Story and photos by Erin Grigson
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and
Telecommunications
Walking into Midway Christian Church on Laity Sunday, most
people would have had trouble distinguishing the congregation from the
preacher.
Since 2010, on the last Sunday of January, every person who
walked through the doors, young and old, has been adorned with a stole, a strip
of cloth worn around the neck, signifying him or her as a minister in the
church.
“It’s a celebration of the fact that we’re all called
ministers in the church, that God blessed us with gifts, each one different,”
the Rev. Heather McColl said in an interview. “This is the time that we lift up
our call to serve God’s church with the gift that God has given us.”
For the service, the pastor asks three members of the
congregation to share their testimonies with the church.
“It’s very rare that church people get a chance to tell
their side of the story or their faith journey,” McColl said. “You interact
with these people every Sunday, but you really don’t know their background.”
One of the first Sundays Sheri Adkins, left, ever attended Midway Christian was for the laity service. As she spoke at the most recent one, she teared up, reminiscing about how much closer she feels to the lay people after they speak at the service.
“I see God in this church,” Adkins said.
She went on to say that she sees God shining through her children, Blake and Alex, and through every person in the congregation. She said that God’s light was like a flickering candle in each of them and as they came closer together, the brightness just increased in intensity.
Wanda Alford was raised in a Christian home. Her father’s family
was Baptist, her mother’s family was Pentecostal and she first attended a
Church of the Nazarene. At the age of 12, she was baptized alongside her
father.
“I never had the crisis of faith that some had,” Alford told
the congregation. “I went to college, was involved in the Baptist Student Union
and heard a woman speak at a convention I attended. She said ‘Everyone owes one
summer of their life to God.’ I couldn’t get this out of my mind.”
She then proceeded to serve as a summer missionary in Fort
Worth, Tex.
“It was a frightening experience at times,” she recalled.
“It made me appreciate what people give up for the ministry, how much of their
life is actually occupied with others.”
Though she has had struggles in her life, Alford said, her
faith never faltered.
“I have gone through
trying times in my life,” she said, “but I have never doubted the existence of
God.”
Like Alford, John Askew said he grew up surrounded by a
supportive church family.
“I didn’t feel like I had a particularly interesting or
important story,” he told the congregation. “If I had to sum it up into one
word, it would probably be ‘family.’”
From left, Alford, Askew, Adkins
and Rev. McColl wait at the back of the church to greet members as they leave the service. |
“These are not things that we talk about a whole lot, and I
don’t know some of the people here as well as others, and they don’t know those
things about me,” she said. “You wonder how they’re going to accept what you’ve
said.”
Askew agreed. Although he loves the tradition of having
members of the congregation speak for this service, he would rather be
listening to other people’s stories than telling his own.
“It was a little bit intimidating for me,” he said. “I’m not
a real open person.”
Adkins, an elder of the church, spoke highly of the laity
services of the past and of the day’s service.
“There’s a commonality, if you tell your story,” she said. “Part of faith is being around people interacting with each other and
supporting each other.”
McColl said that after every laity service that they have
done in this way, the members of the church comment on how much they appreciate
the chance to learn about others.
“They like hearing the testimonials of people’s faith,”
McColl said. “They say, ‘It’s always nice to hear another voice and it’s nice
to hear someone who didn’t go to seminary, who didn’t get theologically
trained, who may be having some of the same faith struggles that we’ve been
having.’”
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