In the heart of Gary, Indiana, there stands a decaying monument once dedicated to the glory of God.   The towering, gothic City Methodist Church opened its doors in 1926.  In its day it was the social and cultural hub of the city, with its large church hall hosting plays, musicals and pageants open to all city residents. 

The church was built as a symbol of decency in the heart of a rowdy, irreligious Gary that was less than 20 years old. 

The congregation peaked at around 2,000 members during the 1950s, but by the 1970s, City Methodist had fewer than 200 members, and offerings weren’t enough to even pay the utility bills, much less repair the antique organ, leaking roof and failing boilers. Church leaders attempted to find a congregation interested in the structure, but no group wanted to take on the expense of maintaining the enormous church. 

According to Andy Grimm of the Post Tribune, these days “pigeons and stray dogs take shelter within the church. The lone improvement since the 1970s came a few years ago, when the city, which now owns the property, installed a barbed wire fence around the building.”     

Across 6th Street from City Methodist, Gary Housing Authority has begun a $14 million housing development.  Joseph Shuldiner, one of their consultants, is quoted as having said, “We’re building new housing and … having a vacant abandoned building is not conducive to marketing. Rehabilitating the church would take millions.   

“I can’t think of a use for it that would justify the cost.”

These days, two of the most pressing questions for us all to answer are:

“Does our church’s mission to make disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world justify the cost?” 

“What will it take for us to commit ourselves to the task of serving this present age with faithfulness and relevance?”

And the real name of our connection to this everywhere different and differently named earth is “work.” We are connected by work even to the places where we don’t work, for all places are connected; it is clear by now that we cannot exempt one place from our ruin of another. The name of our proper connection to the earth is “good work,” for good work involves much giving of honor. It honors the source of its materials; it honors the place where it is done; it honors the art by which it is done; it honors the thing that it makes and the user of the made thing. Good work is always modestly scaled, for it cannot ignore either the nature of individual places or the differences between places, and it always involves a sort of religious humility, for not everything is known. Good work can be defined only in particularity, for it must be defined a little differently for every one of the places and every one of the workers on the earth…there is much good work to be done by every one of us and that we must begin to do it.”

In thinking about Berry’s words in relation the work of the church, there is also much good work to do.  We are stewards of the earth and all its resources.  We are stewards of the many gifts we have received.  We are stewards of the mysteries of God, keepers of the sacred traditions and rituals that have sustained people of faith for generations.  Faithful stewardship begins with each of us committing ourselves to the high calling of giving to something greater and believing that in doing so, good things can happen.  How can we all become more faithful stewards of the many resources we have been given to care for the earth which it the Lord’s as well as all that is within it?   What good work is God calling you to do?

Serendipity is usually defined as unexpectedly discovering something fortunate or helpful, especially when looking for or expecting something entirely unrelated.

On Tuesday, I received a letter in my mailbox addressed to “My Friends at U.U.M.C” The return address read, Mr. Curtis Lilly T.U. Lower “B”/ #3 L.S.P Angola, LA 70712. I had received many such letters before. My initial assumption was that this was another request for money, advocacy or some form of assistance. And to be completely honest, there was a part of me that just knew I had intercepted a scam letter seeking to fleece the church with another stock sad story. What could we possibly do to assist anyone in Angola? But when I opened the letter and began to read, I was both embarrassed by my assumptions and disturbed by my cynicism. Mr. Lilly wrote,

Greetings: to the current pastor and entire congregation of the UUMC…, Dear Pastor, just wanted to say hello to my friends at UUMC, with assistant pastor Mr. Matt Rawle, (Matt is a former youth director who now serves on the pastoral staff at Broadmoor United Methodist Church in Shreveport, LA) who was such a blessing to me in the past, with house repairs (through) the youth group’s Habitat for Humanities. Even though I have been away for several years, I still have love for God and the church. As the holiday season rolls around I am reminded to be thankful for the gift of life and all of my fellow Christians at the church.

Talk about a serendipitous moment. Here I was ready to uncover a shakedown in progress and instead, it was as if an angel delivered a message straight from God. The letter continued,

This church has special purpose and meaning, and I would love to hear from you all from time to time. (Happy Thanksgiving) Your friend in Christ, C.M. Lilly. P.S. Please keep me in prayer this holiday.

I will keep Mr. Lilly in my prayers this holiday season.  I have also written him a letter thanking him for his words about the church I am privileged to serve.  But more than that, I have made a commitment to myself to fight the cynicism that is so widespread in our world today.  From tea parties to town hall meetings, cynicism abounds.  Institutions that serve the public good, whether they be governmental, religious or educational are looked upon more and more with disdain and distrust.   Programs that serve the common good, promote the betterment of the many and not just the few, strengthen support for the most victimized and vulnerable are now seen as a part of some sinister socialist agenda.  And far too many of us are simply too cynical and too unengaged.    Our obsession with how we think things are or should be can cause us to miss an opportunity to see how things really are or really should be.

Serendipity…discovering the holy in unexpected places…Serendipity…hearing the gospel from unexpected people…Serendipity…aha! moments that help us see things from a different perspective.  

I believe that serendipity can be cultivated. 

Stop turning a blind eye or a deaf ear the unexpected.  

Cultivate the art of expecting the unexpected.   

Doing so nurtures the spirituality of serendipity. 

Doing so opens us to the possibility of being transformed.