Paul Seebeck brings sports to pulpit

Paul Seebeck, a sports broadcaster who has spent a lifetime chasing down quotes, takes sports seriously.

But he doesn’t consider Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander a living saint. And the Super Bowl, though it’s on a Sunday, is not the most sacred day of the year.

Sports are not Seebeck’s religion. Presbyterianism is.

Seebeck is the minister at Knox Presbyterian Church, 806 W. Knox Ave. He was hired as the full-time pastor in September after a succession of four full- or part-time pastors dating back to the Rev. Keith Beebe’s departure to Whitworth College in 2000.

The church was formed in 1888 and originally was named Centenary Presbyterian Church. It has been at Knox Avenue and Howard Street since 1917.

Seebeck, a 47-year-old husband and father of two, brings an ebullient style to the pulpit. Longtime member Dr. Tom Tiffany, one of nine elders, credits Seebeck for pumping new life into the neighborhood church that lists a membership of 145.

“I love talking to people,” said Seebeck, rattling off thoughts. “I love telling stories.”

Seebeck’s stories usually center around religion or sports, or both.

Even as a journalism student at Washington State University, Seebeck had the idea of becoming a preacher. His career in broadcasting began in 1984, when he was hired as a weekend sports reporter at KREM-TV.

By age 30, he and his wife, Patty, had moved to Miami, where Seebeck took a job as a television sports reporter. After two years covering the Miami Dolphins and University of Miami football team during its heyday, Seebeck became discontented when he was given a desk job at the station.

“It finally became clear to me television was not my God. I was wrestling with the idea of letting go with this piece of my career that I worked so hard for,” Seebeck said.

The pilgrimage led the Seebecks, both from Washington, and their two young children back to Spokane.

“It was like a wrestling match. … How was I going to figure out a way to combine faith and storytelling,” Seebeck said.

He became a lay pastor at East Valley Presbyterian Church and at the same time was hired as a part-time sports radio talk show host. Eventually Seebeck also hosted a weekend show called “Spirit of Sport.”

“I wanted to find out what makes people tick underneath the showmanship and all the great performances,” Seebeck said of the show.

His full pursuit in a career change came when Seebeck was accepted into Gonzaga University Graduate School’s theology program. He received his master’s degree in pastoral ministry and was ordained in October by the Presbytery of the Inland Northwest, which is part of the Presbyterian Church USA.

With special studies and the help of private tutors, Seebeck become the first ordained Presbyterian pastor to graduate from the Jesuit university.

His passion for sports has never been far from his private life or his church sermons.

He’s part of Eastern Washington University football’s broadcast team as a sideline reporter, traveling with the team in the fall. Some road trips, such as the Eagles’ season-ending playoff loss to Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, serve as inspirational fodder for Sunday morning sermons.

Eight days after the defeat, Seebeck told his congregation the story of Eastern coach Paul Wulff and his players, all crestfallen after the game’s outcome.

“As I heard coach Wulff’s reaction to the comfort and tenderness I saw displayed as Eastern walked off the field, after a devastating loss, I thought of this image of God in Isaiah tenderly gathering the lambs in his arms, gently leading them to the mother sheep.”

It’s all in a day’s work for the Rev. Seebeck.