Dear Friends,
On a recent weekday I had a meeting in my office with a prospective new member, who arrived early and spent about 15 minutes sitting inside the church. “Wow,” he said, “I was surprised by how many people were there in the pews.”
He’s right. The church is open to the public Monday through Saturday from noon to 5 pm and on Sundays from 8:30 am to 5 pm. The hours are longer, of course, when evening services occur. If you go into the church during the open hours when no liturgy is scheduled, you will usually find anywhere from four to forty people scattered throughout the nave. Some are sitting quietly, some are strolling about taking the cell phone tour, others are kneeling in a pew deep in prayer.
I’ve written many times before that the first line of ministry is to keep the building open as much as possible. Our prayer is that the Holy Spirit and the sacred space will conspire to make a positive difference in people’s lives. We trust that those who come inside tired, anxious, and overwhelmed will leave in some measure refreshed, renewed, and reassured of God’s living presence. Indeed, even those contemplating some wrong may rethink their ways and leave resolving to do the right thing.
Yes, it’s expensive to open the church even when no services or concerts are on the calendar. Not only do we have to keep it heated in the winter, cooled in the summer, and lighted when the public is welcome, we also have to keep eyes on the building to assure that it’s safe. The expense is well worth it.
Some time ago I was leafing through our old parish history book (published in 1923), and came across a memorable quote from William Reed Huntington, who was the 6th Rector of Grace Church from 1884-1909. Apparently, when Huntington took office the church was closed during the week, but one of the first moves he made was to open it. He met with resistance but defended the new policy with an interesting argument: “The exemption of ecclesiastical property from taxation by the State can only be defended on the score of the usefulness of the Church as a bulwark for public morals. The Church would seem, therefore, to owe it to the citizens to make her sacred buildings as accessible as possible. Even if no prayer be said by the casual visitor, the influence silently exerted upon him by the architecture and symbolism of such a church as Grace Church can scarcely fail to be a wholesome one.”
My prayer is that God always gives Grace Church the will and the way to keep this place open – not just for ourselves, but for anyone who would come inside.
See you in church – and you don’t have to wait till Sunday,
Don