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Hospitality
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A Newcomer Finds a Home at the Chapel of the Cross Last Sunday I slipped into a back pew for the 5:15 service and found myself surprised at a warm feeling of familiarity about the narrow wooden pews, the needle-pointed kneelers, the cranky organ, and the quiet, casual congregation. After a few dead-ends, my husband and I have found our church home at this informal, end-of-day service. We moved to our house in Chapel Hill not quite three years ago. We tried the morning services at the Chapel of the Cross, which turned out to be a polite but lonely experience of staring at the columns in the coffee room, returning a few brief greetings and feeling totally lost. Okay, we thought, let's try a few other churches, see if we might do better with a complete change of church experience. We visited St. Paul AME, University Methodist, University Presbyterian and Church of the Holy Family. (For anyone interested, the most sincere and warmest welcome we received was at St. Paul where we were assumed to be visiting from the Chapel of the Cross. The next warmest was at University Methodist, followed by Church of the Holy Family.) Despite the genuine hospitality of St. Paul and University Methodist, the Anglican service pulled us back to the Episcopal church, and the lively worship drew us for a few weeks to Church of the Holy Family. So what are we doing back at Chapel of the Cross and ready to enlist? Well, the reason we wanted to live in Chapel Hill was to enjoy the small town environment, particularly all things in walking distance. The beauty of worship services and the simplicity of the chapel also pulled us strongly. But more than anything else, we found a small group who gladly took us in and made us part of their faith lives. I showed up one day at the Mary Harris Bible class, because its weekday morning sessions could always be fit into my work schedule. I found one old friend and a half dozen new friends happy to greet a new participant. After this successful start, I enticed my husband to give the group a try also, and he found the same open door and open hearts. From this base of love, we decided to try again for a service we could enjoy, and we discovered the small and informal Sunday evening Eucharist in the chapel. Over time we've learned to recognize the regulars like Senator Ellie Kinnaird and others we know by face but not by name. The congregation isn't exactly chatty, but it is readily accepting of those who value the quiet, the informality, the chance to prepare for the week ahead and to give thanks for the day of rest already enjoyed. There is a wonderful mix of generations and a sizeable contingent of students from the university, but rarely the same crowd from week to week. It's a cross-section of a large and bustling parish but small enough to seem friendly and unhurried. For newcomers slowly making their way, it's a good place to start. Send
items for inclusion in future "Cross Roads." © 2003 The Chapel of the Cross |