From the Pastor - May 2018

“I am the church.  You are the church.  We are the church together.”¹  As a child, I learned from these lyrics that the church is not a building.  The church is a people. 

Yet many churches own buildings — and Trinity’s building is magnificent.  It is an inspiring place where we worship God, grow in faith, welcome our neighbors, and serve the community.

Built in 1929 for $458,000 ($6.7 million in today’s dollars), our church home stands as a testimony to the faith of our forebears who gave generously and made the necessary sacrifices to pay the mortgage during the Great Depression and World War II.

At the time, Trinity’s Gothic revival architecture was popular for churches.  But it had detractors.  One critic complained that “limestone Christianity” diverts resources away from efforts to promote moral reform.  In defense of the expense of beautiful church buildings, one leader argued that “a cheap building in an affluent town shows a poverty of religious sentiment.”²  He said that stinginess and greed are far worse than extravagance in a church building. 

To those who claimed that money would be better used for relief and mission work rather than lavish church facilities, another person answered that “grand church buildings create a great moral impression and give evidence of dedication to God for whom nothing is too good.”³   In other words, impressive church buildings show how religious values subvert greed and materialism. 

At Trinity Church, we believe that beauty and worship go hand-in-hand with mission and service.  We know that we are called to honor God and to serve our neighbor.  Combining faith and compassion, our building is used as both a sanctuary to God and a center for the community. 

The theme of our three-year capital campaign is “Building Up to Welcome All.”  I hope you will join me in making a financial pledge to the campaign.  I have decided to give the largest gift I have ever made for the campaign, while not diminishing my annual giving. 

We are the church, the people whose faithful response will be a sign to future generations.  Our financial support of Trinity’s ministry and building shows our dedication to the God who deserves our best. 

Yours in Christ,

~Brian

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¹ Richard K Avery and Donald S. Marsh, "We Are the Church," in The United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville, TN: United Methodist Publishing House, 1989), 558.

² Richard Kieckhefer, Theology in Stone: Church Architecture from Byzantium to Berkeley (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 204.

³ Ibid.