Church members do away with complaining

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Members of a Charlotte, N.C., church have taken a New Year's pledge to halt all complaining for 21 consecutive days.

Rev. Nancy Ennis of the 135-member Unity of Charlotte church said purple rubber bracelets were passed out to her congregation to show they are working to help create "a complaint-free world," the Charlotte Observer reported Monday.

Church members who catch themselves complaining are required to move the bracelet to their opposite wrist and restart their 21 days at the beginning.

The program was first used in 2006 by the Rev. Will Bowen at a Unity church in Kansas City, Mo. Bowen's church has since shipped 6 million bracelets worldwide to people who requested them and Bowen authored a book on the subject, "A Complaint Free World: How to Stop Complaining and Start Enjoying the Life You Always Wanted."

Ennis said participants are encouraged to take legitimate grievances to the subject and work their concerns out amicably, rather than simply complain.

"We are here to build up with love," Ennis told her congregation, "not tear down with criticism and complaining."