Cool Circuit Rider

It has been a long time since I have visited First United Methodist Church in Belton, TX--9 or 10 years ago, when I had my biblical monologue, Lazarus Speaks, videotaped there. This time around, Pastor Darren Walker invited me to come as my Circuit Rider character, Brother Obadiah Ryder.

As God's Cavalryman, I had plenty of material to work with. Belton is rich with Old West history. Settled in the 1850s, it soon became the Bell County seat with a feeder route to the Chisholm Trail running along the east side of town. The Methodist church in Belton was organized 74 years after the American Revolution and five years after the Republic of Texas was admitted to the United States as the 28th state. The first Methodists met in a grove of trees and later gathered in a structure made from hewn cedar and native stone. By 1884, the congregation outgrew their original church building and completed a larger structure in 1886.

As always, I wove local history into my presentation, which people at both services delighted in. "This church has a fine heritage, one that you can all be proud of," I concluded. "But the past is past, and God's future lies open before you like a bright, shining meadow. Jesus said you are a city on a hill, and you must shine brighter than ever in these days of moral uncertainty."

On the way out after services, a few parents told me that their young children, normally fidgety during worship, sat transfixed as the Circuit Rider told his tales. One 11-year old girl looked up at me and crowed, "YOU ARE COOL!"

I asked her if she would call my 17-year old daughter and tell her that.