[inquisitive piano and gentle brass]
[shimmery music]
- Angela Fitzgerald: If you ever stroll past Redeemer Lutheran Church
in downtown Milwaukee,
you can't help but feel
an atmosphere swarming with activity.
- Charlie Koenen: We keep making "bee-lievers" out of people.
- Angela: But it's not the congregation inside
that's drawing attention.
It's what's congregating above on the roof
that's making a buzz.
[buzzing]
- Charlie Koenen: I've always tried to connect my practices
with places where communities come together,
and faith communities are kind of examples of the bees.
♪ ♪
- Angela: Charlie Koenen is the founder and creator
of the non-profit group "Beevangelist."
- We say that we spread the gospel of abundance
according to the bees
through our practice and our product,
and our education and our advocacy.
♪ ♪
- The "Beevangelists" have helped raise awareness
for the plight of pollinators
all across Wisconsin...
...holding seminars, maintaining hives,
and even marching in parades.
- We're able to engage people, inform people, enlighten people
as to the importance and to the innocence of the bee.
And that they can "bee-leave" l-e-a-v-e leave the bees be.
And then, we get some "bee-ciples" who,
you know, practice our methods of beekeeping,
and then, some of them want to be "bee-vangelists."
It just fit.
It's like the perfect metaphor.
[buzzing]
- Pastor Lisa Bates-Froiland: Please stand.
- Angela: For Pastor Lisa Bates-Froiland,
the organization's mission
felt like an ideal connector
between the church and the surrounding community,
with a name that's just as "bee-fitting."
- Pastor Lisa: So, I also, on his own behalf,
was like, "Are you sure you want to go with 'Beevangelist'?"
And he said, "Yeah, because we need to
"spread the good news of the abundance that bees offer us
"and the potential for doing so in the city,
"as well as in our outlying areas.
"Urban beekeeping will help strengthen the bees
and, thus, help strengthen us, too."
♪ ♪
- The bees have now become a symbol for the church,
both metaphorically...
and literally.
- Pastor Lisa: You'll see that there are bees coming in and out
through the shape of a cross
that looks like honeycomb
and there's honey dripping
to symbolize the abundance of the place, as well.
That's not only a description of what is,
but it's also a prescription
of what always needs to be happening here.
We are a hive
where things are abundant here,
and we're growing.
♪ ♪
- To bee or not to bee?
For Charlie, that was no question.
He's devoted the last 20 years of his life
raising bees.
It's a job that's kept him busy as a...
well, you know.
- Charlie Koenen: It's always a lot of work.
It's always a blast.
I'm a bee.
Just like a bee, I work really hard.
I don't know what the end product is like.
I get enough to get by, and I know that,
you know, I've changed the world.
I've made it more abundant, more plentiful,
- Helping Wisconsin
become a land flowing with milk and honey.
- Pastor Lisa: Charlie's a special guy,
and he's got a lot to share with the world.
He is abundance.
He is a little out of the box,
but that fits really well here.
And any time he comes, there's, there's joy.
- Charlie: I'm just driven by the passion of the bees
and what I see inside of the hive
to do what I can and like the bees.
When I do this,
things fall into place.
Stuff starts to happen.
If you're passionate about what you have
and what you believe in,
things align.
[gentle, upbeat instrumental]
[shimmery music]
[inspirational vocalizing]