This time from South to North:
After three decades as a home to pigeons rather than parishioners, a 175-year-old stone church with Presbyterian roots is once again filled with song on a warm Sunday morning. This time around, however, the brand of faith carries a new tune, one that would be more familiar in Mississippi than Vermont.
Hallelujah religion is a-rising in Yankee country. As liberal congregations die in a secularizing region, conservative churches with roots outside New England are replacing them with a passionate brand of faith that emphasizes saving souls – even in a land where many think there’s nothing to be saved from.
Before worship at Capstone Baptist Church here in North Bennington, 10 adults lay hands on electrician Don Betit and pray for healing from an ankle injury. Then, after 40 minutes of preaching, Pastor Phillip Steadman invites the hurting and newly committed to come forward for an altar call. During intercessory prayers, worship leader Lewis Brown prays for speedy salvation among unbelieving loved ones, “before it’s too late.”
In eight years, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has more than doubled its Vermont church count, from 17 to 37.
Better if they were going Catholic, of course, but anywhere that proclaims Christ as Lord is better than no where, at all. Main thing is that people are leaving the cold, rotting corpse of secular liberalism and turning back towards God.
Gotta make a liberal shiver with fear – or, better, realize he’s got it wrong.
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