Sunday Morning in Tupelo

When Was It Written
Birthdays are important milestones in the life of people. They are also important for churches. On Sunday, September 30, 2007, Trace Crossing celebrated its first birthday.  What had begun on Sunday, October 1, 2006 with 40 or so people in attendance had more than quadrupled.  This article was written simply to recount those early days of faith from one year ago.

Who Wrote It
Kevin Wood, Pastor



Sunday Morning in Tupelo
Sunday, September 24, 2006 was a rather quiet and uneventful day in Tupelo, Mississippi. Time ticked on just like it had for thousands of days before as people went about their usual business. Some folks slept past their normal waking time, delaying Sunday chores just a little bit longer. Some folks stirred a little earlier than usual to make their Sunday School class and worship service at their church of choice. Trains still trekked through Crosstown and cars still cruised down Gloster. A few babies were born at North Mississippi Medical Center. There were a handful of travelers who had exited US-45 or US-78 to take a peek at the birthplace of The King or peer through the window of Tupelo Hardware where he bought his first guitar. Some of the truly devoted even shed a tear thinking of the role the little hardware store had played in helping a little boy from Tupelo touch the world with his music and song. Life moved with a pulse and pace that this sleepy Southern town had come accustomed to on Sundays. And it was a normal Sunday - except for one small thing.

On the corner of the ICC Campus, thirty-five people or so had gathered for a day of praying together and preparing together as a newly formed church. The fledgling faith family worked to transform a public school building into a makeshift worship room. Some brewed coffee. Some setup chairs. A few folks handled the screen and sound system. But there were no worship songs that day. Not a single sermon was preached. It was simply a day of prayer. And once the transformation was complete, the 35 people joined hands in a circle around a room of 60 empty seats and did just that – they prayed. They prayed for the work ahead, but even more so they prayed for the people ahead – those who would be drawn to be a part of that faith family. That was the first day in the life of The Church at Trace Crossing.

Some of the people they prayed for that day were probably sleeping past their normal waking hour, putting off the day’s chores. Some of the people they prayed for that day had already stirred and were making their way to their church of choice, unaware that someday soon God would call them to join this new church to reach the community with a timeless message. Some of the people they prayed for were caught by the trains at Crosstown and some of them were cruising down Gloster. None of them knew that their lives would turn in a new direction because of the prayers being prayed around a room of empty chairs.

The prayers they said were stirred by a passion that far surpassed any tourists’ misguided emotion. The tears they shed were pleas for new birth and new life to begin not in a hospital but in a church. And this was the prayer of The Church at Trace Crossing on that first day – Father fill these chairs with people we can love. One week later 44 people gathered to hear the first chord being struck on a guitar as a new song stirred. 51 Sundays after that nearly 200 came. And just like that first day’s prayer around a room of empty chairs, the heart remains the same. God do not let us be a church that counts people – let us be a church where people count.

Still Prayin’

Kevin