In preparation for the church story this week, John Ed Mathison of Frazer UMC, Lester Spencer of St. James UMC, Buddy Bell of Landmark Church of Christ, and Andy Hepburn of Taylor Road Baptist Church all met with me to talk about growth in east Montgomery and how it affected their churches. Those meetings went long, and they were so generous with their time. I learned a million fascinating things about the men and their churches, and I very much enjoyed talking with all of them.

A lot had to be left out of the story. Here are some interesting tidbits:

Lester Spencer's wife, Janeese, was once known as "the Lysol Queen." This is because, from June, 1996, to November, 1998, St. James held services into the Bell Road Y until their new church was built, at Vaughn and Ryan Road. She said "we used every inch of that space at the Y," and one of her groups met in the men's locker room. Before the people arrived, she would set up chairs and such, and also spray Lysol all over to cover the inevitable locker room smell.

When John Ed got to Frazer in 1972, he said, "to get a sandwich at noon, we had to go to Eastbrook." Eastbrook is 4.1 miles west of the church's location across from Eastdale Mall. He also remembers all the "coming soon" signs for Eastdale.

Landmark, now located on Halcyon Boulevard near Taylor Road, was once a neighbor of Frazer's on Atlanta Highway. In the early 90s, Landmark outgrew their 8 acres and offered it to Frazer. Frazer bought it, and the Landmark sanctuary became Frazer's first gym, complete with basketball courts and a nursery. Frazer kept the baptistery, though. The first time John Ed was there baptizing someone, he said he glanced through an interior window and saw on the backboards of all the basketball hoops "NO DUNKING." He wasn't sure what to do.

Taylor Road Baptist has big plans for their existing worship center when they move into the new one. The current one seats about 375, but is set up for their regular TV broadcasts. Pastor Hepburn told me that the space would be used for a youth center -- part arcade, part lounge, part campus ministry offices. The coolest part, I think, is that they're leaving the cameras and sound equipment in there so the youth can learn to broadcast/ make films/ record concerts/ anything else. A coffee shop will be adjacent to the center, in an existing kitchen.

I was very impressed with how community-focused all of these churches and their leadership are. One idea they all expressed was that people yearn for a place of belonging, and the churches yearn to provide that. If the church, which used to be in a community, is now creating the communities to which we belong, it's easy to see why the churches are being so proactive. From pre-schools to playing host to loads of support groups, educational programs -- it would take a book to sufficiently address the amount of congregational activity we have going on in Montgomery. People see a need, someone volunteers their time to address it, and the churches make it possible with space and other support.

And a BIG thanks to Frazer, St. James, Landmark and Taylor Road Baptist for letting me steal some time away from their clergy over the past couple weeks. I knew little about any of these churches before my editor assigned me this story.