Dear Caldwell, I pray this finds you knowing how loved you are by our Lord – and by our church. So much of scripture – this library of 66 books that guides our steps – is an effort at answering one central question: What matters the most? Followers of God and Christ, from across the …
Although the byline for today’s blog says “John Cleghorn,” Gail and I have collaborated to write this post, Caldwell. One of the ways that we prepare ourselves and our hearts for worship on Sunday mornings is through the simple exercise of intentionally breathing in and breathing out. We breathe out any anxiety we may be …
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT LETTER FROM THE SESSION Dear Caldwell, On June 28, 2020, Pastor John raised a serious matter for the congregation to consider. For years, some of us have known that the Caldwell family, which was memorialized through the name of our church, earned its wealth with the unpaid …
Dear Caldwell, Ever just want to run away and hide? Just tell God and everyone else, “That’s it. I’m out!” Given 2020, I’d wager to say we’ve all had a moment like that, or something close to it. So did the prophet Elijah. He had, by his own description, been “very zealous” for the Lord, …
Dear Caldwell, As you may read in the media, Caldwell has lost another one of its saints – Sarah Belk Gambrell. She died Friday at 102. Sarah was the only daughter of Belk department store co-founder William Henry Belk and grew up with her brothers and parents at Caldwell, then one of the city’s leading …
Dear Caldwell, In high school, I was too long and lanky to be much of a wrestler. But I wrestled enough in PE class to get a sense of what it was like. Few athletic contests are quite as pure: person against person, mind and body, strength against strength. Winning required agility, force, smarts, endurance, …
Dear Caldwell, What a blessing it was to just sit in with you in worship on Sunday while I am away for some time off. Taking in Gail’s sermon, hearing Anne, Smitty, Manley, Wilma and Ruby and the choir provide beautiful music, scanning your loving exchanges in the chat box, watching the presentation about Easter’s …
This Week’s Caldwell Buffet: The Widow’s Mite, Easter’s Home, Re-imagining Policing Read More »
Dear Caldwell, On Sunday, scripture reminded us once again that the Lord is always with us. The Lord sees us and whispers, “My eye is always on you.” So it was with Hagar, maidservant to Sarai and Abram, when she liberated herself from their abuse, as we read Sunday in Genesis 16:1-16. In turn, she …
Dear Caldwell, In 1963, amidst the Birmingham campaign for civil rights, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote one of his most popular books, titled Strength to Love. We borrow from that title this week as we look ahead with all of you to this weekend. We look to the Holy Spirit on this Pentecost Sunday for …
Arrangements for Leroy Stinson The family of Leroy Stinson will gather for a family-only homegoing service Saturday at 1 p.m. at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church on Baxter Avenue with Rev. John Cleghorn officiating. It is unclear as of now whether that service will be available online via video or audio. The family will receive visitors …
