O Holy Night ' -- By E . Toole , submitted
Page 18
WiregrassSeniorsMagazine . com
O Holy Night ' -- By E . Toole , submitted
" So where do you think we will be going to church next month ?" That became a common inquiry from my husband . We had moved to this hinterland and found ourselves in search of a new church . This mission was compounded by the fact that we knew no one . Weekly , we tried to find the perfect place to worship .
After months , we found the perfect place ( or so we thought ). It was close to home , had a great children ' s program , and seemed to have an appropriate amount of young , growing families . I found out who to call . The next day , Monday , I did just that .
" Hello , may I speak with Reverend Coleman ?... Oh , well is there a better time to reach him ? My family and I have been relocated to this area , and we really like your your congregation and would like to formally join ."
The receptionist , told me that we could not join the church because too many families were enrolled . A new congregation was forming , however . " Perhaps you could speak with someone there ," she said . I was to call a man whom I did not know , at a place that did not exist , for a congregation that was only being formed ... somewhere .
" Okay , we ’ ll try and find out where this new group meets ," I told my husband and children . They were agreeable , mainly because we always went to breakfast after church . The draw was not the worship but the fellowship and the feast afterward . At the next Sunday mass , the sermon was actually given by the new leader of the scattered flock of people . Thus , we now had a contact ; her name was Mary Lou . I called her the next day .
" Oh , yes , yes , yes !" she said . " We would love to have you join our congregation . May I stop over and introduce myself to you and your family ? We are still looking for a permanent place to have our weekly church gatherings , but we are delighted that you will be joining us ." Mary Lou chattered on for a while longer , and I knew we were going in the right direction , although I was not sure where .
" Mommy , I thought we were going to church ," Jay questioned the following Sunday as we pulled into the parking lot of a movie theater .
" We are , sweetheart ," I answered , as his daddy parked the car . Jason ' s eyes lit up , and he was not about to let this drop , thinking one or both of his parents had lost their minds . " Why are we here if we are supposed to be going to church ?"
" The church is not a church yet , and we do not have anywhere else to go , so we are going to the movie theater ," I explained . None of us really cared where we went because we began going to the movies after church , which took the place of breakfast . Pop and popcorn began to substitute for ham and eggs .