25 Who Inspire | Cliff Vaughn

The July–September issue of Good Faith Magazine introduced a new tradition: Good Faith Media’s 25 Who Inspire list. This annual feature invites us to recognize the many ways God’s dynamic work has become visible through people around us. But it’s more than a list of names—it’s a call to reflect not only on the kind of people we admire, but also on the kind of people we hope to become.

Each honoree was celebrated by someone whose life has been touched by their witness. In the case of Cliff Vaughn—whose creativity and vision have shaped Good Faith Media for  25 years—we couldn’t settle for just one voice.

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By Craig Nash

If you want to learn a little about Cliff Vaughn and his contributions to the work and witness of Good Faith Media (in all its iterations), peruse the GFM archives page. In the search bar, type “Cliff Vaughn.” You’ll need quite a few clicks (I stopped counting)  of the “Older Entries” link before arriving at July 11, 2020, which is an article Cliff wrote for the Baptist Center of Ethics titled “Top 10 Technological Breakthroughs.” That article is well worth your time, but if you click on any number of Cliff’s entries, you can learn a lot about our Senior Media Producer, who is celebrating his 25th anniversary with the organization this year.

I learned he purchased his first HD video camera in 2003. I read about some of the numerous documentaries he has created over the years, telling intriguing stories that illuminate the lives of people of good faith. I learned that he wasn’t a fan of Cameron Crowe’s 2005 film Elizabethtown, which is one of my favorite movies. I read about his time filming Jimmy Carter. I found this treasure of a quote from Cliff from an April 27, 2005, article about religion and entertainment: “I generally appreciate stories that ask me to do something with my belief system: question it, defend it, be amused by it, or just shake my head at how filmmakers treat it.”

What emerged from my morning of scrolling through twenty-five years of Cliff’s archives is what you learn about him after five minutes in conversation with him. He is gentle, curious, and kind. He pays attention, and we all reap the dividends. 

—Craig Nash is the senior editor at Good Faith Media.

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By Betsy Nunn Parham

Creative. Capable. Compassionate. Consistent. All of these words describe Cliff. 

The C word that best describes Cliff for me is compassionate. During many of these twenty-five years, he provided compassionate care for Robert due to his health issues. Whether it was carrying extra loads of equipment during work events, attending meetings in place of Robert, or patiently listening to his every idea. Our family will forever be grateful to Cliff for all these acts of kindness. We are thankful for his steady leadership and servant spirit. 

Thanks be to God for Cliff Vaughn. 

—Betsy Nunn Parham retired from the United Methodist Publishing House. She is the widow of Robert Parham, founder of the Baptist Center for Ethics, a forerunner of Good Faith Media. Robert died in 2017. 

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By Mary Vaughn

Cliff is a gifted storyteller. He can envision the arc of a narrative, dig for context, choose the perfect music, and find the best lines to feature.

But as I have watched Cliff create stories for the past 25 years, I have observed how seriously he values the gift of being trusted with someone else’s story. I saw how profoundly he was impacted by recently released prisoners trying to figure out what was next for them, by missionaries reflecting on their time in Nigeria, by a lost Mexican teenager in the Sonoran Desert, and too many others to name. He has an extraordinary collection of storage drives with countless hours of recorded conversations he had with people of good faith who were willing to share their stories.

Our children and I have learned so much from his work, and I know Cliff is grateful for the years he has had with Good Faith Media and the sacred gift of others’ stories!

—Mary Vaughn is Professor of Communications Studies at Belmont University. She is married to Cliff Vaughn. 

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By Zach Dawes

Cliff is one of the best colleagues I’ve ever had. It was a joy working alongside him for a little over a decade, and I’m grateful to call him a friend. We went through several significant transitions together — from him helping onboard me as a new employee, to losing a shared friend, colleague, mentor, and organizational leader, to navigating leadership transitions and an organizational merger (as well as working closely together on two website builds, which is not an undertaking for the faint of heart).

Through all the changes that the last twenty-five years have brought, Cliff has been a stable, steadfast, trustworthy presence for EthicsDaily and Good Faith Media, consistently providing wise guidance and producing high-quality resources for people of good faith. It is fitting that the inaugural edition of GFM’s “25 Who Inspire” includes Cliff, who is deserving of all the praise and recognition that comes his way.

—Zach Dawes is a special education teacher in Central Texas. For ten years, he served as the managing editor of Good Faith Media.