Cfjarlotte
THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1997
12A
RELIGION
Jesus
calls his
disciples
Sunday
School Lesson
Devotional reading: Luke
22:54-62.
Lesson scripture: Matthew
4:18-20;16:13-23.
Today’s lesson text consists of
two selections finm the Gospel of
Matthew. The first records
Jesus’ CEiU to Peter to become a
full-time follower and disciple.
Peter had met Jesus earlier,
thanks to his brother Andrew
(John 1:40-42), and perhaps had
had the opportunity to listen to
Him teach and watch Him per
form miracles. Now, however,
Jesus was calling Peter to leave
his life as a fisherman, never to
return to it again. This event
took place rather early in Jesus’
public ministry.
The second portion records an
event that happened as much as
two years later in Jesus’ min
istry, after the disciples had
walked with Him for many
months. The Lord asked them
whom they believed Him to be.
Peter, speaking for the group,
declared that they believed
Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of
God. We call this Peter’s Good
Confession.
We have noted in the lesson
background that Jesus was
already familiar with these
brethren. Simon was called
Peter. While Jesus had given
him the name of Cephas (John
1:42), which is an Aramaic word
meaning “rock,” he became
known by the more familiar
Greek name of Peter, which has
the same meaning. We shall see,
in the second portion of our les
son text, why the name Peter
became so significant.
Follow me was a call to life
changing commitment. Peter
and some of the other disciples
had accompanied Jesus on other
occasions before this (at the wed
ding in Cana, for example,
according to John 2:1,2). They
may even have been with Him
for several days at a time, but
they always went back home to
their work. Now, Jesus was
inviting them to make a com
plete break with their old lives.
He was asking them to leave
their business, their home, and
their family to foUow Him.
For now, Jesus told the two
brothers that He would make
them fishers of men. This figure
is easily understood, yet chal
lenging to apply. Peter and
Andrew knew about fishing.
They knew it involved hard
work, long hours, uncertain
results, and even danger. It
would be the same for a fisher of
men. McGarvey explains the ele
ments of the figure in this way:
“Disciples are fishers, human
souls are fish, the world is the
sea, the gospel is the net, and
eternal life is the shore wither
the catch is drawn” (Fourfold
Gospel, page 162).
Peter and Andrew did not hesi
tate, but straightway (immedi
ately) left their nets. They had
seen and heard enough of Jesus
to convince them that He was
from God and that following him
was the most important decision
they could make.
At this time the disciples had
been with Jesus for about two
years. They had traveled the
length of Palestine with Him.
Now Jesus led them to Caesarea
Philippi, which was to the
extreme north, about 25 miles
north of the Sea of Gafilee. He
appears to have led them to
where the crowds would be less
likely to interrupt, so that He
could have some privacy with
the disciples. They did not enter
into the city itself, at least not at
once, but remained in the coasts,
or general vidniiy.
The history behind Caesarea
Philippi is noteworthy, given
what was about to occur there. It
was a center of worship for the
Greek god Pan.
Mount Moriah says no to road
PHOTO/SUE ANN JOHNSON
Mount Moriah Primitive Baptist Church may sit in the way of uptown urban renewai. Pians developed by the Planning
Commission and other groups show everything from a road to a new train station at the corner of Trade and Cedar.
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Members of Mount Moriah
Primitive Baptist Church are
watching developments in
uptown carefully.
Their problem is innocuous
enough. It is simply called New
Road.
“It is supposed to tie Third
Ward to Fourth Ward,” Mount
Moriah pastor the Rev. T.W.
Samuels said. ‘Tt seems to me it
is an intrusion.”
New Road, part of the renova
tion of Third Ward proposed by
the Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Planning Commission, runs
through an edge of property cur
rently owned by the church.
“This kind of thing has hap
pened to Mount Moriah before,”
Seunuels seiid. “Where the city
has decided that property could
be better used by another entity.
We are sometimes invisible to
them.”
The old Mount Moriah was
moved finm Alexander and 11th
streets in 1964 for the urban
renewal that brought down his
toric Brooklyn. For years, all
black Brooklyn was known
Charlotte’s “second city.”
According to Samuels, whose
church owns another 1.5 acres
purchased in 1989, the plan has
not been adopted by the City
Council, but the street is on
every diagram draw by Planning
Commission. Samuels also notes
that most buildings are identi
fied by name in the diagram.
Buildings on the block where
Mount Moriah sits are not.
“For about 18 months, the
street has been shown on maps,”
Samuels said. “They say they
don’t want us to move, but no
effort has been made to redirect
the street. They have given us
lip service, but it has not been
taken off the map.”
Samuels said the church
recently completed a study and
has plans to expand the church
onto the additional 1.5 acres.
“We spent $750,000 to pur
chase that land,” he said. “We
plan to build a new sanctuary
and a family fife center, day care
or senior center. We have put
our plans on hold. We would fike
to be able to use the land with
out the city chopping it up.”
The difficult part, according to
Samuels, is that members of the
church were not alerted to the
changes.
‘We found out about it through
TV,” he said. “Some of our mem
bers were watching and saw
that on the block where our
church is, there was a road.”
A spokesman for the Planning
Commission admits that New
Road is in the plans, but points
out nothing heis been finalized.
Interim Planning Division
Manager Debra Campbell said
she wasn’t aware of the contro
versy, but hopes something can
be worked out with Mount
Moriah. She and Warren
Burgess, who helped put togeth
er the Third Ward plan, plan to
meet with church members later
in the month.
“My understanding from
Warren Burgess was that there
were previous meeting with the
church prior to the public pre
sentation,” Campbell said. “I
was not aware of a significant
controversy.”
According to Campbell, the
road “does not make or break
the plan,” and the plan has not
been scheduled to be taken to
city council.
“Until we have worked out
some resolution that is accept
able to Moimt Moriah, we will
not take it council,” Campbell
said. “If it means rerouting the
road, that is a possibility.”
According to Campbell, anoth
er option is to “not have the road
at all.”
“There is a need for religious
institutions throughout the com
munity,” she said. “This is not
an attempt to single out one
church.”
Burgess agrees with Campbell
and insists in spite of what hap
pened in the past, no church will
be forced'to move.
According to Burgess, a group
that includes Nationsbank has
proposed a train station near the
church.
That doesn’t sit well ■with
Samuels or many in his flock
who will be affected by any
change.
He and his congregation will
continue to watch New Road.
“We are not against change,”
Samuels said. “But we don’t have
any plans for lea'ving. We are not
. invisible emd we will not be treat
ed as such.”
w
' 'iwi'
PHOTO/PUBLIC LIBRARY OF CHARLOTTE /MECKLENBURG COUNTY
Mt. Moriah was orginally located at the corner of Alexander and 11th streets. The church
was forced to move in 1964.
Parents
turn to
Bible for
names
By David Briggs
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
There are 30 different
Zecheriahs in the Bible, and
many more are stiU sho-wing up
on birth certificates across the
country.
Also expect to see a lot of
Nathans, Sarahs, Elizabeths
and Jessicas enrolling in ele-
mentaiy schools soon.
The search for roots and the
return to tradition are on again,
and biblical names are back in
style, according to Anita
Diamant, author of “Bible Beiby
Names,” a compendium of near
ly 1,000 boys' and girls' names
drawn finm Scripture.
“Names always reflect fashion
and trends. They’re like hem
lines,” Diamant says. “And
we’re definitely in a period when
biblical names are fashionable
again.”
In her new book, finm Jewish
Lights Publishing of Woodstock,
Vt., Diamant compares naming
a baby to a “second conception,”
an act of creation that hearkens
back to the biblical account of
creation, when God commands
Adam to name every living
thing.
“Like Adam’s task in the
Garden of Eden,” Diamant says,
“Jgiving the “right’ name to your
baby is an exercise of creative
power, mandated by God yet
also expressive of your tastes,
your history and your dreams
for your chQd.”
Reflecting the patriarchal cul
ture of ancient times, there are
about 3,000 men's names in the
Bible and fewer than 200 given
names for women. Many women
in the Bible, Diamsmt said, are
referred to without a name, such
as the daughters of Jethro and
the 'wife of Noah.
But that does not mean par
ents of daughters cannot find
plenty of meaningful names in
the Bible other than such peren
nially popular ones as Maiy and
Ruth.
For example, Ophrah or Ofra,
meaning a young deer or gazelle,
is a descendant of Judah, accord
ing to 1 Chronicles. And Joanna
or Joanne, meaning God has
shown favor, is one of the
women who accompanies Jesus
and later emnounces the resur
rection.
Sarah, Elizabeth and Jessica
are other biblical names current
ly popular for girls, Diamant
said.
One of her favorite names is
Ariel, meaning Uon of God, or
Ariella, a feminine version
meaning lioness of God.
Among popular names for
boys, there are still a lot of
Michaels and Matthews, she
said, but there is also a resur
gence of other names drawn
from the Bible, Diamant said.
She knows several babies
named Nathan, and even Noah
is no longer an unusual name.
As for Zecheriah, it was not a
name she grew up with.
“Now there are Zecheriahs aU
over the place,” she said.
“There’s an interest in sources
and roots and traditions.”
Welfare makes its way to local congregations
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GREENVILLE, S.C. - More
churches are “adopting” welfare
families and helping them make
the transition to independence.
The goal is to have 50 church
es and civic groups signed up by
Jan. 22, when the governor
gives his State of the State
address. There were 42 commit
ments as of Wednesday.
of Woodruff Road Presbyterian
Church. “This is like Christ
taught. We are responsible for
those who don’t have - the wid
ows and orphans and the poor.”
The Putting Families First
Foundation aims to give people
on welfare a personal, long-term
commitment.
“Here we are actually develop
ing relationships with people -
caring, compassionate relation
ships,” said the Rev. Rod Mays
“This is necessary,” director
Lisa Van Riper said. “There’s a
need and there’s an imperative.”
Gov. David Beasley set up the
foundation with $200,000 left
over from his campaign fund.
The foundation spent most of its
first year getting organized.
Now it is looking for churches to
participate.
By the end of 1997, the organi
zation wants to have five people
from the private sector in each
county to commit to coordinat
ing efforts in their communities.
Ms. Van Riper hopes to
involve 500 churches within the
next two years. That still would
reach only a fraction of the
state's 43,000 weltare recipients.
lie assistance and understands
how a helping hand from the
faith community can help lead
to independence.
Quawn Griffin, director of vol
unteer services, said she comes
fi'om a fermly that received pub-
“I think if the churches don’t
come forward, we’ll lose a lot of
moms,” she said.
Recipients of Aid to Families
'with Dependent Children can
learn about the program
through the Department of
Social Services. If they decide to
participate, their caseworkers
will pair them with a faith
group or civic group of their
choosing.
Religious and community
groups can get information on
how to set up a team to help a
specific family.
Each team will include a coor
dinator, a mentor to contact the
family weekly, a special events
coordinator to plan birthday
parties and holidays, and a
financial planner to help with
household budgeting.
Members wdth specific skills
and experience will help in such
areas as tutoring, job skills, par
enting and transportation.