Being white and southern in New Jersey, Part 1
August 27, 2006Since my apartment will not be ready until September 1, Seton Hall is housing me in an apartment on their main campus. I was driving around on Saturday and saw this very pretty United Methodist Church. Small Church with lots of pretty stain glass window. I thought I would give it a try -- you know, start the school year off on the right foot. The sign said services at 10:00 on Sunday. Went to the Sunday service - - - ONLY WHITE PERSON IN THE WHOLE PLACE. Come to find out, it is a mainly African-Carrribean congregation. The sermon was entitled "When Trouble Comes." You are not going to believe this but a good part of the sermon was about not turning to witchcraft when trouble comes but to turn to God. I almost fell off the pew. I was absolutely amazed. I could not tell you how many "Amens" "Praise God" and "Thank You Jesus'" were volunteered. To top it all off, the service lasted an hour and forty five minutes. I was so entranced I didn't even notice until I got in my car. It was quite an experience. You would think that a UMC would be pretty generic and vanilla. BOY WAS I WRONG!!!

