Going through some loose papers today I found a little note I made to myself several years ago about an anecdote Mother related about her preaching. Mother was invited in the early 2000s to preach one Sunday -- maybe homecoming? -- at little Sunnyside United Methodist Church near Griffin.
My Daddy pastored Sunnyside (and Midway) when I was in second through fifth grades 1954-58. I remember that church fondly. My Sunday School/Bible School teacher, as i recall, was a very nice lady named Ms. Helen Spangler. I learned to recite the names of all 66 books of the Bible there. I have lost that skill, but Mother could still do it even during the days just before her homegoing at 98.
Anyway, after preaching that Sunday, Mother greeted the congregants as they filed out of the church. One old man, supported on the arm of his daughter, tottered slowly up and shook my mother's hand, remarking, "This is the first time I ever heard a woman preach <he paused a beat> from the pulpit."
I heard another good sermon from our outstanding "woman preacher" Nanci Hicks at Trinity this morning and couldn't help but think what resources have been wasted in churches over the centuries by disqualifying half the population from answering the call to preach ... from the pulpit.
On a side note: if you live near Rome and do not currently have a church home, now is a good time to come join us. It is nice to see Sunday "in person" congregations growing as most of us are now vaccinated and boosted. But we still have some folks participating "virtually" from home as well. And if you like to sing, come join our choir. We are a bunch of amateur singers blessed with a very talented director and Easter is coming;this is great time to get involved in choir. We sure could use any singers, but this tenor would like to have two or three more in our section! Choir practice is Wednesday nights at 6:30. Y'all come!
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