What Is This Fuquay-Varina?
It seems I find myself in towns with names that require a tutorial.
This one’s pretty phonetic. Say it with me: Fooquay-Varina.
That’s right. And it’s in North Carolina. The incorporated town was once two towns separated by a rail line.
Their branding scheme is “A Dash of Difference.” Clever and accurate.
Why Am I Here?
My friend Ben, a former campus ministry colleague, invited me to speak to his small congregation in F-V.
Speak? More like do an entire roadshow in four days.
Here’s what I ended up doing (and let this be a promotion to you and your town):
Wed PM Intro talk: Just a Small Town Guy: Big Thoughts on Human Scale Living:
I told a story about my parents’ Ben Franklin store to get the folks in the mood for talking about the role proximity plays in knowing others and being known.
Thu PM Informal discussion with several friends at Ben’s house:
Greg, a member of a pirate singing group (!); Jeff, a software professional whom I had met in the late 80’s at Penn State; Scott, A law professor who specializes in bankruptcy; and my host Ben, assistant (interim) Pastor in the PCA with a PhD in theology from Westminster Seminary.
What a wonderful conversation we had while sipping beer and feeding a steady stream of roasted nuts and Jelly Babies into our systems.1
Sat. AM Workshop to discuss my book, Good Posture.
About ten very eager adults who had read my book steered us into a lively discussion on everything from common grace to college football fanaticism, God, evil, and I can’t even remember what else.
Sun. AM Sunday class: I Love Car: A Theological and Cultural Reflection on What Drives us
I talked from my years of synthesizing car culture fanaticism with the Bible. Piqued your interest? Stay tuned, I’ll deliver the notes soon in a separate dispatch.
Preaching in worship from Acts 14:8-18, “If You’re Happy And You Know It,” an examination of the message and method of Paul in preaching to pagans in Lystra (modern day Turkey). He points to the living God’s promiscuous kindness, shown in His holiness mixed with mercy to all of creation.
Growth or Gross?
Ben lives up in Raleigh, NC, about a half hour north of Fuquay-Varina.
The whole region is growing like crazy.
I was working at Cup-A-Joe near NC State University and overheard a conversation about the rapid development going on near the campus.
I struck up a conversation with one of the guys who was clearly in-the-know (and rather opinionated).
He’s disgusted with the “growth,” though his job has benefited from it. He’s a real estate appraiser.
This coffee shop is in a sweet building with tin ceilings, possibly an old hardware store, on a short scale that matches the residences behind it where this fellow lives.
He told me he’s “inches away” from selling out to the hordes of families paying top dollar for homes.
Meanwhile, his 30 year old favorite hangout is threatened with extinction, and in short order by the New Urbanist projects that are over-sized, bland, and cheaply constructed.
What’s worse is they are largely financed by outside sources getting in on the money rush.
Now, I’m definitely in favor of mixed-use projects, especially within town boundaries, but these monstrosities are not an improvement on the quality of life.
I said to him, “Sounds more like gross than growth.”
He agreed. The coffee and atmosphere will have been great while it lasted. I should’ve bought that t-shirt.
Leaving Sparks On The Ground
For me, it was plain fun, if not a bit tiring, to carry on such a busy agenda in the Carolinas.
Thankfully, my host lent me a bike and a fair amount of quiet time to explore.
I even managed an evening at United Skates of America in north Raleigh. Skating is wonderful outlet for me and a chance to meet happy people.
I’ll talk more about that, too, in an upcoming dispatch about my skate outings, the people I met, and why rollering is a superior form of recreation (and not just ‘cause I say so).
Tyler, who grew up in Lancaster and attends Ben’s church, went a long with me to the skating rink. I was surprised to meet him as well as Blake and Rachel who had been part of our Wheatland Church community about ten years ago.
Ben says that my time with his congregation will “leave sparks on the ground.”
He meant that my book, talks, and interactions seemed to confirm some inklings his people had about building bridges in the community, but had not felt free to express before.
The potential for the group is boundless considering that F-V has a conscious sense of place.
It’s close enough to Raleigh to be a bit of a bedroom community, but it’s far enough away to stake its claim as a human scale, historically unique, and friendly small town.
The improvements are incremental and not gross like the ones in Raleigh.
Perhaps this church will contribute to growth in a more holistic way: An inviting presence of God and a message of hope in Jesus, embodied in a family of people who are townsfolk.
I did my best to implant such ideas and hear what they’re doing, and it’ll be interesting to see how F-V fares in the next decade or so.
When I return, I’ll be looking for wildfires.
An English delicacy, I’m told, and one that figures into Dr. Who somehow but is lost on me because I’ve never watched the show, and the one episode I did try to watch was pretty dumb, and a huge fan of The Doctor told me that was the wrong place to start, but I must say the jellies are right down my alley.