We were hosted by Pam and Ed Bishop. Pam prepared three types of chili including traditional chili with beef, a white chicken chili and a spicy chili with andouille sausage. It was a feast! 
Jim and Pat Shearon visited with our teacher Lewis Myers. 
Lewis and Toni served for many years as missionaries in Vietnam. Lewis later assumed a leadership role with the IMB home office staff until his retirement. Now Lewis teaches the Mustard Seed class. He and Toni continue to work with Vietnamese congregations all over the US.
Harry and Debbie Slaydon are some of those faithful people who are always there.
The Gospel Chicken House is an old chicken house that has been turned into a concert venue. Every Saturday night they feature different gospel music groups. 
The first group to perform was the "Roosters" as in the Gospel Chicken House Roosters. The man on the far right, Ray Pollard, was a part of the original gospel music group that started performing at the Chicken House thirty-six years ago.
The next group was "The River of Life", a family singing group from North Carolina. 
The atmosphere was decidedly laid back. The dog is a permanent fixture at the Gospel Chicken House. He was enjoying an onion ring courtesy of one of the patrons.
Pat Shearon and Charlotte were doing their best to have a good time! 
The final group to perform was "Amy Ladd and Friends." The subtitle on the program was "Picking and Praying" and the picking was excellent. It was a lot of fun to to get together with our Sunday School class. It is hard to get to know people on Sundays because the focus is on bible study and worship, as it should be. But visiting in people's homes and spending time talking and eating gives you a chance to see another dimension of people's personalities. I think it is called fellowship.
The Gospel Chicken House was also an enjoyable experience. The group that I enjoyed was "Amy Ladd and Friends." Amy is a quality performer, she is very good at engaging the audience and the group provided excellent picking and strumming.
The Chicken House does not charge admission, they take up an offering to give to the performing groups. They sell refreshments to pay for operating costs. They did share prayer requests and had a devotional time. In many ways it was like going to a country church, but the focus was on the music and not on the sermon. It does remind me that there are many varieties of Christian experience. There is not one best way to worship the Lord. The group there tonight was there to celebrate their faith and commitment to the Lord.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3: 16-17
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