Bill and Cathy Cox

Although my husband, Bill, and I have been lifelong church-goers, we had drifted away from attending church. Back in the 80s and 90s, we attended Forest Hills Presbyterian with our daughter, Crystal. She went to the after-school program at FHPC Learning Center and, later, participated in the youth group. But work and life got in the way and we stopped attending church.

Then, one afternoon as we were stopped by the school crossing guard, we saw a sign for a sunrise Easter service in front of the church. Bill and I came to that sunrise service and Rev. Dr. Ron Watson approached us after it was over and invited us to stay for the pancake breakfast. We stayed and, while talking with Claudia, we found a restored desire to return to church. Claudia is down-to-earth, loving and genuine. She is not only our pastor, she is our friend -the type of friend we can call anytime, for anything, and she will respond.

Our grandson, Hunter, has attended services with us and is very comfortable at FHPC. He loves Pastor Claudia. He has attended children’s church, but sometimes sits with us through the entire service. He also attended vacation Bible school last year and had a “blast!” Both Hunter and his little sister, Kaydance, participated in the Christmas program last December. Kaydance put her own spin on being an angel in the play and was enjoyed by many in the congregation.

Late last fall, Bill said he couldn’t remember if he had been baptized. He decided he wanted Claudia to baptize him. When I mentioned it to our daughter, Crystal, she said she wanted to be baptized and to have Hunter and Kaydance baptized as well. We all met with Claudia, and to make it a true family affair, I reaffirmed my faith with them on December 3, 2017. It was a proud, heart-warming moment for me to watch Bill, Crystal, Hunter and Kaydance being baptized together that day.

Thank you FHPC, Claudia and the congregation for being our church “home” and for making us all welcome!