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By Michael J. Brooks

I don’t get to attend other churches much, so it was nice to visit another church lately. I attend a hobby club every year in Georgia and have most often driven home Saturday night. However, last year I hit an obstacle on the darkened road and blew a tire, so no more night driving on unfamiliar roads!

This church had the ambiance of other Baptist churches. People talked and visited before and after. Someone turned off the sanctuary lights at some point which is the Baptist way of saying, “Go home.” We sang “Happy Birthday” to members celebrating that week. The music leader announced for one hymn we’d sing verses one, two and four, proving the old adage that you’re better off as a stuck pig than the third verse in a Baptist church! 

One church member came with Lizzie, her Yorkie comfort dog. Lizzie was very friendly and went around to get pets from everybody. She was also very respectful during the sermon. I’m thinking of adding a comfort animal to our greeting team.

It was also unique that the preacher at this church is female. Southern Baptists frown upon this kind of thing, but this church, though Baptist, isn’t Southern Baptist. It was noteworthy in our denominational squabbling a few years ago that one of our leaders, the late Charles Stanley, stood on this principle, but admitted he became a Christian in North Carolina under the preaching of a female pastor.

The pastor on this day preached barefoot. I’ve never seen this before. I asked a couple of people after worship about this, and they seemed not to notice. They told me she was short, and they built a platform for her to stand on, but that didn’t explain to me why she was shoeless. 

Comfort? Humility? Tight budget? Not sure.

Until a few years ago one of the church’s deacons was on the rotating list to mow the church grass, and his wife was on the custodial list and cleaned restrooms once a month. Many rural churches have volunteer lists such as this. 

This couple is former President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter. 

Rosalynn Carter died last year, and President Carter was one of three members to whom we sang “Happy Birthday,” though to him in absentia. He was 100 on Oct. 1, and probably the only person in America who mowed grass with Secret Service protection. 

Another interesting thing is that our Bible study teacher and choir master that day was Kim Fuller, daughter of first brother Billy Carter, who used to sell Billy Beer at his service station in Plains.

It’s not a political statement to honor the former first couple as humble servants of God. 

“Reflections” is a weekly faith column written by Michael J. Brooks, pastor of the Siluria Baptist Church, Alabaster, Alabama. The church’s website is siluriabaptist.com.