Posted on Sunday, January 3, 2021 at 8:39 am
A screenshot from Rev. Rick Watsonâs Dec. 20 sermon on Facebook Live.
By Barry Dalton
bdalton@vandalialeader.com
Standing behind the lectern, Rev. Rick Watson glides his fingers over a braille keyboard like a virtuoso pianist playing an uplifting hymn. As he delivers his sermon, his comforting baritone speaking voice sounds like someone you might hear on Sunday radio.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Watson has only been in town since late November, but heâs already been embraced by his new church family at the First Presbyterian Church of Vandalia.
âThe first Sunday he preached,â says long-time church volunteer Ann Carter, âI was sitting off to the side where I could see. So I could see his hands moving, and I was fascinated.âÂ
9 & 10 News
December 11, 2020
Have you ever burned your fingers on a hot glue gun? How about while gluing hundreds of cotton balls to a sweatshirt? While a crabby toddler clings to your leg? All in an effort to transform your crabby, sippy cup wielding toddler into a sweet and innocent lamb for your church’s annual Sunday school Nativity pageant?
Well friends, that was me, about 17 years ago. I signed my son up to play a lamb thinking the costume on a wandering toddler would be both appropriate to his age and easy to make. My son Trey nailed the wandering toddler portion of our Sunday school pageant, but the costume turned out to be, well, a nightmare. Aside from the burned fingers, the cotton balls were a huge mistake. I am not a crafty individual, hence the cotton balls glued to a sweatshirt. What I didn’t realize was how the cotton would stretch. When Trey walked by a Christmas tree, the cotton stayed on the tree. When he sat on his Grandma’s lap, the cotton stuck to the