Three Chairs for the Baptists

course and

invites them to come to his church some Sunday. Not too many

weeks thereafter and just as services are starting, they show

up.

Attendance was good in the small Methodist church and there

wasn't a pew

available. Several church members were already seated on

folding chairs. When the minister, just starting the service,

saw the three Baptist deacons

enter, he leaned down from the pulpit and whispered to the

nearest usher,

"Please get three chairs for my Baptist friends in the

back."

The usher, hard of hearing, leaned closer and said, "I beg

your pardon?"

"Get three chairs for my Baptist friends," repeated the

minister. The usher strained closer with a puzzled look still

on his face.

Once more the minister tried, speaking slowly and

distinctly. "Three chairs.

For the Baptists," he enunciated.

The usher's face lit up in comprehension, and he turned to

face the

congregation. "All right, everybody," he called out to the

assembled

worshipers. "Three cheers for the Baptists!"