Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A
Declare among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not. - Jeremiah 50:2
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 winner: Editorial Page excellen
2019, 2018 winner: Best Headline Writing
2019 winner: Best Community Service
2019 winner: Best Layout and Design
2019 winner: Best Serious Column - Don Daniel
ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
Cheering for the Methodists
B illy Beard has been the pastor of Forsyth UMC for
2+ years. I eat lunch with him on many Tuesdays
at the Forsyth-Monroe County Kiwanis Club,
which meets in his church’s fellowship hall. He’s
a kind, easy-going guy who loves his
Mississippi State Bulldogs. He also
loves Forsyth and his church here.
But that doesn’t matter to the North
Georgia conference of the Methodist
Church. They’re shipping him off to
Peachtree City.
I am fond of the Methodist Church.
My first buddings of mature faith came
at the University of Georgia and
took me to St. James UMC in
Athens. They had a great pastor
there, the Rev. Kent Reynolds. He
was about 6-foot-6, and he was an odd bird for a Methodist
preacher. He didn’t wear a robe, and he walked around while
he preached. He didn’t read notes, but preached from his
heart, and from the Bible. He went to seminary at Emory. But
he was not fond of his experience at that very liberal semi
nary. He called it “cemetery”.
He baptized me — dunking, Baptist style — in Lake Her
rick at the UGA intramural fields. And when I took my first
job in Hartwell, Ga„ I joined my late grandparents’ Methodist
Church in Hartwell where we met another kind, godly pastor
named the Rev. John Giglio. The North Georgia conference
soon shipped him away too, and he didn’t like it either. Nei
ther did we.
I am no longer a Methodist. But you don’t have to be John
Wesley to know that local Methodists are going through
a rough inter-denominational battle. Have been for years.
Frankly, they’ve been putting it off for years and it’s probably
time to bring it to a head. Nobody likes to be in limbo.
Monroe County Methodist churches are part of the North
Georgia conference, the largest Methodist conference in the
nation.
When the thriving, conservative New Bethel UMC in
Atlanta voted to leave the denomination late last year, liberal
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson seized that church’s assets. She
set off a contentious legal battle that continues to this day.
Haupert-Johnson was a left-leaning bishop who seemed
more committed to the cause of homosexuality than the
cause of Christ.
In her last move in January before leaving her post, she
made the North Georgia conference the only one in the
country to forbid its churches from voting to disaffiliate.
Then she turned the reins over to another female bishop,
this one from Brooklyn, N.Y., Robin Dease. Dease inherits a
conference poised to lose most of its strongest churches over
its embrace of unbiblical practices like homosexuality. Faced
with that, she is reportedly moving more conservative-mind
ed pastors, like Beard, to poorer churches that cannot afford
to buy their property to leave the left-leaning denomination.
Why should Monroe County care about the inner work
ings of one of our many Christian denominations? Because
few institutions are more important to a community than
the church. Healthy churches build healthy families. Healthy
families create healthy communities. Forsyth UMC has
long been a leader in our community, providing preschool
education for children, ministering to needy families through
Kingdom Builders, and enriching teens’ faith through mis
sion trips to Glory Ridge in the North Carolina mountains.
As someone who wants to see Monroe County churches
thrive and grow, we all have an interest in the outcome of this
dispute. The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, clearly ad
hered to the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality. In his “Notes
on the New Testament”, Wesley referred to homosexuality
as “vile affections”, “unnatural lust” and he said that it was
“against nature”.
Far be it from me to tell our friends at Forsyth UMC how to
handle their own family disputes. But if they stand with Wes
ley, with the Bible and with God, they will emerge stronger
and freer, and continue to have a God-ordained impact on
Monroe County.
Will Davis is the publisher of The Monroe County Reporter.
Email him atpublisher@mymcr.net.
DRAWING ON THE NEWS by AF Branco
B P Ml/fO SwampMonsters.news
l\Pii\jJ©2023 Creators.com
REECE’S PIECES by Steve Reece
The shattered life of Ricky Gray
I t’s been decades since I’ve heard
from my old buddy, Ricky Gray.
Not since he went to prison. As
the old preacher used to say,
“Everyone sees the world through
their own knothole.” Ricky was one
who saw the world in a different
light.
We met in a little Alabama town
about the time when I first started
building houses. Ricky was a roofer. He
must’ve been the fastest roofer in the
world. His secret was that he pounded
down the nails to the beat of rock mu
sic that was always blasting from his
boom box balanced on the chimney.
He said the Rolling Stones had the best
rhythm for working.
He once nearly killed himself when
he fell off the roof while nailing down
ridge caps. Ridge caps are the last thing
that goes on a roof. To apply ridge
caps, you straddle the ridge sitting on
your knees and pop in the nails. You
then lift your rump and slide back just
enough to nail down the next piece.
After the last cap has been
applied, the roof is finished,
and you get paid. Which is the
only good part about roofing.
Ricky was wrapping up the
ridge caps while I was in the
front of the house gathering
up the tools and getting
ready to roll out of there.
A summer storm was
brewing, and Ricky was
slapping them down
even faster than usual. You can’t roof in
the rain and payday can’t wait until to
morrow. I was about halfway finished
rolling up a cord when I looked up and
saw Ricky pick up his butt at the edge
of the roof and sat it down in thin air.
My shout was a split second too late.
I dashed around to the side of the
house and found him groaning flat
on his back. As soon as he was able to
speak, he grunted out, “I’ve got two
more to nail down.” It was sprinkling
rain by the time he climbed back down
the ladder.
Ricky and I became good friends
after that. Every time I had a house
to build, I’d always call him to do the
roofing. Soon, I learned to do roofing
also, and we went into business togeth
er for a while. Back in those days, we
had to carry bundles of shingles from
a stack on the ground up the ladder
and drop them on the ridge. A bundle
weighs nearly 67 lbs. Ricky liked to
show offby carrying two at a time. He
wasn’t much bigger than me, but
he had more muscles and a bit
more heart.
Ricky fell in love with not only
the prettiest girl in town but also
the most flirtatious. She thought
he was extra special because of
his shoulder-length hair. This
was back before only
rednecks had long hair. He
was an early hippie and an
oddity in Alabama.
The next thing I knew, Ricky asked
me to be his best man at his court
house wedding. I met him on the
morning of his big day on his front
porch and we made a few toasts to his
future. What I remember most from
that morning was that we watched a
station wagon drive slowly by with 3
mixed breed dogs standing on top of
the car with two more mutts reclining
on the hood. By the time we finished
laughing at the sight, the car returned
from the opposite direction but this
time with only one dog standing on
top. Only in Alabama can you see
something like that.
The only thing Ricky could afford
was a little beat-up trailer outside of
town. Of course, that wasn’t quite good
enough for the prettiest girl in town.
Even after they had their little boy, she
continued to bat her eyes at every man
who looked at her. Which was all of
them.
It all ended when one day Ricky
came home early and found a Harley
Davidson parked outside. Inside he
found his young bride on the couch
with a member of a biker gang while
his little boy was on the floor crying.
After a brief confrontation, Ricky
packed it up.
Ricky’s now-ex-wife moved in with
the biker into a different beat-up trailer.
But the biker soon became abusive to
her and Ricky’s young son. One night,
in a drunken fit of rage, he beat the boy
so badly that he gave him brain dam
age. He was sent to jail for the deed
but nevertheless, Ricky vowed revenge
and decided to join the biker in prison
to exact his revenge. He then went on
a crime spree. He shoplifted. He got
speeding tickets. He once even fired up
a joint while sitting in a McDonald’s
restaurant.
Finally, he bought up all the drugs he
could find and invited every known
narcotics officer in Lee County, Ala.
to a big party. The Rolling Stones’ hit
song “Shattered” was blasting on his
boom box as they led him away.
Steve Reece is a writer for the Report
er and a known crime fighter. Email
him at stevereece@gmail.com.
is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, President • Robert M. Williams Jr., Vice President
Cheryl S. Williams, Secretary-T reasurer
OUR STAFF
Will Davis
Publisher/Editor
publisher@mymcr.net
Tammy Rafferzeder
Business Manager
business@mymcr.net
Steve Reece
Reporter
stevereece@gmail.com
Donna Wilson
Advertising Manager
ads@mymcr.net
Diane Glidewell
Community Editor
news@mymcr.net
Amy Haisten
Creative Director
mymcrgraphics@gmail.com
Official Organ of Monroe Coun
ty and the City of Forsyth
50 N. Jackson St., PO Box 795 • Forsyth,
GA 31029 • Periodicals Postage Paid at
Forsyth, GA 31029- 994-2358
SUBSCRIPTION RATE: In County: $50 • Out of County: $60 • Single Copy: $2
Deadlines noon on Friday prior to issue. Comments featured on opinion pages are the creation of
the writers, the do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Reporter management.
Publication No. USPS 997-840
CAROLYN S CORNER by Carolyn Martel
Freedom sifts through fingers like sand
I ’ve been thinking about and
praying for America a lot here
lately. I know many of you have
been doing the same. I have also
been reviewing the freedoms that
have made this nation great. The
Bill of Rights sets forth our priceless
rights. Americans enjoy freedom of
religion, freedom of speech, freedom
of the press, freedom of
assembly, the right to
bear arms and the right to
own private property to
mention a few.
heritage. Dr. David Reagan, author
and evangelist says, “Our American
constitutional system is a unique one,
because it was the first government
ever devised by man that was based
on Christian principles.”
MANY PEOPLE do not
enjoy the freedoms and
liberty we have here
in America. They
five under oppressive
and tyrannical forms
of government. Lee
Greenwood sings: “I’m proud to be an
American, where at least I know I’m
free.” I love this song, but I am con
cerned about the direction our nation
is headed. For one thing, there are
historical revisionists who would love
to erase any memory of our Christian
UNFORTUNATELY, THERE
are those who constantly challenge
our Christian principles and
the standards that have made
America an awesome place to
live, work and raise a family. It’s
a sobering thought to think that
we could be only one gener
ation away from losing our
liberties. All it takes is just one
generation failing to pass
on the baton of Christi-
anit 7 an( i the values that
have made our nation
great.
WE CANNOT be remain passive,
because there are those who want to
“fundamentally” change America,
and it’s not for the better! So we have
a responsibility to keep the standard
lifted up that our forefathers fought
and died for. If Christians do not
stand up and fight for what we believe,
we will one day find that what we
once declared to be truths and moral
absolutes will become outdated opin
ions, thoughts and ideas. In fact, this
is already happening and this is one of
the reasons our nation is so philo
sophically and politically divided.
YEARS AGO, Dr. D. James Kenne
dy expressed a concern that we would
do well to heed today. He prayed,’’God
forbid that we who were born into
the blessings of a Christian America
should let this patrimony sift through
our fingers like sand, and leave to
our children the bleached bones of
a secular and godless society’ You
think it can’t happen? I would say
think again. Lastly, who can deny this
timeless truth, “When the godly are
in authority, the people rejoice. But
when the wicked are in power, they
groan.” (Proverbs 29:2).
Carolyn Martel is the long-time
former advertising manager for the
Reporter who writes a weekly inspi
rational column. Email her at car-
olynmartell @bellsouth.net.