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One under God: Ministers of varying faiths meet monthly
Clergy members learn from each other, plan community projects
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ERIN O. SMITH | The Times Bill Coates, senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Gainesville, and the Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, rector at Grace Episcopal Church, share stories with one another at the First Baptist Church. Coates, Higginbotham and other Gainesville pastors meet once a month.
A Baptist preacher, a Methodist minister, a Presbyterian pastor and Episcopalian priest walk into an IHOP. What sounds to be a setup for a joke, really is far from it. More than a handful of clergy members from different denominations gather the second Wednesday of every month at the IHOP in Gainesville. They come together in hopes of uniting the community and knowing each other better.