By James Lamkin

"Driving Lessons"

From my study window, perched high above our church parking lot, I get to watch people learning to drive. It's not pretty; but it is pretty funny.

I've seen it a hundred times. A car comes to a stop...usually in the middle, the exact middle, of the parking lot...far away from everything made of trees, bushes, metal, rubber, or plastic.

The car sits there for a while...silent, like it is thinking.

Then the doors open. Two people step out to change places. 95% of the time, it is a woman, probably the mother, plus a teenager. Often there is a conversation as they pass each other near the front bumper. Though I can't hear the words, the body language says a lot. Sometimes finger-pointing is used.

The younger of the two gets behind the wheel. The older becomes the passenger. Then, another discussion. What are they chatting about? Maybe it is the history of the automobile? Perhaps, it is the evolution of the combustion engine? Or it could be what happens to insurance rates when a teenager is added to the family policy?

The first lurch seems to be the worst. I'm surprised I haven't seen airbags deployed. Things smooth out after that. Maybe riding the brake while depressing the accelerator helps.

Since we already have some places marked for parallel parking, that too is part of the curriculum. Again, there's a whole lot of lurching going on.

At the end of the day (or by the time the parking lot fills with cars and the litigious probability rises) the lessons are over; and another Atlanta road warrior is ready.

This is one of our ministries. It is what we do. More than once, after I've officiated in a funeral at Spring Hill or a wedding on the far side of Marietta, someone has come to me and said, "You know, I learned to drive in your church parking lot!"

"Good," I always say, "that's what we do. We're a teaching congregation."

I've never pulled-out our church covenant and read them the line; but I could. It says: "We will offer and promote Christian education for all ages, characterized by reverence for biblical authority and respect for open inquiry, with our goal being the development of a mature and thoughtful faith in the hearts and minds of God's people."

That is what we do.

Last Sunday in worship, we thanked our church school teachers. We ought to do so every Sunday.

In fact, we ought to give our NDBC Driving School graduates a diploma or at least a bumper sticker: "IF YOU CAN READ THIS, THANK NORTHSIDE DRIVE BAPTIST CHURCH!" Amen.

Introduction to Major World Religions

June 5-August 28, 2011

Sundays, 9:30-10:45 AM

In the Fellowship Hall

Mike Gregg and Zach Bay will introduce the series with a session entitled Ways of Encountering the Divine and close the series with Religion and the Future of Humanity. Several adult leaders will facilitate the other 10 sessions, which will include Islam, Shi'tes/Sunni, the Koran, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, Church of Scientology, and Christian Fundamentalism.