From science and rationalism, to faith in Jesus: meet Hope 103.2's newest on-air talent, Chris Jolly.
Hope 103.2 has a new voice on-air, Chris Jolly, who brings with him a mixed background in science, IT, and commercial radio.
What’s most remarkable about Chris is his journey to faith in Jesus: a quite recent adventure that he embarked on together with his wife, Vanessa. He spoke to Hope 103.2’s Joni Boyd about his spiritual journey.
A Non-Religious Upbringing
“I grew up near Mascot airport in a non-religious home; not going to church nor a Christian school, although we had scripture at school once a week,” Chris said.
“My parents were nominally Christian, but religion was neither discouraged nor encouraged. However, I’ve always had an interest in spirituality.
“In high school, I decided to get into radio but did the ‘responsible’ thing and studied science at uni. I did chemistry, mathematics and philosophy which included a bit of philosophical religion. Many of the lecturers were secular and really pushed against faith and belief.
"Then I did IT for 15 years – tech support, trouble shooting, repairing computers – that sort of thing.
“When I was 30, I wasn’t getting any satisfaction from the so-called ‘smart’ things, and thought I should do the thing I’d wanted to since I was a kid. I went into community radio at 2RRR in Ryde, and when I was about to be made redundant from IT, decided to study at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.
“In 2020, aged 40, I landed my first job in commercial radio at 2TM Tamworth, then after a couple of years moved to MAX 107.3 Taree.”
"The More I Read, The More it Felt Real"
“Vanessa and I both come from a science background and one night at dinner last October we got into this odd conversation.
"Vanessa said she’d been listening to some Christian Podcasts and asked if I’d drive her to church on Sunday. I said I’d come too because I’d also been listening to Christian media and Podcasts. I’d searched online and began reading the Bible, because I’d always meant to.
“I thought, ‘if I’m going to have any voice on this – for or against – I should actually read it with an open heart and spirit’. The more I read, the more it felt real – it was like ‘knowing’ this is true.
“I was watching The Chosen while reading the Gospels so that really solidified my love for Jesus.
“Vanessa decided to go to Taree Presbyterian church. We’d never been to a church before, and we loved it. In less than a year, we’ve gone from being these very secular, scientific, rationalist types to having a faith, learning more about the Bible and loving Jesus.”
A New Career in Christian Radio
“We were married and baptised recently, and now coming to Hope – well, I’ve loved radio since I was a teenager, so I’ll get to combine that with the truth I’ve found in Jesus.
"Vanessa said, ‘If you wrote this as a movie script it’d seem a bit unreal – how it’s all come together like that’, but that’s been the journey so far.
“For me, one of the big things about working in commercial radio was not being true to myself. Lots of the people were nice but some were anti-Christian. I think much of it was misguided because Vanessa and I had a lot of misconceptions before going to church. Everyone told us it wasn’t true and ‘here are all the reasons you shouldn’t believe’. None of [those things] happened; Christian community is really beautiful.
Seeking to Glorify God
“One podcast I’m listening to says you should seek every day to glorify God in whatever you’re doing. I’ve tried to do that in my secular job but there’s even more chance to do that in Christian media.
“So, I’m looking forward to being able to more openly glorify God each day and connect listeners with Him and the joy that brings.
“A lot of secular media looks at what’s wrong with the world, rather than what’s good. Since [Covid-19] I’ve kept that goal of… let’s try to lift up rather than drag down. The world can be a dark place but what I’m looking forward to most is being in that community lifting up and being lifted up. I’m really excited that Christian media lifts people up – as God intends us to do.”