A Tennessee pastor who has made it his mission to share the Gospel with celebrities is reflecting on his encounter with Hayden Panettiere two years before the actress’s sudden death at age 36.

Dylan Novak, a youth pastor at Henard’s Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Rogersville, Tennessee, and founder of Celebrity Evangelist Ministries, met Panettiere in April 2024 at Steel City Con in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.

Novak and his wife connected with the “Nashville” actress over parenthood and raising daughters. They also had an opportunity to talk with her about their Christian faith and give her Gospel resources.

Looking back, however, Novak said something else about the encounter has stayed with him.

“One thing my wife and I immediately started talking about after we met her was what a sad presence there was about her,” Novak told Fox News Digital. “I wish we had had an opportunity to follow up with Hayden again.”

Novak said others he knows in the entertainment industry who had spent time around Panettiere described a similar impression.

“There was such a kindness about her, but there was also such a heartbreaking sadness that also surrounded her,” he said.

Panettiere, who rose to fame as a child actress before starring in projects including “Remember the Titans,” “Ice Princess,” “Heroes” and “Nashville,” was found unresponsive August 16 at an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina.

Preliminary autopsy findings showed no signs of trauma that contributed to her death, according to the Greenville County Coroner’s Office. Her death remains under investigation.

For Novak, the news brought both sadness and renewed urgency to the ministry he has spent years building.

“It just filled me with the fuel, the fire of the gospel of, we need to keep doing this,” he said. “This is why we do what we do.”

Novak said Panettiere’s young age was also a sobering reminder that Christians cannot assume there will always be another opportunity to talk with someone about faith.

“We all have the mindset when we see younger people … ‘Oh, there’ll be plenty of time,'” he said. “But really, nobody knows except the Lord. That’s why it’s so important to make sure we continue to share that with everybody around us.”

Through Celebrity Evangelist Ministries, Novak says he has shared the Gospel with more than 2,000 prominent figures. His approach includes personalized gift bags containing embossed Bibles, Christian resources and handwritten notes tailored to comments celebrities have previously made about faith.

Among those Novak met was the late rock legend, Ozzy Osbourne. In 2023, Novak gave Osbourne a modern translation of the Bible after learning the musician had struggled to understand scripture. Novak said Osbourne’s son, Jack, later told him his father kept the Bible on his nightstand and spent hours reading it.

Following Osbourne’s death in July 2025, Novak said his ministry received hundreds of messages from fans asking for the same Christian resources.

“People saying, ‘I want to be saved,'” Novak recalled, “and that is just so beautiful to see.”

Now, following Panettiere’s death, Novak says their brief encounter has reinforced the principle at the heart of his ministry: Christians never know how much time they will have to reach someone.

For Novak, that makes every opportunity to share the Gospel one worth taking.