This past week, my wife and I accepted my sister's invitation to attend a Chonda Pierce comedy event at North Heights Lutheran Church. The concert was filled with bits of laughter as she shared openly with her audience her pain. In my life, I've personally known many comedians. They bring laughter at times we're unable to laugh. Most comedians, I've found, were able to take the darkness that lurks within and turn it into a spring of joy and infestive delight. Chonda Pierce was one such person.
Born Chonda Ruth Courtney on the 4th of March 1960 in Covington, Kentucky, in the United States of America, Chonda Pierce is a contemporary gospel stand-up comedian, television host, author, and actress. She is the third of four children – one boy and three girls. Pierce spent most of her early life in Georgetown, South Carolina, living in Myrtle Beach. When she was 15, her family moved to Ashland City, Tennessee, near Nashville.
Her father, a pastor, was a very abusive man. Her two sisters died before she turned 18: the older, Charlotta Kay, died in a car crash at the age of 20 while the younger, Cheralyn Ann, died of leukemia at 15 years old. Chonda had a traumatic childhood, to say the least.
She attended Trevecca Nazarene University, Nashville for her college, and later got a transfer to Austin Peay State University. She majored in theatre art; having the hope of one day becoming an actress.
On August 13, 2016, Chonda Pierce released the documentary of her life titled ‘Laughing In The Dark and Enough’. It chronicled the loss of her mother, the estrangement of her daughter, the death of her husband, and her struggle with clinical depression. She made the film hoping it would serve as a vehicle to inspire others who may be hitting points of darkness and depression in their lives. The documentary received five Daytime Emmy nominations and won the award for Best Documentary at the 2016 Park City International Film Festival.
She is also the winner of the Gospel Music Association’s Grady Nutt Humor Award and RIAA’s most-awarded female comic in history. Pierce turned her gift of storytelling into a successful comedic career, selling more comedy albums than any other female comedian. She has also authored eight books.
Beyond her works in the business of comedy, Pierce has used her success to help others. In 2006, she founded Branches Recovery Center, offering counseling and treatment to those with depression, anxiety, and addiction problems, regardless of their ability to pay. She has also raised several million dollars for international relief organizations like Compassion International, WorldVision, Food for the Hungry, and Feed The Children.
Chonda Pierce has two children: Chera Pierce Meredith (a daughter born on February 13, 1984) and David Zachary Pierce (her son, born on September 6, 1989.) Her daughter was named after her late sisters. Together with her husband, they were a family of four.
Chera began to resent her parents for reasons that are best known to her. However, it is said that her bitterness with her parents, especially her mom, has to do with Chonda’s extreme focus on her career at the expense of the family. Eventually, Chera got married, had kids, and cut off all contact with her parents and family.
Chonda and her husband, David W. Pierce met for the first time in his sophomore at Cheatham County High School, Ashland City, Tennessee. David was a handsome young lad who was a state champ wrestler; he equally played the guitar. Though he and Chonda started out as friends, their friendship metamorphosed into a full-blown romance over time. As at that time, David was caring for his divorced father who was a chronic alcoholic known as the Ashland City drunkard.
Shortly after college, Chonda and David got married in 1984 in Ashland City, with David working as an English professor at Middle Tennessee State University and Chonda pursuing her career in church comedy. With the loss of their daughter due to family negligence and misplaced parenting, David found solace in alcohol and things got messier for Chonda Pierce.
In 2011, she took David for treatment at Cumberland Heights where he spent 30 days. On his return, the pair celebrated with a dinner. However, it wasn’t long before David’s drinking habit resumed. Chonda took him right back to rehab for further treatment. This time, a men’s rehab in Burns, Tenn.
In the middle of the crisis, Chonda Pierce lost her mother and her relationship with her estranged daughter grew worse.
Sadly, David never managed to overcome his alcoholism, he frequented rehab and counseling outlets until he had a stroke in 2013. Thereafter, he was sustained by life support for more than a year, the doctors were left with no option but to pull the plug on him in 2014. He passed on an hour later with Chonda Pierce watching on.
Through it all, Chonda Pierce has kept on trusting her Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. It wasn't the journey she anticipated ever being on, but it was a journey God is using to help others recover from the dark periods of the soul. Her message is much needed during this pandemic where deep isolation and separateness prevails.
If you are someone who is suffering dark moments of hopelessness and despair, you can the hope Chondra has simply by praying this prayer of salvation.
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior.
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