My wife Diane and I moved to Streator on Sept 1. Let me tell you, Streator makes a great first impression!

First, the people are friendly! We"ve already met a lot of our neighbors and people along our street. This is in marked contrast to New Hampshire, where I ministered before coming here.

In New Hampshire, I called the people "God"s Frozen Chosen." We had great friends there, but not many. Here, people actually smile back at you. They joke with you while standing in line.

Second, Streator is a great size. Small enough to know people, large enough to do almost anything.

There are about 14,000 people in town, but another 8,000 right outside city limits. That"s a good-sized area and a lot of people. Things are possible here. You can have an impact. Progress can be made.

Third, this is a religious town. There are 25 churches that we could count in the phone book! Twenty-five! What a contrast to New Hampshire where over 25 percent of the population never goes to church. New Hampshire leads the nation in nonchurch attendance. They don"t even go on Christmas and Easter. Many more go only on Christmas and Easter.

To give you an idea, a former Methodist Church in Amherst, N.H. — built in 1839 — now houses the Historical Society. In Milford, N.H., a former church now houses a newspaper. Another former church in Milford is a store selling musical instruments. A former church in Bedford is a martial arts college. You get the idea. More churches close every month.

What"s the result of that high level of disbelief in New Hampshire? Well, both houses of the state Legislature are now overwhelmingly liberal. Gay marriage was just approved. All sorts of new restrictive laws are being passed. The state motto is "Live Free or Die." But it"s becoming "Just TRY to live free and you WILL die!" There"s even a $250 fine for launching a little helium balloon!

By contrast, Streator still has faith. Our faith might need to be strengthened, but at least we have it!

Fourth, Streator is unique. Especially at night, it looks cozy. Warm. Nice. I have to admit that sometimes it doesn"t sound so cozy. We have more trains per square inch than most railroad yards. And, boy, do those engineers like to sound those train whistles! Some nights, it sounds like the end of a football game when the fat lady sings! Several fat ladies, in fact!

In other parts of the country, when you say people are "well-trained," it means they know how to behave. Here in Streator, it means that now they can actually sleep at night! They"re either used to all the railroad racket — or they"ve lost their hearing!

Diane and I haven"t seen all the lights that the town puts up during Christmas season. Until we do, we"ll just have to stay the same way we are now about Streator ... delighted.

• THE REV. JOHN H. SCHMIDTKE is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Streator. He can be reached via e-mail at lonnyc@mywebtimes.com.