By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 15, 2023 | A former church where we were members in South Georgia was having the 100th anniversary of its founding. They were using the second Sunday of each month to invite back former members to remember how it was when they were there. And afterward there would be a meal with members.
It’s pleasant to get such an invitation. Soon my wife and I started remembering names of people who were members. When mentioning one guy, my wife chimed in: “His wife’s name was Tootsie.” Soon we had thought of several others with whom we worshiped. One particular guy had the first real name of “Governor.” What salt of the earth people were in that church!
Putting out a weekly newspaper in that town taught me a lot. And one of the stalwart members of that church had a big hand in setting me straight right off the bat. About 9:30 a.m. the day my first edition in that town came out, I was walking on the main street. This petite gray-haired lady approached, apparently having read the paper already, and asked: “Are you the new editor?”
I said I was, and she immediately pointed out: “You didn’t say which church you attend!” Oooops! She had a hand in making me aware of what was important in small towns, and I have never forgotten that. I even today ask political candidates where they go to church. Unfortunately, in the modern times, many do not. Luckily, we would attend her church.
That first incident with the former member goes further. She and her husband were small business and landowners in that town, and never had any children. And upon their death, their estate funded this church’s new sanctuary. It’s a handsome modern brick structure and a testament to that couple’s faith.
While in that church, I taught a Sunday School class to teens. The church provided good material for each class, but then and probably today, it’s difficult sometimes to reach teenagers. One of the former classmates remembered that we would discuss a passage, and to keep the students awake and to think, I would ask a lot of questions.
Then she said: “I remember to this day something you taught me. You were maybe calling the roll, or anyway we were telling you our names, and when it came my time, I looked down and mumbled my name.
“You said something like, ‘Look at me in the eye and say your name distinctly. Your name is something you ought to be proud of, for you are who you are. You must be proud of it.’ I have never forgotten that.”
What’s interesting to me is that you never know what such teens will remember. The Bible verse may not have been as important as was that teens’ view of herself.
Once I was a member of the church for a short while, three of us new members were elected to its board. We were introduced to the internal operations of the church, particularly the financial side. One of my fellow members may have spoken of what we others found. “Before I learned and understood about the church budget,” he said, “It made me feel good that I was contributing when I dropped maybe $3 or $5 into the collection plate on Sunday. I never realized that it takes far more than that from the members to keep the church going.” Lesson learned for all of us.
This church’s observance of their 100th anniversary gave us a chance to visit where we first worshiped in that town, and to bring back good memories.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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