Elim Extra for Sunday August 18, 2024

Living Stones

In worship I quoted a new report that 100,000 churches are likely to close in the next 30 years in the United States. Yet even as we are forced to find new uses for our buildings, Scripture encourages us that we have “a house not built with hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1) that will never be taken from us.

What is this house? The cathedral of nature, as well as the promise of heaven, to be sure. But on Sunday I learned another dimension of this true home – that it is the living church made up of people, which the Bible calls “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5).

You see, after worship on Sunday, Lucille and I visited our Ogden Japanese Christian Church neighbors, whose beautiful building dates back to the Augustana German Lutheran church in our neighborhood. They were celebrating the call of their new hybrid, digital Pastor Jared, who lives in Ireland! This church worships on Zoom and is made up of people who live all over the world. How inspiring is that?

Then, Lucille and I joined Craig a block further north and took a wonderful tour of the beautiful, inspiring historic LDS Chapel on Jefferson and 21st. This ward began the same year as Elim, in 1888, with a chapel located at the site of New Bridge Elementary. In the 1920s the members of the ward made or moved 750,000 bricks to build their monument church, inspired by the sacred architecture of their Protestant neighbors in Ogden! Just a while later, our members of Elim would clean and move 60,000 bricks from the Ogden Defense Depot to create our precious building.

As our friends from My Hometown Ogden and the ward’s recent Bishop Jeremy explained, what these buildings represent is the love and the giving of the faithful. Today, this giving extends far beyond the walls of our own church community, as each congregation seeks to bless the whole Ogden community by finding ways to join together in service. This, more than any single building or place, is the true meaning of Zion on earth – anywhere believers meet together in harmony and love.

How blessed we are to be part of an ecumenical community like Ogden, where we can give and receive so much love, and show the world how the God of us all, wants to see us live together as neighbors. So as we give of our time, talent and treasure to take care of our building at Elim, my prayer is that we will focus not on what we stand to lose, but on what is permanent and not temporary in God’s eyes.

with love, Pr. Chelsea

We will worship in the temple of nature on August 25th at 10 a.m. at Eden Park and Community Center. Please let me or Peggy know if you need a carpool! We are seeking additional potluck signups including entree ideas. Eden Park and Community Center is located at 2100 N. 5600 E., Eden, Utah 84310.

The last evening prayer will be this Wednesday August 14th at 7:30 p.m. on the lawn. The Manna and Matins bread baking workshop on Saturday is canceled.

Church council will meet next Sunday, August 18th after worship.