Some 50,000 black Baptists opened a week of faith and fellowship with hymns and hugs Monday in uptown Charlotte.
Let other denominations play politics and debate policies at their conventions, Tennessee pastor Lawrence Ragland said before a concert kicking off the 96th Congress of Christian Education. He and thousands more have come to town for workshops and worship - and to enjoy the brotherhood of believers.
"The essence of the Congress is the chance to come together to be with our Baptist brothers and sisters from across the country," said Ragland, director of student ministries at Lane College in Jackson, Tenn. "It's a chance to be together with God's people. It's just good to be around here."
City officials are calling the convention Charlotte's largest ever, which explains the traffic jam involving church buses and commuters outside the convention center at evening rush hour.
Hotels are packed as far away as Salisbury, Statesville and Rock Hill. McDonald's Cafeteria on Beatties Ford Road near Interstate85 - a landmark in Charlotte's black community - reported serving several hundred more meals than usual on Monday. Charlotte Convention & Visitors Bureau head Melvin Tennant, whose office predicts the convention will generate $9.5million for the area, sent a fax to restaurants and hotels Monday urging harried waitresses and other workers to maintain their Southern hospitality.
Inside the convention center, smiles already dominate as conventioneers have come by plane, bus, van and car for 200-plus classes today through Friday. Among the topics to be explored this week: ministering to inmates, caring for AIDS patients, developing programs for the rural church, starting nursing ministries in the local church, and guidelines for building new sanctuaries and fellowship halls.
The convention is sponsored by the National Baptist Convention USA, the nation's largest African American religious group with 33,000 churches and up to 8million members.
Conventioneers will also fan out into the city for three events being organized by the Rev. James Barnett's Stop the Killing crusade. An outdoor service and dinner is planned at 4p.m. Wednesday at Southside Homes off South Tryon Street. A march through north Charlotte begins at 6:30p.m. Thursday at 18th and Allen streets. Another outdoor service is scheduled for 4p.m. Friday at Parker Heights Apartments off Remount Road.
First, though, came a time for praising God and seeing old friends as a multiracial choir of 300 area residents performed hymns and spirituals Monday evening. As the choir sang "Koinonia" (You're My Brother), thousands rose to embrace fellow concertgoers.
That's the spirit that brought Mattie Walker to her 15th Congress. A preacher's wife from New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, she's eager to attend workshops to help her become a better wife, neighbor and Christian. But she's just as eager to draw inspiration from the friends she sees once a year, when the Congress opens for business.
"I like meeting old friends," she said, "telling what we've done from last year to this year. Oh, I'm always excited! Yeah! Sure! I look forward to this from one year to the next."