ANNA MONICA / L’Observateur / February 9, 2000

When my friend, Steve, invited me to join him to hear the speaker at New Wine Christian Church, I readily accepted. I knew the church, but I especiallyknew the principals involved. The principals are the Bernards, originally fromReserve, and a family I have known for many years.

Neil Bernard is the church’s very personable pastor. His has plenty ofsupport, not only from his wife, Angela, who ministers with him, but also from his brothers, Galen and Nathaniel, who maintain a very active interest in the church. Probably the most active and enthusiastic member of the familyis the mother of the Bernard brothers, Reah. She does the administrativework for Neil and leads other groups when needed.

A number of years ago we had prayer meetings in the Bernard home in Reserve. Reah was then a practicing hairdresser, and her shop provided anideal place to meet. Besides worshipping together, some of us formedlifetime friendships through our gatherings. There was a time that the lastthing I did after getting into bed was pick up the phone and talk to Reah. Shewas always one to be quick to profess her faith, share a laugh or offer counseling where needed. Evidently, her boys were greatly influenced by theirmother’s life and chose her spirituality as their role model.

I was often in the Bernard home as a friend and got to see the five sons interact in a number of ways as young school boys. They would come intotheir home looking for nothing but their mom and something to eat. Herethey are today, grown men with families and responsibilities.

Ed Bernard was also proud of his boys and would refer to them as “The Jackson Five,” in comparison to the family of the famous five Jackson brothers, one of whom was Michael. The sons are Angelo and Nathaniel ofReserve, Neil and Galen of LaPlace and Byron of Atlanta. Ed died in 1981, andto this day I remember and miss him. He did some work for me in my housewhen I bought it and was a strong male influence in my life until the time of his death.

Another legacy of which the Bernard sons can be proud is that their grandfather, Mr. Ed Hall, now in his nineties, was a strong leader for civilrights in his community. Our Lady of Grace Church was the setting for thegolden wedding anniversary of he and his wife, recently deceased, and was a celebration not only of their marriage but also of the local history to which Mr. Hall had contributed.Today, Pastor Neil is highly respected, has the capacity for making his church people and visitors feel warmly welcomed and has been credited with helping to change lives of those in need. The church’s growing congregationhas caused an expansion into a larger, well appointed and serviceable building in the complex which had a grand opening in August 1999.

There are other aspects to New Wine besides church. Computer classes areconducted in another building and have become very popular. As a service tothe community, public school students in fourth and eighth grades are tutored for the LEAP test. In addition, teens in boot camp at the prison cango through a 12-step program. Church member Rose Simon teaches a GEDprogram at the prison and is assisted several days a week by Reah Bernard, who teaches phonics to the prisoners.

So, the Bernards aren’t quite the same people I have known for years. Theyare, if possible, even better people, involved in attempting to help make a better community.

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