CREEDE HINSHAW: A strong witness in rural Georgia

This week, my wife and I attended a Service of Death and Resurrection at the United Methodist Church in Vienna, the county seat of Dooly County. The inspiring worship service reminded me that much is good about rural America. Storefronts along U.S. Highway 41 may be boarded up and the Dooly County public school system, with its newly appointed School Board, has a big job, but it would be a mistake to overlook the strength and goodness of rural Georgia people.

The Vienna United Methodist Church, founded in 1849, has worshiped in a stately, steepled brick building on the corner of Church and 6th Street since 1907. For nigh on two centuries, good Methodists, Baptists and other people of faith in Dooly County and other rural settings have offered hope and salvation.

I came for the funeral service of Jane H. Mason, 96, one of the matriarchs of that congregation and community. It was a good thing we arrived early, because the sanctuary was completely full, the rest of us spilling into an overflow room off to the side of the sanctuary.

It is rare for there to be standing room only for the funeral of a 96 year old, a fact that spoke volumes about this remarkable lady, a widow who lived in her own home and mowed her own yard until very recently. The character of her life and faith brought the people of Dooly County and beyond to fill the church.

The Methodists of Vienna have a beautiful church building. Large stained glass windows dominate two walls of the spacious, square sanctuary, the sun illuminating the reds, greens and blues of these gracefully arched windows depicting Christian symbols, such as a sheaf of grain, a dove, a harp, a cross and a lamb.

There were a few concessions to modernity: TV screens were affixed to two walls of the sanctuary and microphones were suspended over the choir loft. A grand piano sat on the floor level, but the congregation still used an organ, too, a luxury many rural churches have abandoned. Both organist and pianist played for the service and a robed choir sang along with the congregation.

We had come to worship God, but we expected to hear a good testimony about Jane Mason and the Rev. Daryl Brown did not disappoint, masterfully portraying her life with inspiration and humor. When a pastor has “good material,” it’s not hard to preach a good eulogy, and Jane Mason’s long life of love and service made Rev. Brown’s task much easier.

Here’s one thing I learned in that eulogy that indicates one person can make a difference. Jane Mason was a person of faith, strength and character who would not tolerate the things of God in her church to be done halfheartedly. If it was worth doing, it was worth doing properly, respectfully and reverently. Because of her lengthy membership in that church and her determination that things be done properly, the congregation often asked this procedural question: “How would Miss Jane do this?”

I suspect the Vienna Methodists will ask that question for years to come. And they should. There are thousands of people like Jane Mason in churches and communities across rural America and when these people of faith insist on doing what is right, the prickly issues facing our smaller communities will soon disappear.

Email columnist Creede Hinshaw, a retired Methodist minister, at [email protected].