Gennesaret, Massachusetts

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, [Christ] stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake . . . and he entered into one of the ships . . . and he sat down and taught the people out of the ship.

--Luke 5:1-3

It was sweltering hot on Sunday afternoon at North Hadley Pond. North Hadley, Mass.--the thermometer hit 92DEG in the shade. But 76 people, ranging from 84-year-old David Babb to seven-month-old Paul Holland, waited on folding chairs ranged along the bank with the 130-year-old Congregational Church behind them. At length, three rowboats rounded the point, each bearing a minister rowed by a teen-aged boy. They stopped in a line, about 35 ft. offshore.

The Rev. Francis Drake of Leverett, Mass., stood in shirtsleeves and sunglasses for the opening prayer. The Rev. George Condon of Pelham, Mass., read the Biblical account of how Christ calmed the storm. The Rev. Philip Steinmetz of Ashfield, Mass., braced himself in the boat and gave the sermon.

"As I stand here in this boat," he said, "I'm obeying the laws of nature, whether I realize it or not. The laws of nature are self-enforcing. If I tried to throw my weight around in this boat, the results would be quite spectacular. In the same way, offenses against moral law are self-enforcing."

It was not quite like the lake of Gen-nesaret. but the 76 hot people of North Hadley were glad they had kept up their local tradition which the Congregationalists started in 1935. "Out here in the open," explained Steinmetz, "we are made to realize more fully that God is still running the world." Said one of the congregation: "It makes you feel--well, sort of closer to things."

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