Southern Hospitality

My schedule has quickly filled up thanks to the kind, inclusive spirit of almost everyone I've met. Soccer, gardening, church searching, and weekly festivals are keeping me busy in my time away from the Urban Ministry Center.

Covenant Presbyterian Church, literally in my backyard, had some of the best choral music at any service I've ever attended. Despite my choral experience in high school and college, I'm jealous that I didn't grow up in a church with a strong musical tradition. I found the sermon on integrity at the Universalist Unitarian Church of Charlotte to be very engaging and relevant. Thinking I would blend into the background, I was caught off-guard by the efforts of the congregations to engage visitors with a personal welcome in front of the congregation, extensive materials available on the churches, weekly Q&A sessions with members, and meet and greets with the ministers. These are but two of the thousands of churches here in Charlotte. Growing up in Boulder, CO, and Portland, OR, known as liberal, atheist and agnostic hubs, I've never experienced anything like the sense of community churches offer to involved citizens outside of school, work and extraciricular activities and I find it quite refreshing.