"It's 11:15 and he's still preaching?"

Sunday morning service in my home church is the subject of much jest. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Sunday morning church, but in Mt Vernon? It is strictly from 10am-11:30, and if the minister is still preaching at 11:15 and hasn't given any indication of closing, the natives get a leetle restless. Mt Vernonites take their Sunday lunch and Sunday naps very, very seriously.

So when April asked me if the Naz was short for something denominational, I had a sudden flashback to the past ... when our church was located the furthest from Ponderosa, and then later Ryan's, and it was a race to get down Coshocton Avenue before First Nazarene let out. Not necessarily to get the good seats, but to get seats at all. Because First Nazarene had (still has?) a police officer who would stop oncoming traffic to let First Nazarene traffic out. Woe to the last few cars in our group who chatted a little too long in the parking lots.

"The Nazarenes beat us again!" we would moan in dispair, gnashing our teeth and resolving to get behind the preacher a little more next Sunday in hopes of ending service sooner.

So deeply ingrained is in me to "beat the Nazarenes to lunch" that I still smile secretly when I'm in a restaurant before a group of other well-dressed Christians come in.