“Be the Kind of Church That…”
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Our Minister of Music, Gail Blache-Gill, brings many gifts to her work, including her exceptional musicianship, of course, and the rich and lasting relationships she has built with other talented and devoted people all around our area and beyond. Here at St. Paul and Incarnation, we’ve benefitted from those connections since Gail has invited many guest singers and musicians from other churches to sing and play at our worship services and special programs. So, over the years, maybe without even realizing it, we have formed bonds with other congregations, perhaps none more than with the Middle Collegiate Church in Manhattan’s East Village, a congregation founded all the way back in 1628.
As many of you know, Middle Church’s sanctuary was destroyed by fire early Saturday morning, leaving just a stone shell that may not be structurally sound -another heartbreaking loss in a year that’s been full of them. Watching the video of the inferno engulfing that familiar landmark, I felt as sickened as I did in April of 2019 when the world looked on in shock as the old timbers of Notre-Dame de Paris were turned to ash. On both occasions, I felt sorrow for the people losing their spiritual home, for losing so much history. I was reminded yet again of just how fragile everything – everyone - is. And, yes, I couldn’t help thinking about our own beautiful, but vulnerable, sanctuary, the holy place that means so much to us, the place where the walls have been bathed by prayer, our prayers and the prayers of those who have gone before us, for more than a century and a half. What if?
It’s a sickening thought for sure, but it might be a worthwhile question for us to consider. In the aftermath of the Middle Church fire, it wasn’t just congregants who were devastated. All across the city and beyond, so many people expressed shock and grief and pledged to help with the rebuilding effort. Only partly about the loss of a historic building, this wave of love and care truly arose out of deep gratitude and admiration for Middle Church’s commitment to serving the poor and the outcast, its relentless work for justice, its sincere welcome of anybody and everybody who walked through the door. As Amanda Meisenheimer, a minister at The Riverside Church (yet another great NYC church with Gail Blache-Gill connections), wrote, “Be the kind of church that if your building burned down, everyone in the city would mourn and Facebook would be flooded with both lament and hope.”
Those strong words (a command, in fact) have been haunting me, making me wonder how Jersey City would react if we were struck by tragedy, if we suddenly disappeared. I like to think that people would remember us as a welcoming place, where lots of good food was served at our community suppers, and at our arts and music events, and, most of all, each time we gathered at the Lord’s Table. Perhaps they would recall our partnerships with Garden State Episcopal CDC, Jersey City Together, and Family Promise. Probably more than a few parents would lament the loss of our safe and affordable summer camp. Maybe the people who worked at their sobriety week after week in Carr Hall would miss us, remembering our building as “an icon of my recovery,” as one AA member once told me. Yes, no doubt at least some would regret our disappearance, but I’m sure that many others would hardly even notice. After all, there are plenty of other churches in town, some at least as welcoming, at least as closely woven into the community, as St. Paul and Incarnation.
Advent is the time when we are meant to get ready for the joy of Christmas, and it’s a season when we’re also called to prepare for the end, for Christ’s return, for the day when we will be judged on how we used the many gifts we have been given. We are commanded to stay awake, to be alert. So, maybe the dreadful “What if?” prompted by the Middle Church fire is the perfect reflection for this season. Maybe the command to “be the kind of church that if you’re building burned down, everyone in the city would mourn and Facebook would be flooded with both lament and hope” is the best resolution for the new year.
Your brother in Christ,
Tom
Click here if you would like to help Middle Church rebuild: www.middlechurch.org/rising
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