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"It's a quarter to three and there's no one in the place except
you and me."
After all,
this is church . . .who expects anyone to hang around? No doubt, even "you and
me" would be long gone by a quarter to three. Not so with the 300+ members of New
Hampton Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Unlike most churchgoers on a
Sunday morning, these exuberant worshippers don't automatically exit en masse when the
clock strikes twelvethey find plenty of good reasons to hold off on the noon repast.
First of all, there's the music: "Joyful, Joyful" describes 70-year old Rose
Gillespie who was born into the church. "Best music in Charlotte," says a
20-year old local college student from New York. Then there are those hugswarm,
engulfing envelopments given in ample abundance by members who have almost made reaching
out and touching someone a doctrine. Call it their own brand of Reformed Theology; here,
reforming non-committal "We go where the wind blows" baby boomers is a way of
life. While some pastors severely chide those with C.V.S (Chronic Visitors Syndrome) as
being "potted plants on wheels" who need to put down roots, New Hampton's Rev.
L. Bryant Parker takes a different tact. After all, if even plants need a little TLC
before they can take root and grow, why should human beings be any different?. . . THERE'S MORE! |
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