Local pastor offers alternative to post-Thanksgiving shopping craze

Carlton Baptist pastor Dwight Duhon and his congregation want to offer a “peaceful presence” in the middle of the Christmas shopping craze, which officially begins next week with Black Friday.

“For many years it has been my tradition to hit the stores with everyone else on Black Friday,” Duhon said. “I recently felt that those adventures, for me at least, have come to an end. I was trying to think of something else to do and I came up with something that I believe is quite unique.”

Duhon and members of his congregation are hosting the first “Black Coffee Friday” at the church’s fellowship hall on Friday, Nov. 23, from 5 a.m. – noon.

“I am wanting to offer an alternative to the long lines and crazy traffic that is so much a part of that day,” he said. “The setting will be a coffee house style event with coffee, tea, Danishes, etc. We will be playing soft relaxing Christmas songs and will offer Internet access so that people can bring their laptops and do their shopping online, if they wish. For those that still want to go out and shop, we are hoping they will stop by either before or after and just decompress from the stress.”

Duhon has served as pastor at Carlton Baptist for the past six years and recently finished his Master’s of Christian Ministry at McAfee School of Theology at Mercer in Atlanta.

And though his church is small, it has a long history of service to the community and Duhon hopes this will be an additional one that folks from all around will take advantage of. “You don’t have to go to church here or live in Carlton, this a free service we are offering to anyone who wants a quiet stress-free zone on that day,” Duhon said.

He said he once heard a fellow pastor and friend at a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship meeting say that she saw herself as a “fountain in a garden that provides a peace and a presence.”