Most of the time, Ronnie Felker is produce manager at Ingle’s in Clinton.

Other times, he’s “Fearless Fife” a Christian speaker and Barney Fife impersonator whose goal is to spread the word of God while entertaining folks. His wife, Elease, is by his side, playing the part of Barney’s girlfriend, Thelma Lou.

“I would have loved to have been doing this when I was in my 30s,” said Felker, 47. “Maybe it was just my time now, with the economy and jobs flat on their back. I really was a shy kid. I didn’t stand up in class. Now, I love doing this.”

A 1980 graduate of Whitmire High, Felker is the son of Harry and Margie Felker. He began his career in the grocery business at Whitmire’s Community Cash. He and his wife have four children who range in age from 22 to 5.

Two years ago, his pastor at Evans Street Church of God in Whitmire asked Felker if he would do a Barney Fife skit for a Mother’s Day banquet. A fan of The Andy Griffith Show for many years, Felker drew on some of Deputy Fife’s comical moments and put together a show. His costume consisted of khaki Dickies work pants and shirt and a holster.

The skit went over well and Felker was asked to present it again at a kid’s crusade. This time, he added to his costume with an official-looking Barney Fife hat he found with the help of an impersonator in Virginia and other items.

“I had decided if I was going to do it again, I was going to do it right,” he said.

He came down the aisle at church with Barney’s “The Manhunt” theme playing and pulled some people out of the audience to participate, including Elease as Thelma Lou.

In the past, Felker as Barney traveled in a golf cart. He brought it into his church at the second children’s crusade in which he performed, blowing his whistle and ordering it to stop.

“That was a fun thing to do,” Felker said “Anything I can do to draw attention or get the message across, within reason, I’d do as long as it is in God’s will.”

He now has added the Mayberry Sheriff’s Office squad car to his Barney impersonation. He purchased the 1962 Ford Galaxy 500 on E-bay from a seller in Austin, Texas. It was already painted up to resemble Andy and Barney’s car, Felker only added a siren.

After this, Felker began getting requests to play Fearless Fife outside of his church. He made 26 appearances in 2008 and so far in 2009 has made more than 30 appearances, including for churches, civic groups and festivals such as Party in the Pines in Whitmire. The Felkers have traveled as far as 400 miles to present Fearless Fife.

“I start out with skits and funny stories,” he said. “I come in blowing a whistle and saying a few Barney things. Then I begin weaving God in a funny way.”

During the 45-minute skit, folks are pulled from the audience and assigned roles. Felker has a Floyd the barber jacket for someone to put on and folks are also assigned to be Gomer, Goober and Brisco Darling.

The Rev. Edgar Foster, who was pastor of Evans Street Church of God when Felker performed the first Fearless Fife skit, said he thinks the Felkers do a good job.

“I was very impressed with how close he was to the character,” said Foster, who now is pastor of Grace Covenant Church of God in New Ellenton. “That was why we encouraged him to start doing it. He does a great job and he has a talent for it. He has a good spirit about him and it’s entertaining as well.”

Elease Felker is a busy woman — she also works at Ingle’s, has a home cleaning business and home schools the couple’s two youngest sons. Playing Thelma Lou has helped her overcome some shyness.

“It has brought her out a lot,” Felker said.

Mrs. Felker agrees.

“It’s been an experience for both of us,” she said. “I think the thing I enjoy the most is meeting the most unusual people. You see a lot of smiles and afterward they come up to you and say things like, ‘I’ve been depressed and I hadn’t laughed in a long time. I like that we make a difference in a positive way.”

Felker also creates Barney’s Preamble to the Constitution scene, where he grapples with his hair as he tries to recall the words.

At the end of the presentation, Felker is Barney at the courthouse getting a telephone wake up call from God.

“Barney is down and out, he has quite going to church because everyone is a hypocrite and he is mad at Thelma Lou,” Felker said.

The conversation gets serious as Barney begins to listen to God.

2 Timothy 1:7 is Felker’s theme — “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sound mind.”

“I wanted something to go with ‘Fearless Fife’ and that verse was all about that,” Felker said.

The Felkers have presented Fearless Fife to both large and small audiences — the largest being around 1,000 people at a Church of God senior citizen retreat in Mauldin. They also have performed on television Channel 16, WGGS.

Felker said he gets a blessing out of being Barney and he hopes to bless others. He said one day he would love to offer the ministry full time.

“I want them to leave happy and I want them to leave spiritually helped,” he said. “I want them to leave with a smile on their face. I want to help them on the inside. When someone says they were blessed, that they laughed and they hadn’t laughed in a long time, that is when my batteries are charged.”

(For more information about booking Fearless Fife and Thelma Lou, contact rfearlessfife@aol.com, www.fearlessfife.com or call (864) 697-0072.)