“For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” – Romans 12:4-5
Recently, a friend of mine in the real estate business posted a short video after closing a sale on a property that was once a small-town Alabama church, now inactive.
“We were able to sell Old Salem Road Baptist Church,” my friend says in the video, “and one of the best parts about this – and this is why I feel so good about this – is we were able to keep it a church.”
Sadly, this kind of sale is rare. The sale of abandoned churches, especially in rural Alabama, is far too common – yet rarely do churches remain churches when they become just another piece of property to be bought and sold for whatever price the market can bear.
Too often, abandoned houses of worship are sold only to be deconsecrated and repurposed (if not completely demolished) to make way for some new commercial venture or residential development. All the more tragic are those forgotten churches that never sell, left to decay on country roads as memories once made fade to bird’s nests, mouse houses, vines, thorns, and dust.
But Alabama’s country chapels aren’t alone.
Many European Christian churches have been sold off – once hallowed grounds for generations, now hollowed out or flattened into the secular world’s unmoored conformity. Sometimes church architecture is preserved for history’s sake only to function as cafes, concert halls, museums, and bookstores – a once sacred façade turned to ho-hum “community spaces” on the inside.
Even with regard to the great cathedrals, I can’t help but suspect that they fall short of their original glory and purpose. Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Cologne Cathedral, and Saint Peter’s Basilica may all attract millions of tourists annually, yet too few regularly attend worship services. Their outward beauty remains a testament to man’s ascent through God’s grace – yet their beauty also seems a mere shell to house ghosts rather than active members.
Yet, despite this bittersweet decline of great cathedrals and small-town Alabama chapels, perhaps their decay can serve as a spur to remind us of what it means to “keep it a church.”
A building, no matter how high or low, is not the Church.
The Church is not found in bricks or sticks, metal or stone, stained glass, marble statues, rooftop murals, or mosaics of gold.
The Church is never found on the market to be haggled over, bought and sold.
The Church never decays, never fades – it's an ever-living body that never grows old.
The Church is found wherever two or three are gathered together in His name.
The Church is found in the gifts we give to one another, all first given by His grace.
The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, the everlasting spirit of life unseen beyond time, space, or any particular manmade place.
Where you find mercy and forgiveness for a sinner who has fallen prey to his own devices – swallowed up by some beast of darkness, given over to depravity, and yet brought back into the fold with grace – there you will keep it a church.
Where you find service for the blind, the old, and the infirm – so that the lonely lost to time’s march know they are not alone – there you will keep it a church.
Where you find a husband and wife as one raising their children to obey, where you find strangers freely giving of their time and aid, where you celebrate life’s victories and say “until we meet again” to those laid in an earthly grave, there you will keep it a church.
Although some churches will inevitably fade, whether in spirit or through literal decay, the Church lives on through its many members, all one body in Christ.
Sadly, not all churches that fade will survive the market test. Most, in fact, will be bought and sold, exploited for some new speculation over what the market will hold.
But, sometimes there are those rare occasions where a seller and buyer find the right price as fellow members in the body of Christ – and keep it a church.
I pray such priceless transactions grow less rare, and that in the fullness of time, country churches and grand cathedrals alike will see their spirit revived.
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL, M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances, as well as any feedback, please email [email protected]. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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