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by John M. Buchanan

Being Christs bodyAlthough he was very sick, we had a good eonversation about

life, the church, Easter and death. I asked Glen what the hardest

thing was for him. ne answered that the most difficult time was

in the evening, when visitors had gone, the halls were quiet and

the lights dimmed, and he was alone with the awareness that he

was dying. But then his face brightened. Every night, he said, he

pu t his headphones on and l istened to a recording of our church

Sunday worship service, ft settles me down, he said. Some-

times I fall asleep while the choir is singing. I d o z e off a lot o

times during your sermonI know fm not the only one, he

added with a grin. Th ats how go to sleep every night, here in

my hospice bed but also in my church. Glen reminds me that the

church does what no one else doesand that people still turn to

the church in those singular moments of birth, crisis, and death.

Somewhat like the Earl of Grantham in Dow nton Abbey , I

have difficulty accepting the fact that something I love and to

which I have given my life is changing right in front of my eyes

When I was ordained, the mainline church was a growth indus

try with shiny new corporate headquarters on Riverside Drive

in Manhattan. New churches were being planted and were

thriving in burgeoning suburbia. There was money to fund ere-

ative mission. Church leaders were minor celebrities. Pres-

by teria n stated clerk Eu gene Carson Blake was on the cover of

Time magzine for collaborating with Episcopal bishop James

Pike on a bold ecumenical initiative. That era is gone now.

I have a proposal: lets call a moratorium on counting members

bets consider tha t we are called to witness to Gods love in Jesus

Christ and to do everything we can to be Chris ts body in the world

to do what we believe he would be doing and is doing through us.

HEIDI NEUMARKS article on tire state of thechurch (p. 12) resonates deeply in my heart. I know what her

seminary intern was experiencing as she limped, inexperi-

enced and with little confidence, toward the ICU and a young

couple who waited there with their dying infant. I also know

that years of experience dont ease the journey. Pastors and

chaplains feel terribly inadequate, wondering whether helpful

words will come, and at the same time feel incredibly grateful

that the vocation allows us into such intimate situations.

In Bey on d Belie f, Elaine Pagels tells of learning that her

two-and-^alf-year-old son had a life-threatening medical

condition. Although she hadnt attended church for a long

time, she stepped inside a church vestibule to warm up and

was startled by sounds of worship the soaring harm onies of

the choir, the clergypersons clear resonant prayer. Pagels said

to herself, Here is a family that knows how to face death.

As I think about the viability of the church I think of this

statement about the church as family. Pastors and laypeople

know thisthat the church of Jesus Christ is big and deep and

resilient, bigger and more resilient than anything Im thinking

or worrying abo ut doing.

When Im asked about the future of the church I think

about Glen. Glen had AIDS. The church where his family had

been actively involved for yea rs made no secret of its disap-

proval of Gle ns sexual or ientat ion and practice. He somehow

found our church, joined it and became a devo ted and active

member. His parents transferred their membership as well. As

his illness progressed, Glen was admitted to a hospice facility.

I visited him a few days before he died.

Carol Howard Merritt surveys the religious landsoape a t her blog Tribal Chureh

Steve Thorngateblogs about public life and cultu re a t In the W orld

CCblogs higlalights posts from the Centurysnetwork ofindependent bloggers

Various bloggers write for Blogging Toward Sunday (on the lectionary) and

Then and Now (on us. religious history)

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Christian Century March 5,20143

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