What Church Is

As many of y'all probably know by now, the congregation I pastor, First Christian Church in Longview, was broken into and vandalized earlier this week.  I won't go into all of the details here; you can read about it in this article from our local paper, The Daily News.  In a nutshell, the damage was limited to our sanctuary, kitchen, and restrooms, no suspects have been named, and we fully intend to hold worship at 11:00 on Sunday morning as we always do.

In the meanwhile, I have been in regular contact with the Longview Police, our insurance agency, and local media.  I have every expectation that this will be, in the end, but a speed bump in the path of our work together as a community of faith.

Because, in the end, that's what's important: the community.  When I entered into Search and Call (the denominational job-finding process), I wrote in my minister's profile that I did think there was such a thing as "the church"--only people who are acting Christian.  And Lord, have people who are acting Christian come forward to show us grace and compassion and kindness.

To whoever desecrated our sacred spaces: I hope and pray that you will be caught, and if not caught come forward, not only so that you might receive due process and justice, but also so that I can put a name and a face to you.  I do not want you to be an anonymous demon, a phantom haunting my thoughts and fears.  I want you to be a person, a human being with a heart and a soul, because it is much, much harder to stay angry at a person than at an anonymous boogeyman.  And I'm over being angry.  I want to forgive.

To my friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors who have reached out to offer and give help, prayers, support, materials, and financial resources: THANK YOU.  I said words to this effect in the above-linked article, but they bear repeating: events like these are extraordinary, even if they happen, sadly, all the time.  They are extraordinary because they both are caused by and provoke extraordinary actions from others.  It was extraordinarily bad that someone(s) decided, for whatever reason, to desecrate a historic church sanctuary.  But it was extraordinarily good to see the reactions it spurred--good for my faith, good for my congregants' peaces of mind, and good for the work of the Gospel of Jesus Christ at large.

That is what church is: people acting Christian.  And to all of you who are being Christian on our behalf:  from the bottom of my heart and from the depths of my soul, thank you.

Yours in Christ,
Eric