The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 39

THE PANTAGRAPH FOCUS SECTION SATURDAY October 6, 2001 Hearts at Home Quick tips to help parents survive toddlers Page D4 in the v--v- Susan Rittenhouse Faith face of Sometimes it's best to leave phone at home ht AR -I'M JL I Mr fit' 1 jf.VC i tv tJn. i A PH- rA 1 -I' VI n. -f 1 vpi y4 I 3 By Pamela Lewis PANTAGRAPH STAFF BLOOMINGTON It may not be a lasting trend but attendance at many area churches has increased since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Epiphany Catholic Church in Normal averages 3,500 people at Saturday and Sunday Masses and has attracted at least 1,000 more the past several weeks.

Monsignor Tom Maloney believes the tragedy spurred people to re-evaluate the spiritual and moral aspects of their lives. "I think they are prioritizing their obligations, whether it's an obligation to watch a football game or go to church," he said. "They are choosing to attend Mass because we thank God for all the good things he has given us. I think people are a little more appreciative." The Rev. Howard Bowlin of St.

Matthew's Episcopal Church in Blooming-ton, said attendance is up considerably, about 25 percent. "For the last two Sundays it's been like Christmas and Easter. We've had both members and visitors," he said of the Sept. 16 and 23 services. Bowlin said one of his professors in seminary studied attendance trends in mainline churches and found numbers go up during a crisis and retreat when things stabilize.

"My take on this, which I said in my sermon, is that in hard times people say 'I need When everything is going great, the tendency is to say 'I am God, said Bowlin. The pastor said people have told him the recent tragedy is much different from the Vietnam War, which Bowlin said reshaped his life. "Parents and children are interacting differently than they were three weeks ago. Some of it is subtle, but there is a pro- found change. People are looking for some form of spirituality," he said.

Trinity Lutheran Church in Blooming-ton attracts about 1,000 people each Sunday and saw attendance spike to 1,300 Sept. 16. The following Sunday, attendance returned to normal. "With the gravity of events, people were looking to find stability. People wanted to know if they were OK with the Lord and if the country was going to survive," said the Rev.

Thomas Wirsing. "I've been a minister 22 years and have never seen this kind of response. I saw some with Desert Storm, but this was an attack on our homeland." About 230 people a week attend Mt. Pis-gah Baptist Church in Bloomington. That number climbed to 347 Sept.

16 and 325 the following Sunday. "We usually have five or six that have to watch the service on a TV in the basement, but we've had overflow crowds down there," said church secretary Rachel Rusk. First United Methodist Church in LeRoy saw numbers climb from 171 on Sept. 9 to 227 the Sunday after the attack. On Sept.

23, 198 attended. "We had a few new families, but most were members who don't attend frequently," said church secretary Janet Stein. Numbers were up significantly at Say-brook Christian Church, possibly due to President Bush's plea for prayers, said the Rev. Brent Zastrow. SEE FAITH NEXT PAGE My childhood friend Muriel Ann Glitzengelder recently went to a large, out-of-town wedding.

She couldn't wait to get back home and tell me the details. "Oh, it was a lavish reception. Simply to die for. You should have seen it. There must have been 500 people there," she said.

"And the bride was just gorgeous. Here, look at this picture." Muriel Ann handed me a photo. There was the radiant bride, dressed in a beautiful organza gown, surrounded by her parents and grandparents, with the proud bridegroom standing next to her. The happy couple was about to cut a colossal-sized wedding cake. I looked closer at the photo.

"Muriel Ann, in one hand the bride is holding the cake knife, and in the other hand she's holding a cell phone?" I looked up. "The bride is talking on the phone while she's cutting her wedding cake?" My childhood friend took back the photo. "Yes, her cell phone rang." Call me old-fashioned, but there are times when I turn off my cell phone. Church. Movies.

Funerals. I realize this puts me in the mass communication minority, but I think it's sometimes appropriate to be incommunicado. So, I was a little bewildered that a newly married bride would pose for wedding photos and talk on the phone at the same time. "Who on earth called her?" I wanted to know. From the photos, it looked like every relative, friend and kindergarten classmate was already at this reception.

Certainly, the caller had to be someone important. Over the next few days, I still wondered. I dubbed the wedding "the Nokia nuptials." Who was the bride chatting with? I informally polled my friends about the identity of the mysterious matrimony caller. Of the men I asked, 100 percent thought the caller was a family member who missed the wedding. They figured it had to be someone stranded at an airport or laid up in a hospital bed with a broken leg.

Strangely enough, my women friends also were unanimous. And it was no stranded great-aunt, they declared. It's obviously an old boyfriend. Here's how the conversation with a former flame might have unfolded: I "Hello? This is the new Mrs. Smith." "What? Hey, look honey, I've had a change of heart.

Whaddya say this Saturday we go out for dinner?" "Too late, Charlie. You'll never guess what I am doing at this very moment." "Aw, honey, you know I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry." "You don't know how sorry. You are so yesterday's news, Charlie." "But sweetie, how can I make it up to you?" "Find out what's left on the gift registry." Oh, these cell phones. They're everywhere.

I confess that having a cell phone gives me a feeling of security. Last month, I rented a wireless phone to take overseas, allowing me to call home while on vacation. This phone operated on a "non-North American" frequency that let me receive calls from the United States. The rate was high, $2 a minute, The past three weeks attendance increased by more than 1,000 at weekend Masses at Epiphany Catholic Church in Normal. Pantagraph photo illustrationDAVID PROEBER Ministers wrestle with what to say to church members but I felt safer knowing I could reach my family in an emergency.

Soon, we may be able to talk on a cell phone and then pitch it. Talk, then toss. Later this month, a California company plans to sell a phone for $30 that is disposable. The phone has 60 minutes of talk time, letting the user make calls, but not receive them. The handset has just two buttons "talk" and "end" and operates on voice-activated dialing.

Imagine making a call and then throwing away the telephone. (On purpose.) What will be the next develop Bible, book sales soar in days after attacks KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS Pocket-sized, giant-print and wide-margined for note-taking. All versions of Bibles are selling fast from $1.99 paperback New Testaments to $100 leather-bound King James editions. So are books by Christian authors and Christian books on tape, as well as books about Islam and war. The store manager at Berean Bookstore in Bloomington has noticed a small increase in Bible sales.

He also noticed more sales of prophecy books. "I kind of expected they would sell at the turn of the millennium but they didn't," said Adam Woodard. "I ordered extra and they're selling now. People are concerned about what's happening in the Middle East and prophecies focus on that." Bill Webb, owner of The Bread Basket in DeLand, will tell you that in most years, September is the slow month for Bible sales. He knows.

He has been selling them for 23 years. But the terrorists attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11 has awakened a yearning for spiritual solace, he said. "Our customers are very much focused on what has happened. People want answers for some pretty big questions," he said.

He hopes it's a sincere interest because there are answers there, he said. SEE SALES NEXT PAGE ment in technology? Maybe we'll be able those who have the least and decided to stick with the liturgy. "That's where we know Jesus will be, with those who are the least. Adding violence to violence doesn't get you peace. It's like stubbing your toe, getting mad, and kicking the chair," he said.

The following week, Williams received a letter from someone who hadn't been to church in a year, but had come because of the tragedy. "I felt it was the most truthful and helpful sermon I have heard," said the letter writer. "The comment made about us not trusting God was one I think that hit home with so many in the crowd as I surveyed their faces. We the people at Centennial as well as the people all over the world need God's wisdom in this trying time." The Rev. Scott Sherwood of First Church of the Nazarene in Bloomington, said that before the attack, he planned a sermon series about how God uses circumstances to snap people back on course.

"I decided God probably prepared us for this. But what impacted people more than the message were the songs, scriptures and testimonies," he said. SEE MINISTERS NEXT PAGE By Pamela Lewis PANTAGRAPH STAFF BLOOMINGTON Pastors are trained to handle tragedies. They give comfort when babies are stillborn, they conduct services when accidents claim teen-agers' lives, they hold the hands of hospital patients with serious illnesses. But Sept.

11 was different. "I'm finding my own attitude is just now starting to come around. I think I was just grieving. I'm finding my energy level is increasing" said the Rev. Randy Williams of Centennial Christian Church in Bloomington.

The days following the Sept. 11 attack, Williams said he worked hard on his upcoming sermon. He was looking for a way to give congregants a way to understand what motivates people to such hatred. "The Western world is an incredible threat to some Islamic people. My understanding is they're afraid our culture will destroy their families and they're absolutely right.

Look at what has happened to our families," he said. The week before the attack he preached from the book of Matthew on loving one's enemies. On Sept. 16 he planned to talk about caring for to call outer space. Oh, by the way, the person who rang up the bride as she was about to slice into wedded bliss was indeed a relative unable to attend the ceremony.

The male contingency was right again proving that men really are from Mars and women are from Venus. Let's just hope they have a good i Susan Rittenhouse is a Pantagraph columnist. Write to her in care of The Pantagraph, 301 W. Washington Bloomington, II 61702-2907..