Sociology Won't Save A Church
By J. Grant Swank Jr. (11/26/08)
Just recently driving through Maitland, Hants County, Nova Scotia, my wife and I were shocked - and especially saddened.
It was like attending a funeral.
Foley Inn is up FOR SALE. What a slump. It had its day; now the owner is anxious to shake it off. We spent a delightful evening there some years ago - eating in gracious comfort and relaxing to the small town feel.
Down the road the ice cream shop is closed. FOR SALE sign is posted on its side frame.
Freize and Roy general store is still open. But FOR SALE sign is posted for any potential wanter. That store was there years ago when I was first introduced to Nova Scotia in the late 50s. I concluded it was built when Noah nailed the ark.
CrestHaven Bed and Breakfast along the river bank - splendor at its finest for the country driving folk - is up FOR SALE. The young couple tried their hardest with upscale menus and the most refined in overnight care. The lawn furnishings were laced with taste. The view from the side lawn was simply beyond description. But now it is forlorn, forsaken by tourists who no longer drive through Maitland on the Shore Route - once famous.
The Trash & Treasure hideaway is FOR SALE. I spent hours in there every time we went to the Maritimes. What you could not find there for a song was not worth buying. There were dinnerware, magazines, books, tools, salt and peppershakers in the hundreds, doilies, towels and tablecloths - you name it, it was there.
The fish lunch stand is rusted and ready to be tossed.
There must be nearly a dozen private residences with FOR SALE signs on their lawns. There are only a couple dozen houses in the whole village.
Last summer a Victorian style house was straining to be a Bed and Breakfast special. Now it is vacant with the original, attractive, newly painted sign having disappeared. One can stare through the empty windows to see the death angel on the other side.
The antique and scrimshaw shop is in its near-closing chapter. It was once one of my favorite sneak-intos to chat with the owner and take note of every tiny object. The prices were a bit off the chart but the atmosphere was well worth the stop.
There are several buildings on stilts of sorts. I had said to my wife several years ago that they were being relocated somewhere else. Not so. They are still on stilts, but looking as if to tilt to one side or another. One of these days nature will see that they are no longer erect.
The corner building that once housed the post office has a FOR SALE sign on its face.
Another quaint eatery with bed and breakfast provisions is closed. One would never know that it sported a fashionable sign to its front. Now it gawks at passers-by as if taking revenge on time’s miss..
The village cemetery of course does not change. It is death encased and ever will be. But I never dreamt it would symbolize the village itself. Now it does—most certainly.
Strangely enough, down the side road from the village center is a residence for the aged. How an elderly person could ever pray to end one’s earthly existence is such a God-forsake lot is beyond me. But may the Lord help those stuck within its walls.
The historic Lawrence House, once a tourist main attraction because of its antiquity and impressive architectural design, now needs painting - badly so. It has been orphaned by time and those who care no more.
But what is particularly tragic are the Anglican Church and the United Church of Canada. The younger generation does not care if they collapse. Actually, there is not much of a younger generation left to the village population count.
The two sanctuaries have become relics. The Maitland United Church has now merged with the Noel United Church. That means that neither has enough attenders to keep them going.
So a woman pastor is straddling the two - plus one in Selma. The facts are that the three house very few mortals. Services are scheduled to rotate Sundays rather than each church inviting a worship every Sunday of the year.
The Anglican Church has the most precious fellowship hall. It has been well preserved; but my guess is that a few elderly ladies keep it swept clean –and for what? The death watch.
The same with the United Church fellowship hall right alongside the Anglican fellowship hall, as if the village needed two. The United Church fellowship hall is just as funereal. No fun. All grim.
The two churches have come under the divine wrath for forsaking the Bible and Christ. These two basics have been sidelined for lifting high homosexuality as a legitimate, divinely blessed lifestyle—all in contest with bold biblical stipulations abhorring homosexuality as a legitimate lifestyle.
The two churches have settled in for the world rather than preaching salvation in Christ as Savior.
In chatting with a village leader, he presented to me his sociological solution to the churches’ downsizing. I read it and then handed it back to him after a day’s study.
“The church cannot be saved by a sociological approach of one program for the young, another for the mothers, another for the men, another for tourists, and so forth. You have made a noble stab at the problem; but you just don’t understand why the church is the church.
“The church is here to lift up Christ, His saving grace and the hope of heaven through his redemption love. The church is here to proclaim that the God of the Bible is the only true deity; all others are imposters.
“Until you people realize that your apostate preaching is killing both church and village, you will witness death spread all around you.”
I said that three years ago. Now my wife and I have driven through Maitland to sense the death spread.
It is awful.
Read THE CHURCH THAT LOST ITS WAY at http://www.michnews.com/J_Grant_Swank_Jr/THE_CHURCH_THAT_LOST_ITS_WAY.shtml
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