Abundance at Anathoth *Adapted from “Race and Reconciliation in
Cedar Grove,” which aired July 7, 2010, on North Carolina Public
Radio WUNC 91.5 FM The farming town of Cedar Grove, N. C., has
been home to both African-Americans and whites for generations.
But until recently, many people in the community preferred to
keep their social and religious lives separate. This is the
story of how a tragedy changed that. Pastor Grace Hackney is a
tall woman with a gentle smile who loves being a minister.
Hackney didn’t follow her calling until later in life, after
working as a teacher and raising two children. When she
graduated from Duke Divinity School in 2003, her first
assignment was to the historic congregation of Cedar Grove
United Methodist Church. “After living in northern Chatham
County and going to school at Duke, I thought I had a good sense
of what life in North Carolina was like, but I didn’t,” says
Hackney. “It was like coming to a different country. This is a
very different part of North Carolina.” North