TEXAS—More than 30 members and children from the San Antonio and Austin congregations of the Philadelphia Church of God bowled on January 31 in the historic German town of New Braunfels at the Freiheit Bowling Club, an establishment that has existed for more than 104 years.

The club offers nine-pin bowling, which is slightly different from the standard ten-pin game. The alley also uses teenaged pin-setters rather than machines to reset the pins manually.

“It was a wonderful occasion for the brethren to be a part of,” San Antonio member Stephen Crow said. “Most of us have never experienced German nine-pin bowling before.”

Members conversed and enjoyed knocking down pins together.

“In a world gone wild with impersonal electronics, it is good to be together as a group,” Austin member and event coordinator Tod Marbach said. “Simple pleasures are the best.”