A Preacher Exchange

Ben Alexander shares smiles with teens from South Tryon Community Church after the revival.

On a steamy Sunday morning three weeks before their internships ended, Moses and Alexander preached at each other’s home bases: Moses at Myers Park United Methodist, Alexander at South Tryon Community Church.

Moses, a veteran preacher who feels comfortable speaking in front of large audiences without notes, chose his message from Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

In the comfortable worship hall with soaring ceilings, plush carpet and padded chairs, he talked about how God often becomes personal only when we are in the midst of a crisis.

He described returning to Ghana and meeting a man who had a remarkable grasp of the difference between the way many Americans and Ghanaians view the Lord.

“He said, ‘Americans believe in God, but we depend on God.’”

The worship style at Myers Park was quiet and polite, but the crowd seemed touched by Moses’ words. E-mails poured in the next day thanking him for his inspirational message.

For Alexander, that Sunday morning’s sermon at South Tryon was the second he’d ever preached. And the environment was far different than it was at Myers Park a few weeks before, when he’d preached his first sermon.

In the humble church with institutional tile floors, simple wooden pews and a sometimes shaky sound system, he spoke about the need for congregants to share their talents, time and tithes with the church and their community.

He talked frankly about the problems that plagued the neighborhood, the drugs and poverty, but urged worshippers to help make things better.

“Sometimes we’re called by God and we’re afraid,” he told the South Tryon congregation, who responded with forceful “Amens.”

“It’s not about changing the world with one fell swoop ..” said Alexander. “If we give our lives over to God, we just have to be obedient. God will take care of the rest.”

Cristina Bolling is a freelance writer living in Charlotte, N.C.

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