I had the pleasure of spending the Thanksgiving Holiday in NC and Tennessee.  I had the blessing of worshiping at my favorite church in Copper Hill, TN.  Copper Hill is the oldest mining town in the US and the now closed Bera Bera Mine was the largest and oldest in the US.  The Methodist church sits high above the town on a hill of what is probably slag from the old mine.  The church has a membership of between 100-125 members and its pastor is the oldest pastor still preaching in the conference.

Copper Hill is unique!  From the time you hit the parking lot anyone else who hit it at the same time has already greeted you at least twice.  By the time you get to the front door, the greeters have already said your name. You only have to attend once and these people have got it.  The ushers make sure you are seated next to someone on your pew that is going to talk with you (no loners here) and suddenly, you're family.  Mostly the laity, except the sermon, manages the service even when the preacher is there.  Joys and concerns are really joys and concerns.  A single unemployed mother and her two kids stood up and thanked the congregation for helping to fix her little house for winter. Another member shares that; yes, they have four community Christmas mission projects going and times are financially tough but they need help with one more.  They all clapped and cheered as it was announced that their oldest member, over 100 years young, would be the Marshal in the Christmas Parade next Saturday.

The pastor takes pride in as he puts it "I trained them well!"  "They carry on with or without me and that is as it should be."  All of this is a good thing since he is battling cancer.