January 1, 2001
ALANNA DAVIS (left), a catalytic missionary in the Boston area, leads a women's Bible study in the home of Zoe Deligianidis (right).
Former Vogue model makes faith fashionable
___NEWTON, Mass.--Alanna Davis once graced the pages of Vogue magazine as a model. She followed that with jobs on network television. Now, she is a catalytic missionary seeking to start a Baptist church in a suburb of Boston.
___Davis is reaching out to upscale professionals with the message of Christ. She knows how to reach this hard-to-reach culture, because she has been there herself.
___Anthropology, philosophy and world religions held Davis's interest while a student at Oklahoma State University. But designer Bill Blass "discovered" her and brought her to New York.
___"I was his model, his look for Vogue magazine," she said.
___The modeling led to television commercials, then to the role of Maggie MacGuire on the soap opera "Love of Life." Next, Davis became lifestyle editor for the "Today" show, putting her on air two to three times a week doing "anything that was not hard news or politics," she said. After two years on "Today," Davis hosted a number of daytime news and information shows.
___She lived the life of success, with a high-rise apartment in New York City and a house in Greece.
___In 1981, about halfway through what Davis now calls her "very public career," she became a committed Christian.
___"I was bored silly" by life in the spotlight, Davis said. "I hated the emphasis on superficiality. I kept trying to stay grounded." But the money, attention and recognition were like a narcotic, she said.
___When Davis came to Christ, she "looked at everything differently." She asked God to give her "the mind and heart of Jesus," as well as "a sense of who he created me to be."
___Her outward circumstances, however, took a turn for the worse. Co-workers ridiculed Davis's newfound faith. Her husband left her. She was robbed twice, mugged three times and severely beaten by a teenage street gang. She also was "targeted and victimized by a spiritually abusive Southern Baptist church."
___"I understand spiritual assault," Davis said. But she moved forward.
___In 1999, she earned a master of divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. She also did some work for the seminary, and in that work she learned about church starting efforts in New England. Last year, she became a missionary with the North American Mission Board and moved to the Boston area to help start a church among affluent professionals.
___"They hurt. They fear. And they're alone," Davis said. "And I know how they feel."
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