At Only 13, He’s Ordained to Be the Marrying Kind

--When he’s not in the pulpit at Chicago’s Zion Temple Baptist Church, the Rev. William Hudson III likes to play football and basketball--just like any other 13-year-old. “The Reverend,” as both his classmates and his parishioners call him, was ordained last fall at the age of 12 but has been “preaching up a storm” since the age of 3, according to his mother, Patricia. “What he would do is take the Bible and look at the pictures and preach by the pictures, and he would come out sweating,” she said. When he married Regina Jeannette and Gary Henderson recently, William’s head was barely visible over the top of the pulpit. Regina Henderson said she chose William to officiate at her wedding because “I heard his ceremonies a couple times, and he’s real good.” William, who has released a record and appeared on television, said he wants to “keep on preaching the way of the Lord and get my own church.” In the meantime, he says his classmates at Wendell Smith Elementary School don’t give him any special treatment. “Except they don’t curse around me.” Praise the Lord . . .

-- . . . and pass the ammunition. In Marietta, Ga., business is booming at a machine-gun range that attracts everyone from would-be Rambos to middle-aged ladies. The Bullet Stop, a gun store with two target ranges, charges customers $10 to rent a gun and about $10 for a box of ammunition. Each marksman is accompanied by an instructor. Owner Paul LaVista said his customers are Walter Mitty types, “everyday people who want to be somewhere else.” The targets provided are paper, but people can bring along just about anything they want to shoot at. Some people have brought in computers, and LaVista said, “We’ve had a rash of televisions lately.”

--While we’re on the subject, if 11-year-old Benjamin Barreaux of Newark, N.J., can hold out till 9:01 a.m. Monday without watching TV, he’ll be $500 richer. Benjamin entered into the yearlong wager with his mother, Roslyn. “I figured either way I’d win. If he didn’t follow through, I saved $500, and if he did, it would be worth having him do other things for a year,” she said. Benjamin, who said he used to watch six or seven hours of television daily, has filled his time reading and playing with toy soldiers. He has not decided what to do with the $500 but has agreed not to use it to buy a TV. Asked what show he planned to watch to break his fast, he replied: “Whatever’s on Monday afternoon.”