A little bit of home

By Fred Anderson

When the messengers assemble for the annual meeting of the BGAV to be held next week in Woodbridge there should be a prize for the registered messenger from a BGAV member church who comes from the greatest distance. I suspect the prize will be won by the messenger from the most distant little toehold of the Old Dominion: Rome, Ga.

In 2004 the First Baptist Church of Rome joined the BGAV. Pastor Joel Snider plans to attend the meeting in Northern Virginia and has asked if any other of his fellow members want to make the journey of about 530 miles with him. The faraway church is listed in the back of the 2004 BGAV Annual in the BGAV-only member category.

Just scan down to “Rome-First (Georgia)” and the statistics stand out on a page littered with zeros from other churches which did not report their statistics. The Georgia church reported 1,819 members, a Sunday school of nearly a thousand members, a music ministry with 270 and a WMU of about 150 members. The total receipts in the 2004 report were just shy of $2 million.

The Romans have the same spirit of service so exemplified in the Kingdom Advance program promoted in Virginia. Their signature line is “Seeking His Heart … Being His Hands”; and when Katrina hit, the Romans—like the Virginians—were among the first on the scene with water, food and other supplies for the Gulf residents. They sent a team to assist in Slidell, La.

The Romans want to seal their affinity for the BGAV and already have scheduled a visit early in the new year by John Upton, executive director of the BGAV. What might John Upton find when he ventures to this faraway member church? Perhaps our intrepid leader needs a brief overview on Rome.

As a Richmonder, John Upton already lives in a city which historically claims seven hills, although old Richmonders have different lists of the hills. He will find Rome, like its namesake, also boasting of its seven hills and Romans can actually name them.

As a Richmonder, John Upton knows about the mighty James River. While Rome, Ga., doesn’t have the Tiber like its namesake nor anything comparable to the James, proud Romans may show the visitor where its muddy rivers, the Etowah and the Ohstanaula, come together to form the Atlantic Ocean! Actually, even Roman brag cannot justify such a statement and instead they form the Coosa.

John Upton’s visit might include a stop at City Hall, where he can see another Roman landmark, a replica of the famous statue from Italy of the Capitoline wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus. The visiting Baptist brother may have his sensibilities shaken by the sight of two naked boys standing on a pedestal along Broad Street but he probably will take some comfort in the following story. It seems that when the statue was given in 1929 some of the Southern ladies were so shocked that they covered the boys with diapers. When war broke out with Italy, the statue was removed. In time, peace and sanity prevailed and the naked boys and the wolf returned!

John Upton will find the great steeple of the church as one of the local landmarks along with the picturesque old City Clock Tower. He will visit a handsome house of worship with all the facilities needed by a thriving congregation.

The church also reaches out to local collegiates. Upton might want to visit Shorter College, which has a Baptist heritage, and Berry College, which boasts distinctive collegiate architecture and the world’s largest campus with its 28,000 acres of woodland. He also should be interested in Berry’s heritage as a school of head, heart and hands.

When Upton visits the church’s sanctuary, he needs to know that there probably is still a hole in the flooring where this columnist twisted and squirmed during his first public speech. It was a Better Speakers Tournament; and as a Berry College student I participated. Much to my amazement, I won! Memory fails much more about the tournament. Maybe I was the only speaker!

On Sunday mornings in the ’60s, Berry College had required Sunday school and worship attendance in the college chapel. Most of the students were from Baptist and Methodist backgrounds, but the founder was an Episcopalian so the service carried resemblances to “high church” order and style. The chaplain wore a robe. The choir processed and recessed. Out of four years of required attendance, the only Sunday morning service which remains vividly in my memory is the time when a flying squirrel jumped from the organ pipes down to the chancel area and the acolytes were running about to trap it. During the services I did notice one of the choir members and later married her.

On Sunday evenings the students were free; and some of us exercised our freedom by catching the First Baptist Church bus into Rome. For Baptist students it was a little bit of home; and when John Upton and other Virginia Baptists visit their faraway member church, I believe they also will find a little bit of home.