|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
Church celebrates 210 years in Concord
Heather Mays - Thu, May, 8, 2008
Concord Presbyterian Church is celebrating its 210th anniversary this month.
 |
“I’ve been a member since I was in fifth grade,” said Mary Henry, owner of the Applecake Tea Room.
“That’s been my only little church. That’s home to me. It’s the place I can be myself. It’s very Spirit-filled,” she added.
Mac Abel, a member of Concord Presbyterian since 1948, said, “We are reminded from time to time that we are a friendly church.”
“You can go visit everywhere else, where all these churches are big and have added on and have all the bells and whistles, but people come back and say ‘This is home to me.’ It’s like going to Opryland and visiting a hotel and then going back to your house,” Henry said.
Henry and Abel are proud of the hominess of the church and the close ties that members share.
“We have not grown a great deal in numbers. We remain a very small community church and try to serve the community,” Abel said.
“Even though, in our community, the Concord Methodist Church moved out and the Concord Baptist Church moved out and all built in other places and grew, our church chose to stay and remain just as we are,” Henry said.
“It’s almost like going back in time. It’s like time has stood still over there in little historic Concord,” she added.
“It’s just unique to belong to a church that has a lot, lot of history. And those places are becoming extinct, you know?
“I think it’s because other churches offer so much. But I think the people who come here, who come in the door … they say that they knew it was where they were supposed to be,” Henry said.
However, Abel and Henry also have vision for how they would like to see Concord Presbyterian grow.
“Our church has kind of gone full circle. Sometimes, there’s a whole lot of teenagers, sometimes everybody is having a baby … we have a young minister now and I would love to see more of the younger people grasp the remembrance of the small family church,” Henry said.
“We would always welcome some physical growth, especially with families with children. We have a predominance of gray-haired folk and we need to be thinking about the next generation coming on,” Abel said.
“But that regards numbers and we are always seeking to grow spiritually as well,” he added.
For more information, call the church office at 865-966-1563 or visit www.concordpresbyterian.org.
|
|
