As our former pastor said “Cleveland County [NC] is 120% Baptist”. Actually, Cleveland and Cherokee Counties (opposite the state line from each other) are probably about 50% conservative Baptist, 20% Independent/Pentecostal-Charismatic, 10% Methodist, 5% other Christian (includes us), and 15% other (nominal or “none”, primarily). That is generally accurate (other places have more Methodist) for rural areas in the Carolinas and adjacent areas, except the majority Scots-Irish ancestry areas, which have a bit more Conservative Presbyterian.
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We just spent Spring Break in Bryson City area. It’s beautiful there. I was surprised to hear there are elk there now, transplanted from TN. We visited the museum and heard how there were lots of Scots-Irish settlers.
My sister and her family are in Greensboro, and I lived in Elizabethton, TN for a year. I enjoyed the area.
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If you have no place to go for the time being, or just want to think things over a bit, why not catch some webcasts from other churches, e.g. the National Cathedral?
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I heard about a Florida pastor who was arrested for taking part in the January 6 insurrection at the White House. A parishioner ratted him out. So I suppose that parishioner might be looking for a new church…
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‘Christian’ nationalism is an abomination. It looks like the church will be looking for a new pastor, and the parishioner for a new church.
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Of course - even speaking of any controversial (or perhaps in some groups celebrated) authors can be the gateway to bringing disagreements to the surface and maybe group members discover some deeper insights about each other.
Speaking of Metaxas, though, whatever has become of him? My first exposure to him was through an interview he did with C.S. Lewis’ secretary Walter Hooper. Knowing nothing else about Metaxas, I was very impressed with how he conducted the interview … and even also found a friendly interview he did with Francis Collins. But that was years ago! More recently I was dismayed to see him completely taken in by some various extremisms - a surprising turn for somebody who used to champion Socratic contemplation and thought. I haven’t tried to follow anything of his recently, but am wondering if he is still mired down in that rabbit hole.
[edited to soften political slant]
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Pretty much. He also had an incident where he allegedly cold cocked a rude protester and ran off leaving his wife. He has a vocal critic in Warren Throckmorton, if you google his blog and search, I am sure you will have a lot to read…
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For me, the best way I’ve found to develop a better relationship with my congregation is to get out of town quick
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