wfn.org | Love Speaks Louder than Hate

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16-June-1998 
GA98050 
 
    Love Speaks Louder than Hate, Says 
     Pastor of Burned Presbyterian Church 
 
    by Julian Shipp 
 
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--Saying the fire that burned his church two years ago 
provided "the fertilizer that made us grow," the Rev. Larry Hill, pastor of 
Matthews-Murkland Presbyterian Church, delivered an inspiring message June 
16 during the Churchwide Redevelopment Training Network Luncheon. 
    On the night of June 6, 1996, a 13-year old teenager burned the 
historic, Charlotte, N.C. sanctuary. Presbyterian and nationwide support 
for the burned church was tremendous, culminating in a Moderator's 
Conference on Racial Reconciliation last June on the one-year anniversary 
of the fire, and financial contributions to date of $300,000 to be used for 
the construction of a new church. 
    Additionally, Hill said, several new church ministries have been 
established as a result of the fire, including a computer ministry to give 
computer training and access to those without it, a youth recreational 
program, an after school tutoring program, and a children's mentoring 
program. 
    "God used the fire that evening to help people who had been neighbors 
for years to learn each others' names," Hill said. "God used the fire to 
call us back to what we should be as the people of God." 
    Organized two years ago in conjunction with the National Ministries 
Division, the Churchwide  Redevelopment Training Network provides a diverse 
and inclusive web of relationships, support, and education for 
redevelopment churches, practitioners, governing body staff, and committee 
persons. 

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