Rev. Christy Thomas: Friendship Baptist Church lives up to name

“The hour-and-40-minute service passed as though I had been there only a few moments.” My companions and I had the same reaction after discovering that the people of Friendship Baptist Church in The Colony actually lived up to their name, offering friendly greetings, hugs, handshakes and an experience of deep worship this past Sunday.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Denton church seeks to increase its flock

They needed $14 million two years ago; this past Sunday, they only needed $2.4 million to see their vision come fully to life.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Joyful music fills service at New York temple

NEW YORK CITY — I was delighted when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 122, NKJV)

DRC

Refuge on the range

It was the same dream every night. She was standing at one end of an arena inside the center of a large barn, watching children as some of them rode horses and others groomed them. She watched for several minutes before making her way outside, where she saw three buildings in a U-shape around the barn.

Rev. Christy Thomas / Combined service a unique morning of worship

Trinity Presbyterian Church, 2200 N. Bell Ave. in Denton, shuttered its doors Sunday. Anyone seeking to worship there would have found an empty parking lot, no greeters, no worship about to begin.

Pastor has long served church’s elders

The Rev. Cliff Feeler has spent the last 25 years in Denton doing just about everything with the oldest members of First Baptist Church of Denton.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Denton Bible Church delivers slick service

A very lovely woman greeted me and my friend after the 9 a.m. worship service at Denton Bible Church, located on University Drive east of Texas Woman’s University. She eagerly asked, “What did you think about it?”

Rev. Christy Thomas: Denton church service a good experience

After attending multiple worship services this summer where children were excluded, it was a refreshing delight for me to be in one where children were obviously welcome and heard.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Informal worship session opens eyes to God’s grace

It didn’t exactly set out to be a time of worship. It was simply a social evening where I joined a friend, my friend’s daughter, her husband and their two children for a cookout.

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Church won’t be silent on HIV

A local church will make free HIV testing available during an afternoon program designed to boost understanding and awareness of the virus that can destroy a person’s immune system, making them vulnerable to deadly infections.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Church teaches moving from fear to confidence

LOS ANGELES — My first hint that this might be a radically different place to go to church was the fact that I had to make a reservation to attend.

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AP

Rev. Christy Thomas: Message rings loud

LOS ANGELES — As always, I arrived early. A friend and I had driven 40 miles to the center of Hollywood to attend the 9 a.m. service of Saddleback Church’s Hollywood site, at the Hollywood Palladium theater.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Whale of a time provides insight

MONTERREY, Calif. — We listened to the preliminaries while still outside the sacred space, the sanctuary. About 35 people ranging in age from 8 to mid-70s had shown up. Groups of two to four had slowly gathered, but did not enter into conversation with others.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Tightly scripted worship leaves question lingering

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — “Matter is mortal error.” I’m seeking to understand this phrase after attending worship at First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Thousand Oaks, California.

Rev. Christy Thomas: West Coast gigachurch puts muscle in message

SAN DIEGO — “No children or babies are allowed in the sanctuary and the youth go to a different place.” With those words disturbingly ringing in my ears, since I think children should observe their parents engaged in worship, I was escorted into the cavernous “sanctuary” of The Rock Church (www.sdrock.com), the gigachurch founded by Miles McPherson, former defensive back for the San Diego Chargers and former drug addict, now turned motivational speaker/pastor/author.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Think of ways to help kids in border crisis

Anyone close to news sources knows about the increasingly large number of unaccompanied children making their way to the United States through our permeable borders. They make the trek by God only knows what horrific means of transport.

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Rev. Christy Thomas: Faithful should know about their religion

“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”

Religion Calendar

Song and signs

Attendees at the annual Jehovah's Witness Summer Convention join in a song by signing in American Sign Language on Saturday at the Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses west of Denton. The participants in Denton were connected through a video feed to a larger gathering at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The three-day convention ended Sunday.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Making Denton home a superb decision

Eight years ago, I arrived in Krum as the next pastor of the United Methodist Church there. If I remember rightly, I told members on my first Sunday that we would not stay in their crumbling building any longer.

DRC file photo

Convention focuses on signing the Word

About 1,800 people will converge on the Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses near Denton for a three-day program presented in American Sign Language.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Impossible to separate religion from politics

A friend of mine who has quite a knack for political analysis wrote this about the growing crisis in Iraq: “The problem is that elections don’t work very well in places that do not have a homogeneous population, especially if they have no history of democratic institutions. If you count forced relocation as a kind of genocide, what happened in Europe after the Treaty of Versailles poured democracy over everything was about as big an episode of genocide as the world has ever seen.”

Rev. Christy Thomas: Celebrate the love that fathers provide

The little girl, perhaps 5 years old, happily danced around the edge of the beautiful lake high up in Rocky Mountain National Park at the end of a long and grueling hike.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Kids’ summer vacations different than in the past

It’s summer vacation time for school children. And what will they do all summer? I see lots of criticism of the highly scheduled regime of our youth and children today, with their summers stuffed with camps and organized sports and other enrichment activities. This criticism is generally coupled with nostalgia for long, lazy summer vacations.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Stop and remember this Memorial Day

Our memories make us, inform us, shape us. They can fill us with the warm glow of love given and returned, of special joys and experiences. They can also burden us with a sense of obligation or make us cringe with shame.

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Police offer free anti-crime training

A special conference to help local churches and other faith-based organizations handle crime and safety issues is being offered by the Denton police.

AP

Rev. Christy Thomas: ‘Locke’ holds lessons

What does it cost to do the right thing? Especially when doing the right thing means your whole life comes tumbling down around you? A whole life that is good, well-lived, and couples business expertise and success with the respect of the larger community?

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In praise of freedoms

Hundreds of people came — from homes and government offices, schools and businesses, Christian churches and Jewish ministries, the military, police and fire stations — to lift up special prayers Thursday at the Courthouse on the Square as part of the 63rd National Day of Prayer.

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To tell us about your event or meeting, visit DentonRC.com and click on “Let Us Know” for our online forms.

Service aims to bridge faiths

Denton will have two services Thursday on the National Day of Prayer. One service — scheduled at noon outside the Courthouse on the Square — is the most recognized in the area. It is led each year by Denton County Christian pastors, lay leaders and guests. The second service — an interfaith service at 7 p.m. at First United Methodist Church — will be led by pastors of the Denton Faith Alliance.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Jazz best musical metaphor for church

Today, the increasingly famous Denton Arts & Jazz Festival kicks off. I can hardly wait. Several years ago, I offered a message comparing the church to several different kinds of musical groups. I showed video snips ranging from genuinely awful beginner bands to superb choral/professional orchestra combinations.

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To tell us about your event or meeting, visit DentonRC.com and click on “Let Us Know” for our online forms.

Long look back

Denton singer and composer Lanelle Blanton looked to the United States’ past to create Promised Land, the fourth cantata she has created through Trinity Presbyterian Church.

Rev: Christy Thomas: Discriminatory practices in marketplace wrong

It is my understanding that some in Texas want to enact a bill that would do the same thing as the controversial one in Arizona would have done.

Religion Calendar

To tell us about your event or meeting, visit DentonRC.com and click on “Let Us Know” for our online forms; e-mail to drc@dentonrc.com; fax to 940-566-6888; or mail to Page 2 Calendar, Denton Record-Chronicle, 314 E. Hickory St., Denton, TX 76201.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Stories inspire people in variety of ways

On the first day of the Thin Line film and music festival, I joined a packed crowd to watch When We Were All Broncos, a documentary about the end of segregation in Denton.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Dealing with poverty is everyone’s problem

Imagine this scenario: You and your family are, as are most people in the U.S., what is called “asset poor.” That is, if family income suddenly disappeared, you would have inadequate reserve cash to live even at the poverty level for three months ($1,962.50 per month for a family of four) and stay current with your “must-pay” bills.

Religion Calendar

To tell us about your event or meeting, visit DentonRC.com and click on “Let Us Know” for our online forms; e-mail to drc@dentonrc.com; fax to 940-566-6888; or mail to Page 2 Calendar, Denton Record-Chronicle, 314 E. Hickory St., Denton, TX 76201.

Religion Calendar

To tell us about your event or meeting, visit DentonRC.com and click on “Let Us Know” for our online forms; e-mail to drc@dentonrc.com; fax to 940-566-6888; or mail to Page 2 Calendar, Denton Record-Chronicle, 314 E. Hickory St., Denton, TX 76201.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Return to discipline of periodic fast

Over Christmas, I saw Philomena, a well-done movie of evil masquerading as holiness, misguided good intentions, the need for closure, the temptation for revenge and the freedom of forgiveness.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Sad Christmas music helps us to find the joy

I wrote this column last year and it turned out to be a huge hit on my blog, so I decided to run it again this year.

Rev. Christy Thomas: Worship is best when people are together

We all know what happened last weekend. Everything shut down. By Saturday morning, clergy were worriedly conversing with one another. Most of us have never canceled a church service before. We show up no matter what.

Gospel brunch to raise funds for expansion

Fred Moore Day Nursery School is holding its fifth annual gospel brunch this month, with funds raised going toward a planned school expanions and upgrades that will allow 25 additional children up to age 2 to be served.