# How long (time) does it take you to drive to church on Sunday?



## MRC (Mar 11, 2010)

Curious to see how many of you have a long commute to church. The only reformed church in my area (PCA) is 30 min from my house. This is somewhat doable for me, but my wife is concerned she would loose community in our local, etc. Just curious how others have handled such a situation.


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## LawrenceU (Mar 11, 2010)

4.726 minutes. Where we meet is right across the pond from our house. I would walk, but it is tough to carry a pulpit down the road.


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## Scottish Lass (Mar 11, 2010)

Less than two whether I drive or walk---the manse is on the side of the same block as the church and we share a backyard.


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## Jimmy the Greek (Mar 11, 2010)

We drive about 20 minutes. In my opinion, if activities/meetings at the church (other than Sunday morning) will be unattended because of the commute, then your wife is probably right. Some churches that draw from a broad geographical area will extend Sunday and limit or eliminate any off-day (midweek) services or meetings for just such a concern.


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## Repre5entYHWH (Mar 11, 2010)

40 minutes, but worth the drive.

my wife goes to womens bible study every other Monday and we're going to start going to Wednesday Bible studies weekly. 

it is better than moving to the town of the church and having to commute DAILY to work.


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## Simply_Nikki (Mar 11, 2010)

About 25-30 minutes. Our members are very geographically spread out. So most of the stuff we do is on Sunday afternoons or before morning worship, or at another members' houses to host our community groups.  Nevertheless even with the geographic distribution, there's always a good showing at fellowship events outside of church.


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## raekwon (Mar 11, 2010)

About 15 minutes. I'd really like to sell our house and find one closer to the church (and closer to the majority of our church community), but right now I'm alone in that desire. My wife's pretty happy where we are. Slowly working on her. ;-)


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## Osage Bluestem (Mar 11, 2010)

I've driven there in 6 minutes before when the lights were in my favor. Usually it is about 10 or so.


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## Gage Browning (Mar 11, 2010)

35 minutes...no traffic...sometimes you gotta if you want to go to a Reformed Church!


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## Laura (Mar 11, 2010)

We have a 40 minute commute. The fact that nearly everyone lives on the other side of a large and traffic-stricken city from us does take its toll in some ways, but we knew that when we joined. It came down to deciding that the advantages of that church on the day when it most counts outweighed the probability that we could not participate in every opportunity for fellowship during the week. We can't make it to prayer meeting mid-week because of later than normal work hours plus the commute to the home where it's held, and it's a shame.


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## JoyFullMom (Mar 11, 2010)

We don't have a building yet. We drive from 20 min to 35-40 min right now, depending on the host home. The planned site for a regular meeting place will be about 20 min. However, we have people who are regular visitors who are driving much further.


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## dannyhyde (Mar 11, 2010)

Members in my congregation drive 45 minutes from the north, 20-25 minutes from the east, and 40-45 minutes from the south. Of course, he in SoCal, commuting is a way of life.


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## ubermadchen (Mar 11, 2010)

7 minutes no red lights, 9 if there are red lights. I cut through the high school which shaves off about a minute.


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## rbcbob (Mar 11, 2010)

25 minutes. Some of our families drive 60 minutes. One family drives 90 minutes.


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## Tripel (Mar 11, 2010)

About 20 minutes, and it's much too far for my liking. If church events are hosted in someone's home, it will generally be a 20-30 drive for us, since most of the members live across town where the church is located. We are making several trips to and from the church every week, which is a burden. We hope to move closer to cut down on the drive time and gas.


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## Scottish Lass (Mar 11, 2010)

While our church here is close now, we regularly drove 45 minutes when we were visiting the church the Turners attend back when we lived in Atlanta...


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## jason d (Mar 11, 2010)

15 minutes for me, though we have multiple families that drive 60 minutes and some 90 on a weekly basis.


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## Skyler (Mar 11, 2010)

20 minutes for us, though I know one family in our church has a 60+ minute commute (they live in WV).


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## Jen (Mar 11, 2010)

I drive 10 minutes across Escondido to get to my church, though getting home from church usually takes closer to 15, I think, because of the traffic. The evening commute to my fiancé's church takes about 20-25 minutes, but it's a straight shot down 15 and not at all burdensome.


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## Notthemama1984 (Mar 11, 2010)

Right at an hour one way.


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## MLCOPE2 (Mar 11, 2010)

about 5 minutes


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## Curt (Mar 11, 2010)

dannyhyde said:


> Members in my congregation drive 45 minutes from the north, 20-25 minutes from the east, and 40-45 minutes from the south. Of course, he in SoCal, commuting is a way of life.


 
Nobody drives in from the west?

My own drive is 12-15 minutes. We have one person who drives 2 1/2 hours each way - and is seldom missing.


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## Skyler (Mar 11, 2010)

Curt said:


> dannyhyde said:
> 
> 
> > Members in my congregation drive 45 minutes from the north, 20-25 minutes from the east, and 40-45 minutes from the south. Of course, he in SoCal, commuting is a way of life.
> ...


 
Judging from his location, the only person who would drive in from the west would be Mr. Bond--unless you know someone else with an ocean-going car?


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## Andres (Mar 11, 2010)

Curt said:


> We have one person who drives 2 1/2 hours each way - and is seldom missing.


 



My drive is about 3 mins. According to Google maps, I live .6 mi from my church.

2118 Amarillo St, Abilene, TX 79602 to Covenant Presbyterian Church - Google Maps


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## py3ak (Mar 11, 2010)

raekwon said:


> About 15 minutes. I'd really like to sell our house and find one closer to the church (and closer to the majority of our church community), but right now I'm alone in that desire. My wife's pretty happy where we are. Slowly working on her. ;-)


 
I've heard that refusing to do anything around the place because you hate it is a good way to increase the misery of the other residents.


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## Mushroom (Mar 11, 2010)

5 minutes. After some years of 40 minutes each way, its a blessing.


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## Theoretical (Mar 11, 2010)

MRC said:


> Curious to see how many of you have a long commute to church. The only reformed church in my area (PCA) is 30 min from my house. This is somewhat doable for me, but my wife is concerned she would loose community in our local, etc. Just curious how others have handled such a situation.



30 minutes to church and 30 minutes to the houses where our Sunday bible studies are being held, since we don't own our own building. It's not a terrible distance, but once out of law school, I'm likely to move closer to the church and hosting houses.


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## N. Eshelman (Mar 11, 2010)

<5 minutes. 

We do have some in our congregation that drive one hour though. (Which, of course, in LA would be 2 hours on a work day!)


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## 21st Century Calvinist (Mar 11, 2010)

About 10 minutes- 2 exits on the Interstate, one set of irritating lights and stop signs every 100 feet on surface streets.


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## Herald (Mar 11, 2010)

5 minutes. 5 minutes 20 seconds in a stiff wind. 6 minutes if I frighten the Presbyterians who are walking to church with my car.


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## toddpedlar (Mar 11, 2010)

Our nearest confessionally reformed church is 85 minutes away... anyone want to plant in NE Iowa?


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## Herald (Mar 11, 2010)

toddpedlar said:


> Our nearest confessionally reformed church is 85 minutes away... anyone want to plant in NE Iowa?



Only if you'll attend an RB church! I'm game.


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## JOwen (Mar 11, 2010)

25-30 min.


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## Edward (Mar 11, 2010)

Sunday mornings - 20-22 minutes if raining, 25-28 if clear (cops run a Sunday morning speed trap on nice days) 

During the week - 20 minutes to an hour depending on traffic.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Mar 11, 2010)

45 minutes to church. Love every minute of it (mostly because we listen to Joe Morecraft on the way too church and Joel Beeke on the way home. )


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## Kevin (Mar 11, 2010)

1 1/2 hour each way in the morning and 8 min at night.

( I preach at the nearest PCA church in the am & am planting one closer at night)


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## SRoper (Mar 12, 2010)

15 minutes.


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## matt01 (Mar 12, 2010)

30+ minutes, depending on road conditions


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## jwithnell (Mar 12, 2010)

We're blessed to only have about a 10 minute drive -- my husband is the only deacon in the church that lives in the same town as the church, and we only have one elder as well. All other officers are spread out and we have some members taking 45+ to get here.


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## Rich Koster (Mar 12, 2010)

16 miles 25-30+ minutes depending on lights and pokers.


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## asc (Mar 12, 2010)

2 minutes...a definite plus for my family.


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## creativeamanda (Mar 12, 2010)

30-35 minutes. We've visited other churches, but return to the reformed church (PCA) every time.


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## Idelette (Mar 12, 2010)

I drive an hour and 10 minutes each way. This drive is much better than it would have been if I still lived in Chicago...so I'm happy to drive the distance. Some of the families from my church travel up to 3 hours each way! It does make it hard to fellowship throughout the week especially when we are so spread out. But this church is well worth! We have a fellowship meal every Lord's Day and an afternoon service right after that...so we are able to fellowship on Sundays which is great! To me, it is far more important to be part of a solid church rather than a convenient church, although it is just me for now......if I had small children I would definitely want to live closer!


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## Rich Koster (Mar 12, 2010)

I neglected to mention community in the first post. We have a scheduled mealtime together between AM and an early PM service once a month. We have fellowship groups with alternating people given the task of coordinating a gathering for about 5 families. We communicate digitally for prayer updates and info from the elders. Yes, we still use phones too. People who live closest to each other and some home school groups help each other out. I am actually experiencing more community in a situation where many of us have to travel over 10 miles to get together than when I was in a local congregation where 90+ % of us lived in a 5 mile radius. That's a quick overview from a newcomer (just joined last month, been there for over 6 months).


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## nyjbarnes (Mar 12, 2010)

45 minutes. I go up on Saturday for men's bible study and then again on Sunday for service. We also go for the 8:15 service...so that's leaving my house at 7am...so, you can imagine I got it bad for that church! LOL.


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## Ivan (Mar 13, 2010)

Herald said:


> 5 minutes. 5 minutes 20 seconds in a stiff wind. 6 minutes if I frighten the Presbyterians who are walking to church with my car.




Presbyterians are walking to church with your car? How odd!

We drive about 25 minutes, but when we move (hopefully soon) it will take less than five minutes.


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## dudley (Mar 13, 2010)

*About 20 minutes*

About 20-25 minutes for the PCA congregation. I have a PCusa congregation about 10 mins away. I worship there if the weather is bad and driving is a problem.


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## Galatians220 (Mar 13, 2010)

Forty to 45 minutes; it's a 50-mile round-trip. Not a pleasant drive as it involves going from the far western suburbs to a north central one. Just east of the church is a huge tunnel/overpass that was built a few years ago so that the many Orthodox Jews in the neighborhood may walk to their _shuls_ on Shabbat. An interesting dollop of culture clash. 

Margaret


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## Berean (Mar 13, 2010)

Galatians220 said:


> Just east of the church is a huge tunnel/overpass that was built a few years ago so that the many Orthodox Jews in the neighborhood may walk to their _shuls_ on Shabbat.



Curious, who paid for the tunnel/overpass if it was specifically for that purpose?


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## MrOtter (Mar 14, 2010)

God willing me ( RCUS-Rehoboth, La Habra) and a friend (RCUS-Anderson, Ca) will come down hopefully within the month to fellowship with the saints, at that time i hope to meet you..Blessings
-Michael


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## BlackCalvinist (Mar 14, 2010)

2.39 miles from church. 6 min. 

Used to be:
50 min. to Greenbelt to Mt. Airy (when picking up wife before we were married)
19 min. from Ellicott City to Mt. Airy (when single or when wife used to drive up to my apt. before we were married)
35-45 min from Ellicott City to Gaithersburg (while single)

I'm not above driving up to an hour for a good church. Thankfully, there's quite a few PCA churches (Bowie, Laurel, Rockville, Columbia, Gaithersburg) and even some RB churches (Capitol Hill Baptist is 13 miles/25 min away) and two Sovereign Grace Churches (Solid Rock is 5 min away and Covenant Life is in Gaithersburg).


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## SemperEruditio (Mar 15, 2010)

31 miles or 50 minutes.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Mar 15, 2010)

BlackCalvinist said:


> 2.39 miles from church. 6 min.
> 
> Used to be:
> 50 min. to Greenbelt to Mt. Airy (when picking up wife before we were married)
> ...


 
Don't forget about the ARP churches in Silver Spring, Olney, and Frederick.


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## Gloria (Mar 15, 2010)

5-7 minutes depending on lights and traffic.


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## BlackCalvinist (Mar 15, 2010)

Backwoods Presbyterian said:


> BlackCalvinist said:
> 
> 
> > 2.39 miles from church. 6 min.
> ...



And the OPC Church in Lanham around the corner from my job (2 min from my job, 12 minutes from my house).


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## TaylorOtwell (Mar 15, 2010)

about 7 minutes...


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## baron (Mar 15, 2010)

It takes us 10-15 minutes depending on lights and other drivers.


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## FenderPriest (Mar 16, 2010)

15 minutes on main roads to church building. 18 minutes on back roads. I like the back roads better. It takes 5 minutes w/lights to our community group.


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## nnatew24 (Mar 17, 2010)

30+ minutes each way, twice a day (morning and evening services). Two hours in the car each Lord's Day is starting to take its toll after 3 years, especially with my two young children (3yrs and 1yr old). 

I am not an officer in my church, but I've considered proposing a change in services because we're not the only ones with a long commute. Personally, I'd prefer a morning service, lunch, and then afternoon service, rather than a separate morning and separate evening service. What do you guys think?


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## TheocraticMonarchist (Mar 17, 2010)

I'm attending a RBC ~50 minutes away. As the saying goes, "It's worth the drive for a church that's alive."


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## Rogerant (Mar 18, 2010)

Leave home 8:00 A.M. Sunday A.M. Arrive around around 10:40, in time to pray. Service starts at 11:00. Potluck at 12:30. Theological discussion and fellowship from 1:30 to 4:00. Attend 2nd service. Leave for home at 5:00 with a 2 1/2 hour drive home. What a Blessed Lord's day!


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## sdesocio (Mar 18, 2010)

It takes 10-15 minutes depending on the day and on the traffic to drive to _our meeting place_.  But we are planting a church in my neighborhood so that will be dropped to less than 5.


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## Willem van Oranje (Mar 18, 2010)

10 minutes.


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## APuritansMind (Mar 18, 2010)

12 minutes


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## Skyler (Mar 18, 2010)

nnatew24 said:


> 30+ minutes each way, twice a day (morning and evening services). Two hours in the car each Lord's Day is starting to take its toll after 3 years, especially with my two young children (3yrs and 1yr old).
> 
> I am not an officer in my church, but I've considered proposing a change in services because we're not the only ones with a long commute. Personally, I'd prefer a morning service, lunch, and then afternoon service, rather than a separate morning and separate evening service. What do you guys think?


 
I think, at least in our case, many families prefer to have the afternoon available to give the kids time for a nap--and the parents, in some cases.  Especially after eating a meal, it can be hard to stay awake for that long sitting in church.


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## JDKetterman (Mar 18, 2010)

It usually takes me about 30 mins to get to church. There happens to be a lot of Reformed churches in my area, but I like the URC plant that I am going to...


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## jambo (Mar 18, 2010)

Just under 10 minutes aprox. Its about 3 miles and only one set of traffic lights.


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## Curt (Mar 18, 2010)

jambo said:


> Just under 10 minutes aprox. Its about 3 miles and only one set of traffic lights.


 
How do you even get there while driving on the "other side" of the road?


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## jambo (Mar 18, 2010)

Curt said:


> jambo said:
> 
> 
> > Just under 10 minutes aprox. Its about 3 miles and only one set of traffic lights.
> ...


 
Its easy. Just close the eyes


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## Kaalvenist (Mar 18, 2010)

60 minutes.


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## fredtgreco (Mar 18, 2010)

8 minutes.


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## Mrs. Bailey (Mar 19, 2010)

20-25 minutes....


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## Poimen (Mar 19, 2010)

If I drove it would take me less than 30 seconds. Unless the gophers get in my way. Oh no, wait, I would just drive over them...


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## beej6 (Mar 19, 2010)

15-20 minutes. 6.2 miles by Yahoo! maps, city driving.


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## waynedawg (Mar 19, 2010)

Takes us about 20-25 minutes depending on traffic.


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## Timothy William (Mar 24, 2010)

I walk, as I don't have a car or license, takes me about 12 minutes. Walking to my Wednesday evening Bible study takes about 6 minutes.


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## shelly (Mar 24, 2010)

15 minutes now because we are involved and members in a new mission work. It used to be an hour. We couldn't always make it due to bad weather, this has been a doozy of a winter.


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## JumpingUpandDown (Mar 24, 2010)

25 minutes on Sunday morning, 35 to the pastors house for Sunday evening
it feels short to us


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## LeeD (Mar 24, 2010)

22 miles away, ~30 minutes for us.


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## dgordonwood (Mar 24, 2010)

40-45 minutes one way, every Sunday and Wednesday. Well worth it!


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## Grafted In (Mar 24, 2010)

It takes us 14 minutes. We just started meeting a new location and this is the shortest distance that I have ever had to travel for church. We love it!


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## Jesus is my friend (Mar 24, 2010)

2.1 Miles,about 3-4 minutes


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