Recently my wife accepted a job as secretary of our church in Arizona. The former church secretary worked there over thirty years. Items that should've gone out long ago needed to be discarded: decayed rubber bands, stacks of old bulletins and carbon paper.

Deep inside one drawer my wife found three bound volumes of church bulletins. To her surprise they had been printed by Highland Presbyterian Church, Birmingham AL, well-known to both of us since childhood. Each volume contained bulletins for every Sunday in 1959, 1961 and 1962. Many include welcome messages from Frank M Barker, Chairman of the Session. (Frank M Barker Jr, pastor of our former church in Alabama, celebrated his 80th birthday on January 31st.)

Birmingham is 1,800 miles away, but here's the connection. The widow of Covenant's founding pastor is still with us at age ninety-eight. Nora Lou still invites friends to dinner at her home and hosts card games for the ladies every Thursday. She remembers that her husband once served as associate pastor a church in Alabama. Indeed, Pastor Esty's name does appear on bulletins as associate pastor of Highland Presbyterian. Evidently he brought these volumes to Arizona many years ago.

On a different note, Arizona celebrated its state centennial on February 14th. Some newscasters noted that Arizona became a Confederate territory on February 14th, 1862. To celebrate the arrival of Confederate troops in Tucson 150 years ago (Feb 28th), we've invited friends over for a classic Southern dinner next Saturday.

Any suggestions?

Parting note --
When the church office door opens now, the chimes play "Dixie".