What you probably know by now is that Tabernacle Baptist is a hidden church, an Edelweiss in the Fan. You have to search for it, to find it yourself, to work with it, and as you do, this rare little church begins to look and feel and smell like a beautiful flower. (I would like to say “sound” also, but flowers don’t make music like this one does.) I came to Tabernacle after moving here from Fairfax, Virginia, where I attended an Episcopal church. I visited several churches in the neighborhood and couldn’t find place to connect. Almost reluctantly, I attended Tabernacle, a church only a block away from where I live.
I will not forget that first service when I was certain that Sterling Severns, the almost humble minister dressed in ordinary business clothes, was speaking directly to me. I attended again to see if this phenomenon would occur a second time, and it did. From that point, I began attending the business meetings, the Wednesday night dinners and fellowship, Sunday school with the Welstead Class, and the choir, all major sources of joy to me. I was baptized just a year ago.
I also found that it was easy to give some of my time (I am retired, so I’m cheap) to the Food Pantry and Clothes Closet as the door keeper, and they call on me to occasionally drive the Burmese kids and their families to Sunday services and Wednesday tutoring. Tabernacle is a major part of my life, its members are my friends, and most importantly, I think that I am discovering what God wants me to do and Sterling still speaks directly to me.
– Chuck Pflugrath
