Church: Noun or Verb?

You just never know what will spark a conversation.

I am so privileged to serve a historic congregation. We worship in a building that was constructed in 1893 (at least, our traditional services are held in this building). We recently sent off our pipe organ for restoration – an addition that was installed in 1909.  There are so many stories to be told about the people who sacrificed and worked to make our current facilities possible.

And, at times, I feel like an ungrateful child. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE this building. I LOVE the architecture and the stained glass windows and the wooden pews and the cool seats in the balcony with the hat racks under the seats. But…

Aren’t we more than a building? Isn’t church supposed to be a verb? A way of living that mirrors the kingdom of God?

So, the “conversation spark” recently had something to do with the tradition…the sameness, the history. I get that, I really do. I am the first to say, “Yes” let’s do the Gloria Patri and the Doxology and the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle’s Creed. I grew up with this stuff and it somehow screams “church” to me when we do it. I mean that in a good way.

But…what is really happening when we gather on Sunday mornings for worship? Are we paying homage to a historical building, enjoying the beauty of this now nearly ancient structure? Or, are we gathering to celebrate the living God among us?

My life has taken so many detours and wild turns, albeit most of them once I accepted the call to ministry (which leads to a whole other train of thought…)…I’ve been the girl who was on top of the world, unshakeable, successful. And I’ve been the girl who could do no more than fall to her knees.

I learned a lot more on my knees.

Whether we sing the Gloria Patri with glorious sunshine streaming through the gorgeous stained glass windows or not…we are simply children of God, called to love one another without judgment. We aren’t in charge, aren’t in control, aren’t leading the way…we simply respond to what God is doing with joy and good humor.

Surely there was laughter in our tradition. There has certainly been much in my life, mucked up though it may be. We aren’t a building, beautiful though it is. We are a people, beautiful and “very good” in God’s eyes. Thanks be to God.