almost famous

It took a fire at my church, but I got my name in the paper again...

This fire, which was accidental and burned a room under our sanctuary, has given me reason to reflect on church buildings. The image of smoke pouring out of the sanctuary is painful. Something about "church" space makes it hard to see destroyed.

Thankfully, it's not destroyed. The sanctuary is being cleaned, and suffered only from the smoke. The downstairs is worse, but things are repairable or replaceable. Even the handmade ones.

But we all know that church isn't buildings. So why does it feel so wrong for church buildings to be damaged?

(Just last week in worship, we were reading from the end of Revelation, where we hear there will be no temple. In the end vision--the world becoming as God intends it--we don't even need churches. God is everywhere.)

I try to see that as true even now--God's presence everywhere. And I guess I'm hoping that this fire, somehow, will remind us that church is much more than its buildings. (Even if they are really incredible buildings.)