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Iredell ministers unite for weekly meetings
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Published: March 22, 2009
Since fall of 2008, a group of seven ministers has been getting together Wednesday mornings to discuss religious and secular matters.
The usual attendees at these mini-ecumenical meetings include the Revs. Fred Clarkson, Kenneth Saunders, William Battermann, John Tucker, Don McCann, John Milholland and Canessa Stafford.
Denominationally, Clarkson and Saunders are Episcopalians, Battermann and Tucker are Lutherans, and McCann, Milholland and Stafford are Presbyterians.
The basic premise is that Christians, regardless of denomination, have much in common and much is to be gained through cooperation and mutual understanding. It follows that ministers, pastors, priests or however they are called, face similar situations in dealing with their respective congregations as well as in matters of faith.
Since the first of this month, the group, which has no formal name, has been getting together at Christ Episcopal Church in Cleveland.
The senior member of the group is William Battermann, 67, who has been a member of the clergy for 41 years and at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Salisbury since 1998. He is also licensed in the Episcopal Church and holds a doctorate from the Virginia Theological Seminary (Episcopal).
An idea suggested by Batterman has been adopted by five members of the group, who will be guest speakers at each other's congregations during the Lenten season. On Wednesday evening following Sunday's worship service, five congregations will hear a different sermon than the one they heard Sunday morning from their own minister, by a member of the group who will use the same text as was used Sunday, and hopefully, they will get a slightly different slant on what the scripture is saying.
McCann, 54, is new to the ministry and Third Creek Presbyterian Church in Cleveland is his first church. He has been there since July of last year. He entered the ministry after a career in law enforcement in New Jersey.
"We share common concerns," he said. "Sometimes it's rather mundane matters dealing with administration.
"Ken Saunders and I called a few people back in August or September of last year — I just got here in July — and offered to have them join with us, strictly on an informal basis, to chat with each other, review the lectionary text that we will be using for the basis of up-coming sermons. Most of us follow what is known as 'The Revised Common Lectionary.'
"Whoever hosts usually puts on a pot of coffee and has some pastries to go with it," he continued. "We usually wind up about 11:30 and then some of us may continue and go to lunch together."
Saunders hosted the Wednesday this writer joined the group. The Revs. Stafford and Clarkson were not able to attend.
Father Clarkson, 38, is the vicar at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Salisbury and also at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Cooleemee. Born in Colombia, he grew up in the United States and received part of his education at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Bilingual, he conducts a service in English on Sunday mornings at each of the churches, and a Spanish service at 1 p.m. at St. Matthews. Ordained in 2008, he worked in banking before entering the ministry.
According to Clarkson, "The group is basically an embodiment of the body of Christ as the wider Church, since it allows me to see beyond my denominational experience."
Stafford, 50, has been the minister of Bethesda Presbyterian Church in eastern Iredell, where she was ordained. Bethesda is her first call.
Prior to receiving the call, she was a social worker in Alamance County and did similar work in West Virginia and Durham County, N.C.
Being the only female in the group so far, she feels she brings a slightly different viewpoint to discussions.
"I am a voice from the edge," she says. "I see things a little differently than my brothers in faith. Jesus is all about those who are at the margins of our society, those who society casts to the side. He speaks to people like me, those in the margins, women, children, the disabled, the elderly and the imprisoned. The Gospel can sound different from the edge."
Saunders, 42, has been rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Cleveland since July 2007 and was a custom builder before he entered the ministry.
Saunders remarked on the informality of the group.
"The last thing we want," he said, "is to be formal. We have no officers, we are colleagues who support one another, a group with similar interests who tend to bounce ideas off each other. There's so much good scholarship here and a wide range of experiences that we feed off one another."
For instance, a biblical text mentioning Corinth, a trade center in the ancient world, was compared to present-day Las Vegas, with the result that someone suggested that at the Corinth city limits there might have been a sign that read, "What happens in Corinth, stays in Corinth."
Much of the group's time is spent in discussion of how God's word, parts written at least 2,000 years ago, can best be made relevant to today's congregations. Members of the group frequently refer to books they have read, films and TV shows.
Millholland, 62, also serves two congregations, Fifth Creek Presbyterian Church in Cool Spring, and Old Providence Presbyterian Church a few miles away in Rowan County.
Born in Alabama to an old Iredell County family — his grandfather was the county's clerk of court — he has served the two congregations for 22 years. Prior to being ordained in 1986, he was an accountant. He is also a part-time instructor in religion at Mitchell Community College. Milholland frequently recounts anecdotes regarding his religion students to the group.
When asked about the value of the meetings, Milholland said, "The meetings have made me a more disciplined preacher. By Wednesday morning, I've read the lectionary texts and some commentaries. I'll go to the group to hear their take on the texts and afterwards I'll have a a good idea of what shape my sermon will take."
John Tucker, 48, has served the congregation at Lebanon Lutheran Church in Cleveland since 2006. He was ordained in 1994. He expressed his feeling about the Wednesday morning get-together another way by saying, "There is a sense of God's spirit in this bunch."
"All of us have voiced this at one time or another," said McCann, "that we really miss the gathering when we can't be there."
Saunders commented that each member of the group respects each others' traditions, and they would welcome other ministers, as well as a Jewish rabbi or a Muslim imam.
Three more area ministers have expressed an interest in joining the group. Ken Saunders said that he can be reached at (704) 278-4652.
O.C. Stonestreet is a retired Iredell County history teacher and works in the newsroom at the R&L. He can be reached at ostonestreet@statesville.com.
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