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Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2005 | ||
Kudos to The Citizen
By JOHN HATCHER I have nothing profound to share with you this week. Perhaps you may have thought that true for all the preceding weeks. Yet, believe it for no, there are days when even the best of philosophers, ministers, and writers face a blank page and just dont have anything to go on it. News writers have the best jobs because they have a story and just have to decide with which prejudice to write that story. As a former news columnist for a paper in Columbus, (Ga.), I remember running into my editors office so fired up about what some elected official had said or done. The editor quietly reminded me that I had the last word. Not so for my kind. At times, indeed, there is a bit of controversy in the news with which to spin off a column of reflection, commendation, or invective. Most of the times, a little interior revolution of some sort has to get going and the head of it becomes a column. The church, certainly, has plenty of stories. But most folks are not too interested in the story of the church, except when there is a hot story like the Popes death or a charismatic leaders moral indiscretion. I believe the church is fast becoming irrelevant in the culture today. Dont believe it? Attend your churchs early service and then pop by the local Kroger at 11 a.m. You will see where the people are on any given Sunday morning. So, I really applaud The Citizen Newspaper for giving so much play to the religious community, knowing the small numbers who could give a royal flip. Maybe thats the story: The Citizen Newspaper counters the national trend in religion reporting. Do you realize how many ministers regularly offer their insights thanks to the liberal policy of The Citizen? Whether or not we have much to say. Theres the Rev. Dr. Knox Herndon who has been to more places than the rest of us ministers combined. As a former Army chaplain, Knox knows the heartbeat of the serviceman and in his columns you will read unabashed support for them. Since he is also an enthusiastic hunter and fisherman, he can relate to more than half of us men out there hoping to catch a trout or shoot a deer (poor Bambi). Theres the Rev. Dr. Justin Kollmeyer who is probably one of the hardest working ministers in the Atlanta area. As near founding pastor of Fayettevilles Lutheran church, Justin could be the longest serving pastor in Fayetteville, but still with boundless energy. He writes his columns with such optimism and zeal for each day and the future. The Rev. Dr. David L. Chancey writes his columns with a genuine flare of wholesomeness. After reading his columns, I always feel a little better about life and myself. David pastors a church that a made a move from College Park and now is growing by leaps and bounds. The Rev. Paul Massey leads one of Fayettevilles newest churches and writes a question and answer column. Before being ordained as a priest in 1999, Paul worked in the corporate business world and therefore brings a fresh approach to answering the questions of people who may not be very religious at all. Theres also the Rev. David Epps. As a former Marine, David is afraid of nothing and will tackle any and all issues in his columns. He sometimes will get your dander up, but at times he will say what needs to be said when others are too timid to do it. So, with nothing much to say this week, I hope you read one of the other columnists and see what good insights they have this week. But, one other thing: thank God for a for-profit newspaper that allows us not-for-profit folks have a word regularly. |
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