Enlarge Coming together has helped Greater Providence and Mint Hill Baptist churches. (illustration)

Posted: January 30th, 2012 Ken Garfield

The hope of Xchange Sermons is that swapping pulpits is just the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

In this third year of the campaign to inspire reconciliation among people of different beliefs and backgrounds, there is mounting evidence that relationships are flourishing long past the last words of a sermon. Among the 60 participating congregations, Temple Beth El has established an annual, gospel-infused Sabbath service each January honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the cause of racial harmony. Piedmont Unitarian Universalist and Friendship Missionary Baptist churches are planning a partnership to include worship, fellowship, food and programs on healthy living, including nutrition, yoga and meditation. Click here to learn more about Xchange Sermons and how you can get involved. The program runs through May.

There is no more powerful illustration of an abiding friendship than the one that binds Greater Providence and Mint Hill Baptist churches. The former, on Milton Road, is predominantly African American. The latter, on Matthews-Mint Hill Road, is white. The story of their coming together rises above the racial divide that sparked the relationship.

Back in 1995, after a racially tinged act of violence sparked unrest in that part of Mecklenburg County, Revs. Fred Gibson of Greater Providence Baptist and Lee Proctor of Mint Hill Baptist met at a clergy breakfast meeting. Their conversation went from “Nice to meet you” to “Let’s start working together.” All these years later, the work continues on several fronts.

“It’s provided a better understanding,” Gibson says.

“It’s been a very important element of the ministry here,” Proctor says, expressing what he calls “A Christian commitment across racial lines.”   

More than swapping pulpits once a year, the two churches unite the fifth Sunday of the month to share worship. The congregations alternate churches, and preachers. This past Sunday evening (Jan. 29) at Mint Hill Baptist, Gibson preached on the 13th Psalm – “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” Gibson’s sermon – his answer – summoned hope: “God is aware of what we are going through. God is still there.”

The partnership goes beyond joint services, although that’s a big part of it, Proctor says, because it allows the members to experience different forms of worship. The congregations have enjoyed cookouts and picnics together. Men of the two churches meet for breakfast. The pastors meet for lunch, last time at Shomars in Mint Hill, where they talk about family, current events and the common challenges facing their flocks.

Those challenges, Gibson is quick to point out, often have little to do with race. He’s been at Greater Providence Baptist for 31 years. Proctor’s been at Mint Hill Baptist for 28. They’ve spent a lifetime of ministry balancing church budgets, ministering to the needs of people in tough times, and trying to convince the skeptical to make time for faith. What they’re learned in all that time is that the challenges are common, and the best way to overcome them is together.   

Says Gibson: “When you don’t communicate with other people, you don’t see them on a regular basis, you have apprehension and misgivings – until you start talking.”   

Talking about reconciliation is fine, Proctor says. As he has learned first-hand, taking action is better.   “Grow and stretch,” he says. “I’m just thankful to God.”   

Ken Garfield is Director of Communications at Myers Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte. Formerly religion editor of The Charlotte Observer, he has written extensively about Xchange Sermons in the past and is sharing stories from this year’s effort. Reach him at ken@mpumc.org.

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