As I was giving thought to those places we call Holy - like the Holy Land or Religious shrines - I also thought about the places that are considered holy by so many of us. Most of us know them as our own church buildings. There are fewer items within the church that are causes of disfunction and warfare as our own congregation's building. Years ago there was the grand revelation that the people who hold the keys and the control of the kitchen are the folks who hold quite a bit of power within the life of the congregation. Like any dysfunctional system controlling agents can also be agents of dis-ease. Don't screw with them! Don't get on their bad side. Within the building - outside of the sanctuary - the kitchen scores quite high in regard to holy places.
But let's step out of the kitchen and take a look at the Holy place that is the church building itself. There are quite a few instance in which people are less followers of Jesus than they are followers of our building. This may be the case because a family has been a part of a congregation for generations - all the babies have been baptized there - confirmation pictures display memories - a parent or grandparent help build the place or lead the building renewal back in the day. Soon and very soon in this very common scenario the building that was to house the followers of Jesus in that place soon becomes a god that must be sustained and protected and locked in time - the time we remember. False gods by the way, always need to be sustained and protected even if it means becoming violent in some form or another. Just listen to some of the violent images thrown around during times of building changes or when a congregation must face the end of ministry and mission in that place.
So if the church's building has become a Holy place, what are we to do with it. Unfortunately, it is quite common for some folks to tie their whole identity into the sustaining of the building - it becomes something of a memorial. In urban areas that has often meant that a family or a few families intend to ride the place to the grave. If not the death of the church building - the death of those holding on to the building. We forget that we do not have to be buried out of a certain place - we can have a family member baptized in the middle of another community of the followers of Jesus - we need not control the workings of the liturgy and the council and the grounds. Holy is the place in which God's people take on the shape of Jesus in any and every place. There may come a time when a place once considered Holy is one that can be left and other people can begin a new life in the place we once considered Holy. The new community may be of our own church heritage or another. But when we make the building a Holy place - our Holy place - the days at hand become ugly - full of warfare - a whirlwind of trivial pursuits - a pious observance of self-preservation at any cost. It is never a creative place to be.
It is important for every congregation to always ask questions about how our Holy places become the focus of our lives. As we were renovating and updating our building to be a part of a ELCA theme 'in the city for good' we were blessed to have a few people who did not let our building become a Holy place. If it was a Holy place it was Holy because it was a place for everyone to use. Sure we still were the custodians of the property but we did that in a way that let others take ownership and control of the building. Many folks saw the building as a gift - a place in which mission and ministry would come to life. We made the building a focal point of the community around us. Someone even said we must not make the renewed building turn us into over-protective landowners who are quick to push people out. Rather, this place was to be Holy because of the welcome - the doors open - the honoring of neighbors who did not build the place.
Unfortunately, the people of a congregation are the last ones to realize that their Holy place has become a memorial - a shrine to another day. It is hard to admit that self-preservation - maintaining a building like a god in our lives - is like a disease that sneaks in over years - unseen until it is too late. In urban congregations we must admit that racism, economic disparities, and the attractiveness of central city renewal and suburban sprawl must be faced so that we can realistically look at how the future will unfold - how we will continue being a Holy people alive in a Holy alive place. Too often congregations will not face those bits of truth and therefore we lean back into the past and refuse to enter into a vitality of life - either by staying or by leaving.
So if a congregation's building has lost the holiness of life that displays the creativity of God's Reign in that place - then what? Sometimes we cannot ask that question adequately without hearing from voices outside of the walls of the place we built for ourselves. Rebirth happens in the midst of honest questions and hopefulness that does not fear what may come next.
TRRR
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