Words & Works

P:The 166th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (northern) voted unanimous approval of a plan to unite its 2,581,580-member denomination with two other U.S. Presbyterian groups -- the 718,791-member Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (southern) and the 2 2 2,201-member United Presbyterian Church of North America. Next steps in the merger: approval by two-thirds of the U.S.A. Presbyterians' 257 regional presbyteries, similar approval by the General Assemblies and presbyteries of the other two denominations.

P:The Long Run Association of Baptists (120 Baptist churches and missions near Louisville, Ky.) announced that it was having an enthusiastic response to its sponsorship of major-league baseball game broadcasts over Louisville Station WGRC. Sample commercial: "How about joining the Lord's team and playing the game of life as it should be played?"

P:Methodist Layman Everett Mills Hosman, who has been training church ushers for about ten years, told an interdenominational meeting of church ushers in Memphis, Tenn. that "ushers can louse up the service or make it more worshipful." No good usher, said Hosman, uses strong after-shave lotion, wets his thumb when handing out bulletins, or grasps a lady around the waist or by the arm in showing her to her pew. Expert Hosman's advice on how to get people to sit up front: don't give out the bulletin right away, but use it as "bait" to lure back-pew addicts down the aisle. Added Hosman: "Ushering is not a job for women." Reasons: their high heels slow them down; they can't open and close windows quietly, or carry out hefty brethren who become ill.

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