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PASTOR: Elder Joe C. Tisdale (of Hartsville, S.C.)
DEACONS: Lewis Freeman and Larry Mathis
SUNDAY-EVENING ATTENDANCE: 13
PRE-SERVICE LENGTH: 60 minutes
SERVICE LENGTH: 107 minutes
WHINING TODDLERS: 2
WOMEN IN HATS: 6 of 7
CONGREGATIONAL FERVOR
Congregants arrive before the service to pray in solitude. They crouch down, facing a chair, and place their elbows on the seat. Some pray in silence, while others hum, mumble, and chant, “Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus,” for up to an hour. The silence ends with the strike of a cherry-red Fender Stratocaster, signaling the end of prayer and the start of the testimoial service. The congregation sings along: “When he calls me, I will answer. I will answer when he calls my name.”
4 Stars
FOOD FOR THE SOUL
Mathis gave a 45-minute sermon last Sunday that touched on several subjects, including evolution, Adolf Hitler, and women who show off unattractive bellies in the name of fashion. Mathis took particular offense at one National Zoo’s exhibit that showed the evolution of primates. “Then they go and talk about [how] we come from apes,” he said. “Glory to God, I’d have to be a sure-’nough fool to believe that….There’s only one true science —that’s God.” He later said, “They say we stole the land from the Indians. The land didn’t belong to the Indians. It belonged to God.”
1 Star
FOOD FOR THE BODY
No food or drinks were on hand at a recent Sunday-evening visit
0 Stars
OVERALL WORSHIP POWER RATING
Aspiring female preachers will be disappointed if they consider the Church in the Lord Jesus Christ of the
Apostolic Faith. Says a church pamphlet: “We do not believe according to the Holy Scriptures that God has ordained a woman to preach the gospel. Every woman that says God called her to preach the gospel must consider ‘…but I suffer not a woman to teach, not usurp authority over the man…’ (I Tim. 2:11) and also ‘Let your women keep silence in the churches’ (I Cor. 14:34).” Says Freeman of the service: “I know this is like nothing you’ve ever seen before, but God works in mysterious ways.”
1.5 Stars
Art accompanying story in the printed newspaper is not available in this archive: Photograph by Darrow Montgomery.