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Article: Churches spruce up services, dress down in effort to boost attendance at Sunday night services.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- October 22, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Allison Kennedy
COLUMBUS, Ga._The band cranks up a song and folks in casual clothes mingle in.
A few teen-agers walk in and sit together, singing along to words projected on a large screen.
Then the yellow curtain parts in front of the baptismal pool, and the Rev. Andy Merritt _ the senior pastor at Edgewood Baptist Church in Columbus _ appears. He baptizes four people one at a time, the first a 5-year-old girl. He guides them gently backward into the water with his right arm.
Yes, the traditional Sunday night service is changing. People have more time constraints and busier schedules, and churches are having to find more ...