Newspaper Page Text
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♦ SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2008
RELIGION
1*
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOLS
Attention: Space Explorers
Blast off at Cosmic City Camp, July 14 - 18th at Harmony
Community Church, 3085 Housers Mill Road, Byron (near
Russell Parkway and 1-75 intersection). Free program for
kids from 8:30 - Noon each day will feature fun music,
games, crafts, snacks and exploration of an awesome God.
Registration forms available at Harmony during Sunday
morning worship services at 8:30 and 10:30 am, and also
online at www.harmonycc.org <http://www.harmonycc.
org> . For details, call Christina Forbus 478-956-4031 or
Linda Chadwick 478-827-0103.
Space Explorers VBS at Harmony
Blast off at Cosmic City Camp, July 14 -18 at Harmony
Community Church, 3085 Housers Mill Road, Byron
(near Russell Parkway and 1-75 intersection). Free pro
gram for kids from 8:30 - Noon each day will feature fun
music, games, crafts, snacks and exploration of an awe
some God. Registration forms available at Harmony dur
ing Sunday morning worship services at 8:30 and 10:30
am, and also online at www.harmonycc.org For details,
call Christina Forbus 478-956-4031 or Linda Chadwick
478-827-0103.
Christ Lutheran Church
Christ Lutheran Church, Perry, will hold its
VBS,“Friendship Trek” to be held July 14-18, 3-5:30 p.m.
Call 987-6016 for more information.
Crossroads UMC plans Summer Sun fun
Crossroads United Methodist Church will hold its
“Summer Sun” program on the Moody Farm or Fluornoy
Rd. in South Houston County, July 21-25. This program
will befroml p.m. to 5 p.m. daily for third graders through
sixth graders, and from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for pre-teens and
teens. Many exciting activies are planned incuding fishing,
swimming, a scavenger hunt, movies and homemade funnel
cakes. Call 987-3721 for more information.
It's all in the numbers
By Jeffßrumley
Morris News Service
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. The Revs. Deloris Demps and Mac
Brunson see a gap every Sunday between their membership
figures and how many are seated in the pews.
At Demps’ Mount Moriah United Methodist Church, aver
age attendance is about 35, she said. Her 125-seat sanctuary
could easily accommodate the 59 members on the roll.
Not so for Brunson, pastor of the 28,000-member First
Baptist Church in downtown Jacksonville. The congregation
- the Southern Baptist Convention’s third-largest - can seat
about 10,000 in its main sanctuary, and a few thousand more
in other spaces.
But not the 28,000 on its rolls.
“If all our folks showed up on any given Sunday, we just
couldn’t handle em,” Brunson said.
The fact that a membership-attendance gap exists in most
congregations is nothing new. But it became a hot topic at
the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, held this
month in Indianapolis.
There, delegates - called messengers in the Baptist tradi
tion - approved a resolution urging congregations to count as
members only those who are living active, committed Christian
lives. The resolution noted that while the convention reports
its total membership as 16.2 million, only 6.1 million “attend a
primary worship service of their church in a typical week.”
The resolution - which is non-binding because Baptist con
gregations are autonomous - also calls for churches to repent
for failing to encourage regular participation by “wayward
church members” and urges them to reach out to inactive
believers.
However, some experts inside and outside the denomination,
even in agreeing with the spirit of the resolution, said its num
bers are taken out of context and that there are multiple ways
of measuring participation.
The number on the rolls usually exceeds the number who
attend services regularly, said Steve Marino of the Association
of Religion Data Archives, which monitors religious trends and
statistics.
It’s also the case that congregations and denominations tend
to report the higher number, he said.
“Groups want to appear as influential and as popular as they
can,” Marino said.
The Southern Baptist Convention’s status as the nation’s
largest Protestant denomination is vital to its clout as a player
in social and moral issues, said the Rev. Darrell Orman, pastor
of First Baptist Church in Stuart, Fla., and chairman of the
denomination’s resolutions committee.
But Orman said the denomination is not grossly over-report
ing its true membership, as some resolution supporters sug
gested.
The 6.1 million attendance number referenced in the mea
sure was derived from a snapshot count of one Sunday morning
worship in the fall of 2007, said Roger Oldham, a spokesman at
the denomination’s headquarters in Nashville, Tenn. It did not
include people who attended evening services that day.
“You have some folks who don’t come and are on the rolls,
but would be offended if you took them off,” Brunson said.
But proponents of the Baptist membership amendment
expressed concern that drastic differences between publicly
reported membership figures and actual attendance belies deep
spiritual and ethical problems.
During debates over the resolution, its supporters said
churches must be more vigilant in ensuring that only baptized,
dedicated followers of Christ be counted as members, accord
ing to a June 11 Baptist Press story. Failure to do so sug
gests congregations aren’t doing enough to foster authentic,
enduring discipleship.
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Ghosts in local legend and in the Bible
Parables to Ponder
: x : Sf>
Billy
Powell
Columnist
Every community has had a
haunted house in its history,
but the one on Sleepy Hollow
Road near Marshallville may
be the most famous. Tales
of haunting began to surface
after a sensational murder
at the Sleepy Hollow lodge
in 1934 when the farm over
seer shot and killed farm
owner George Slappey for
allegedly making suggestive
advances toward the over
seer’s wife.
A distant cousin, Charlie
Gray of Fort Valley would
regale me for hours with
spine-tingling stories about
the ghosts that roamed the
abandoned lodge at Sleepy
Being sure the help we give
Reflections
Earline
Cole
Columnist
We have all heard the
story about the Boy Scout
who performed a good deed
by helping a little lady to the
other side of a busy street.
Although the little lady was
persistent in not needing to
be helped across the street,
the loyal Scout was persis
tent in seeing that she safely
reached the other side.
With mission accomplish
ment, the Scout headed back
across, and to his surprise,
the little lady was right
behind him. Through his
eagerness to be helpful, he
did not understand that the
little lady was not wanting
to cross the street.
I recall having a similar
experience with a turned
up dress collar. Ladies have
a tendency to notice little
things like that. And, we
kind of help each other with
the finishing touch that was
overlooked while getting
dressed to meet the public.
The Refuge Church
100 Todd Road
Sunday Morning: 10:30am Pastor Thomas Perry, GA 31069
Wednesday Night: 7:oopm Vaierie Tltomas wg)9g7 . ssoo
Children's Ministries & Nursery Provided. www.therefugepCTry.com
1812 li.S. 41N.
Perry, GA
987-1112
FIoormgAMBHCA
Hollow. The two-story
lodge, located barely over
the Peach County line in
Macon County, was built in
the late 1920 s by the flam
boyant George Slappey
(1871-1934), a wealthy peach
grower. Cousin Charlie told
of hearing a person sobbing
upstairs, of blood-curdling
screams that would shatter
the silence of night, of an
unseen presence felt on the
staircase, and of doors and
window shutters slamming
for no apparent reason. He
warned me of the creepy,
ominous-looking pond of
pitch-black water near the
house. Two farm hands had
mysteriously drowned in the
deep, dark pond. An unseen
hand would suddenly reach
out of the water and drag
an unsuspecting person to
the bottom. A woman walk
ing across a foot bridge near
the pond allegedly fell over
backwards, broke her neck
and died. No one since has
wanted to go near the old
pond. More details in my
book, “Echoes from the
Valley.”
Shortly after our becom
ing acquainted with each
other, the paths of my new
found friend and I crossed
at a church function. She
was attractively dressed,
but her turned-up collar
captured my attention. Not
wanting to embarrass this
lady whom I hardly knew, I
debated over whether or not
the turned-up collar should
be overlooked or fixed.
Basing my decision on how
I would feel if I were in her
place and she turned my col
lar down, I proceeded to act
accordingly. I smoothed the
collar down, gently patted
it in place, received a sweet
smile and a warm “Thank
You.”
We then parted company.
My decision to fix the
collar gave me a real good
feeling. That real good feel
ing did not last long. Before
the evening was over, our
paths crossed again. I was
surprised to see the collar
turned back up. Later, I
learned that the turned up
collar was her style.
As with the little lady
who did not want to cross
the street, the lady with
the turned up collar did
not want it turned down.
Both acts of kindness were
carried out with honorable
intentions, but neither the
Boy Scout or I had accom
DAVID OVERTON
JEWELERS
905 Carroll St.
Perry, GA 31069
478-987-1392
Sleepy Hollow was fre
quented by young people
during the 19405-60 s. Many
came to see a real ghost.
For sheer excitement, dating
teenagers would park near
the old lodge.
In March 1953, I was in a
party of three boys and three
girls that visited Sleepy
Hollow. We arrived an hour
before midnight. All six of
us entered the dark lodge
with a single flashlight and
immediately went upstairs
where the shooting occurred.
I stayed near the stairwell as
the others went into the dif
ferent upstairs rooms. As I
listened to shrieks of appre
hension and excitement
from the girls, I distinctly
felt a ghostly presence and
a rush of cold air as if an
unseen spirit had passed me
going down the stairs. My
hair literally stood on end.
I wanted to get out of there,
and quickly. I hollered to
the group: “Let’s get out
of here; there’s a ghost in
this place!” A stampeded
ensued and a young lady, in
her haste, turned her ankle
is the help that is needed
plished anything.
Are you wondering where
I am going with this illustra
tion? Well, to be perfectly
honest, so am I. I suppose
we need to look for oppor
tunities to help others, but
we need be sure the help is
Any church group receives an additional
10% off already
low catering prices.
Call 218-5235
jßteto petljel jUts&ion
Cljunl) of <§ob in Christ
Location: The New Perry Hotel Conference Center, 30Q Main St., Perry, GA
Date/Time: Every Thursday evening at 7:oopm
Superintendent David A. Taylor, Coordinator • For more information, call 478-953-6676
Drug
Company
Friendly, Professional Service
Ben Bartetl & Hubert Bennett,
RtGISTEHED PHMUMCISIS
Meet tomme* Hm Accepted
1036 MACON RD. • PERRY, GA
988-1144
S»H«
N will host a
65794
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
"Let the spirit move you"
Crossroads United Metiwdist
'rides the wave 1 for
Vacation Bible School
Crossroads United Methodist Church
invites children ages 3-12 to “ride the wave
of God’s Love” at Vacation Bible School.
This year’s theme is ‘Surfin’ Through the
Scriptures.” The fun begins July 14 and
ends July 18, with sessions from 9 a.m. until
noon.
Children will learn lessons of love and
Christian attitudes supported by Bible sto
ries, songs, crafts, games and science activi
ties. There will be snacks.
For more information or to register, call
987-3721 ext. 3, or drop by the church
which is at the corner of Main Street and
Glenwood in Perry.
Leaders and children are shown here with
the church already dbcorated for the big
event to start Monday.
going down the stairs and
fell. I vowed never to go there
again. The mere thought
of encountering a ghost in
the pitch-darkness of the old
abandoned lodge sends shiv
ers down my spine.
The Old Testament has
its own ghost story. The
Israelites were surrounded
by the invading Philistine
army. Israel’s King Saul,
filled with terror, sought the
advice of the dead proph
et Samuel on what to do.
He went to the witch at
Endor to request that she
summon Samuel from the
dead. She commenced her
incantations and suddenly
a specter resembling the
elderly Samuel, dressed in a
robe, began rising out of the
ground. The ghost spoke to
Saul, “God has abandoned
you because of your disobe
dience. He will hand over
the army of Israel to the
Philistines.” And God did as
Samuel prophesied.
desired. Perhaps Galatians
6:4 is applicable. “Let each
one put his own work to the
test; then he will enjoy his
personal satisfaction and not
boast to another.” (Modern
Language)
CHURCH'S for
CHURCHES
• TfoctayuimcHiKq * /4(teieUio*td
478-988-2448
740 Main Street
Perry G A 31069
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