to choose this path. The school, at that time, was affiliated with the Church of Christ, which had played a significant and meaningful role in Ray’s family. His dad was an educator in Middle Tennessee as a school teacher and principal, but he also was the minister at the local Church of Christ where Ray was raised. When Ray was considering where he would attend college, he had an interest in computer science because he was good at math and he knew his employment prospects would be good with a degree in an up and coming field like that. Since Freed-Hardeman was one of the few schools that offered a degree in computer science, that’s where Ray landed. Every student at Ray’s new school was required to take a class in Bible and also attend daily chapel services. The class that influenced Ray to want to change his major was entitled: “Life of Christ: A Study of the Gospels,” and it was taught by a renowned Church of Christ leader
named Rubel Shelly. After being so impressed and so convinced by the things he was learning there, Ray came home from college one weekend and made this announcement: “Mom, Dad, I’m not going to major in computer science anymore, I’m going to major in Bible!” Rather than disagree about this, his parents made this wise suggestion: “Son, since we’re paying for your education we’d like for you to stay with your major, but maybe you could do both.” “That’s when I became the only person in history to have a double major in Bible and Computer Science,” Ray said. Majoring in Bible and then being very involved in leadership roles in the Church over the last 35 years is a major part of Ray’s life that only those closest to him know about. However, it’s one he’s happy to reveal, because it’s foundational to everything else he does, including Ray’sWeather.com. As we continue with this story, most of it will be told exactly as he told it to this writer. However, I must admit that I have embellished it a bit, but I’ve done so with Ray’s complete approval and collaboration. “I’ve never wanted to be overt about my faith through the weather site that I started, because that’s not what it’s about. It’s about getting a professional, accurate, local forecast of the weather. But, I have wanted the site to be a wholesome, positive experience for people to start their day with, and I think we’ve succeeded in doing that. And now I’m happy to be able to share about the importance of my faith through this publication. I say this because I want people to know things about me beyond the website, and beyond my career as a computer science professor.” So, now we get to hear the rest of Ray’s story about his life as an elder, deacon, minister, song director, wedding singer and guest Sunday School teacher here in the High Country. As this story unfolds and as the reader considers his insightful comments about the state of Christianity in our nation, I believe you’ll pick up on some spiritual forecasting that’s important to heed.
I am having a crisis, but it’s not a crisis of my personal faith in Christ, it’s a crisis of faith in current practices of many churches.
“There was a church in Luray, Tennessee called Luray Church of
