worried about that, Pastor.”
“You seem worried about something, Mr. Harvey. You want to tell me about it?”
“All right. I’ll just be out with it and quit beating around the bush. Do you think the folks here will get upset if the Hearndons do take me up on my invitation?”
“I don’t know. What do you think? You’ve been part of this church a lot longer than I have.”
Mr. Harvey sighed and looked a little sad. “I guess it will be like anything else. Some will and some won’t. The same as with your girl. Some understand and some don’t.”
David was a little surprised by Mr. Harvey’s honesty with him. He knew there were people in the church who hadn’t fully accepted that Tabitha was going to keep her baby even though she wasn’t married, but nobody had spoken the words directly to him. David put his hand on Mr. Harvey’s shoulder and said, “We just have to pray for the ones who don’t. And for ourselves too, that we’ll say and do the right things.”
“It’s not like we’ve never had colored folks in the church before. When it was founded back in the 1820s, a third of the members were black.”
“Is that right?” David asked, surprised.
“Slaves of the founding members.”
“Oh,” David said. “That might be something you wouldn’t want to bring up to Mrs. Hearndon if she does decide to attend church here. At least not right away.”
“You sound like you’ve met her,” Mr. Harvey said.
“No, I was just going from what Noah said about her.”
“Well, you got the right idea.” Mr. Harvey smiled and shook his head a little. “She’d grab that in a minute and be gone with it. She’s something. Just wait till you do meet her. Fact is, I might ought to worry more about our members than her if she comes. She’ll probably set us all on our ears.”
“Maybe we need to be set on our ears every once in a while.”
“You could be right, Pastor. You could be right.”
8
They had six beginners in the class that morning, all under the age of six—counting little Murray McDermott who wouldn’t be a year old until October, but he was happy as long as Jocie was carrying him around. Miss Vangie somehow managed to get them to sit around the little table and listen when she told them stories about Jesus. Of course, she kept the lessons short. Stuff like Jesus loves you and God made the world and how to say, “Thank you, Lord.”
Miss Vangie said singing had never been her best talent, so she turned that part of the class over to Jocie. Jocie loved the way the little boys and girls kept their eyes tight on her while they were singing. She liked the way they shouted out the “Yes, Jesus loves me” part, and she couldn’t keep from laughing when they got the deep and wide mixed up when they sang about God’s love. She was having more fun in Sunday school than she’d had since she was a beginner herself in some other church years ago.
This Sunday she sang “Jesus Loves the Little Children” with them because of the line in the song that said “red and yellow, black and white.” All through Sunday school she kept peeking out the window at the parking area in front of the church, but so far there weren’t any cars she couldn’t match up with regular members.
With the singing part of the class over, Jocie set Murray down on his feet in front of the open window to give her arm a rest. He wasn’t walking yet, but he liked to stand up holding on to the windowsill and look outside. Behind her, Miss Vangie was handing out crayons and coloring books along with vanilla wafers. It was the time of Sunday school when Jocie began to count the minutes until the bell rang because the kids were beginning to get tired of being confined in one little room. And today it was an extra hot room.
A four-year-old named Sandy came over to show Jocie her picture of a church she’d colored blue and red and to share one of her cookies with Murray. “What a pretty picture and how sweet of you to
“You seem worried about something, Mr. Harvey. You want to tell me about it?”
“All right. I’ll just be out with it and quit beating around the bush. Do you think the folks here will get upset if the Hearndons do take me up on my invitation?”
“I don’t know. What do you think? You’ve been part of this church a lot longer than I have.”
Mr. Harvey sighed and looked a little sad. “I guess it will be like anything else. Some will and some won’t. The same as with your girl. Some understand and some don’t.”
David was a little surprised by Mr. Harvey’s honesty with him. He knew there were people in the church who hadn’t fully accepted that Tabitha was going to keep her baby even though she wasn’t married, but nobody had spoken the words directly to him. David put his hand on Mr. Harvey’s shoulder and said, “We just have to pray for the ones who don’t. And for ourselves too, that we’ll say and do the right things.”
“It’s not like we’ve never had colored folks in the church before. When it was founded back in the 1820s, a third of the members were black.”
“Is that right?” David asked, surprised.
“Slaves of the founding members.”
“Oh,” David said. “That might be something you wouldn’t want to bring up to Mrs. Hearndon if she does decide to attend church here. At least not right away.”
“You sound like you’ve met her,” Mr. Harvey said.
“No, I was just going from what Noah said about her.”
“Well, you got the right idea.” Mr. Harvey smiled and shook his head a little. “She’d grab that in a minute and be gone with it. She’s something. Just wait till you do meet her. Fact is, I might ought to worry more about our members than her if she comes. She’ll probably set us all on our ears.”
“Maybe we need to be set on our ears every once in a while.”
“You could be right, Pastor. You could be right.”
8
They had six beginners in the class that morning, all under the age of six—counting little Murray McDermott who wouldn’t be a year old until October, but he was happy as long as Jocie was carrying him around. Miss Vangie somehow managed to get them to sit around the little table and listen when she told them stories about Jesus. Of course, she kept the lessons short. Stuff like Jesus loves you and God made the world and how to say, “Thank you, Lord.”
Miss Vangie said singing had never been her best talent, so she turned that part of the class over to Jocie. Jocie loved the way the little boys and girls kept their eyes tight on her while they were singing. She liked the way they shouted out the “Yes, Jesus loves me” part, and she couldn’t keep from laughing when they got the deep and wide mixed up when they sang about God’s love. She was having more fun in Sunday school than she’d had since she was a beginner herself in some other church years ago.
This Sunday she sang “Jesus Loves the Little Children” with them because of the line in the song that said “red and yellow, black and white.” All through Sunday school she kept peeking out the window at the parking area in front of the church, but so far there weren’t any cars she couldn’t match up with regular members.
With the singing part of the class over, Jocie set Murray down on his feet in front of the open window to give her arm a rest. He wasn’t walking yet, but he liked to stand up holding on to the windowsill and look outside. Behind her, Miss Vangie was handing out crayons and coloring books along with vanilla wafers. It was the time of Sunday school when Jocie began to count the minutes until the bell rang because the kids were beginning to get tired of being confined in one little room. And today it was an extra hot room.
A four-year-old named Sandy came over to show Jocie her picture of a church she’d colored blue and red and to share one of her cookies with Murray. “What a pretty picture and how sweet of you to
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