News & Observer | newsobserver.com | Acts of Faith: 2004

July 9, 2004 Lisa Luack
For Ron Brooks, full time Chaplain of the Truck Stop Chapel at the intersection of I-85 and Peeler Road in Salisbury, NC, preaching to an empty church is nothing new. "If you don't feel like stopping by, then turn down to channel 12 and listen from your truck," he said into a CB radio before beginning the service. Brooks or one of the volunteer Chaplains leads a non-denomenational service in the Chapel and over the CB radio every night of at 7 p.m. and on Sundays at 10 a.m. Brooks has seen chapels empty and full; he has counseled an undercover FBI agent, a man with a gun, and married four couples. He has led more than 200 people to Christ, he said, telling truckers over the CB that being born again is like "lifting a truckload of sins off your shoulders."
About This Project


Ethan Hyman
"Acts of Faith" explores the different belief systems that co-exist in the Triangle area. Ten years of heavy migration has brought many new faiths to the region, turning the Bible Belt home of Billy Graham into a spiritual coat of many colors. Mosques, Buddhist and Hindu temples, Sikh Gurudwaras, synagogues and scores of Christian churches have become spiritual and social centers for a radically changing population. The demographic shift has pushed congregations to find innovative ways to keep their members while attracting new arrivals. "Acts of Faith" was born as a way to show this new religious diversity and analyze the role spirituality plays in people's daily lives.


Pailin Wedel
When covering an event for Acts of Faith, we look for situations that evoke strong emotion and try to bring readers into the moment. Though holidays and major celebrations are important, we also look for unexpected expressions of faith and quieter moments of solitary exploration. We hope to give readers insight into the breadth and depth of faith by showing how people incorporate it into their everyday lives.


Ted Richardson
For two years, Sher Stoneman and Susana Vera produced this column. In 2004, they handed it over to Ethan Hyman, Scott Lewis and Lisa Lauck. In 2005, Ted Richardson replaced Scott Lewis on this project. In 2006, Pailin Wedel replaced Lisa Lauck.

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