Ben Alexander joins hands and prays with members of South Tryon Community Church after worship.

Charlie Rivens, the frank-talking and spirited pastor who leads South Tryon, welcomes about 100 worshippers at 11 a.m. each Sunday. The church provides community programs including camps for neighborhood children, prisoner re-entry support, and free hot lunches three days a week.

It usually takes 15 years to forge close bonds between two congregations, says Kathy Mansfield, a Myers Park member who leads the advisory board of trustees for South Tryon Community Church. While work remains to be done, she says Alexander’s and Moses’ efforts have made the relationship “stronger than it was before.”

“When I see people like Ben and Robert, I feel very hopeful for the future of the church,” says James Howell, who is the senior pastor at Myers Park and mentored the students during their internships. “They have such humility, a kindness, a real quiet strength.”

Miles apart, worlds away

Less than four miles apart, the Myers Park and South Tryon neighborhoods seem worlds away. Mercedes and BMWs are common in Myers Park, where the average house costs more than $500,000. In the South Tryon neighborhood, many residents are lucky to own a car.

Moses challenges youth from South Tryon Community Church and Myers Park UMC at a youth revival. The week-long event at Tryon Community Church culminated in a Saturday gathering at a local park that drew more than 100 people.

Myers Park continues to contribute most of the funding for South Tryon. A mentoring program pairs high school students from Myers Park with younger South Tryon congregants. The two churches have joined forces for mission trips.

But Moses and Alexander wanted the relationship to be closer.

They started a Monday lunchtime Bible study at South Tryon and invited adults from both congregations to attend.

Moses led teens from both churches on two mission trips during the summer; one to Biloxi, Miss., the other to Houston, Texas.

He organized and led a four-day revival in July for youth from both churches, and he oversaw a camp for children featuring local artists and musicians.

Moses worries about the South Tryon kids, some of whom he fears feel they have nothing to contribute to society. He worries they’ll end up like so many others in their neighborhood, on drugs or in jail.

“For the most part, Myers Park has been on the giving end. They donate, they fund,” Moses says. “It is very difficult (for South Tryon) to always be on the receiving end.

“Part of my struggle was to get folks from Myers Park to feel they can receive things from South Tryon.”

At first, Moses couldn’t get past the disparities during the seven-minute drive between the two churches.

“It sometimes leads to feelings of bitterness and depression,” he wrote family and friends. Later, he came to a realization.

“It doesn’t help to complain,” says Moses. “You just have to get out there and work.”

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