When I encountered the cynics in Martinsville Virginia, I was told that back in the day the “three c’s” of local high society were Chatmoss (the country club), Carlisle (the private school), and Christ Church (the Church where I was rector). Generally, the context of this conversation was them explaining to me why they would not be darkening our doors despite our budding friendship. I always thought it curious because the pretentious reality described had not existed in Martinsville for nearly three decades. After the global economy was reworked in the 90’s, almost all of the factories had closed down, and the vast majority of the jobs went overseas or disappeared altogether. The three c’s were once a big deal, but each had to be reinvented in order to survive. The private school found a niche in bringing in wealthy foreign students and providing scholarships to local athletes. The country club made membership affordable and actively worked to bring in new doctors from the hospital, who were often from other countries. I am not certain, but I imagine the founders of these places would have grimaced at their current diversity.

That leaves the third C, Christ Church. When I arrived there was a small, but amazingly loving Church that existed in two beautiful buildings; a small historic Church, and a massive and mostly unused mansion that was bought by the Church many years ago. There was talk of selling the mansion, which we called the Parish House, to consolidate everything into the Church building. Selling the mansion was largely a non-starter because of the tremendous beauty and history of the building, but those voices were persistent. The first floor of the Parish House was immaculate, but the second floor was in very poor shape. Most of the bathrooms did not work, the paint was peeling, and it smelled odd. There were rooms filled with old equipment and irrelevant documents that no one had the emotional strength to toss. It was large, and behind the rough exterior, you could still see the foundation of a uniquely grand building.

After two years of being the guardian of an empty building for six days a week, we heard that the Boys and Girls Club needed a new home. Their current space was well suited to their needs but was in a bad part of town, and the current owners needed to sell the property. So, why not move them into the Parish House? The Parish House was designed to let everyone know that the residents were important. It was built on the highest hill overlooking the downtown area. The Boys and Girls Club needed to be shown that they deserved to be there.

There was some push back from Church members, and from the Boys and Girl’s club, both had concerns the space was simply too nice for them. Then I would show them the peeling paint again, and we eventually decided to move forward. This was not charity. They would pay us rent. We borrowed money from ourselves and used the income we were going to receive in the first three years to make everything beautiful again, and then all of a sudden our ancient crumbling building was filled with laughter every day after school.

I think Church buildings are innately neutral. Fancy Churches can be arenas for the powerful and particular to exercise their will at the detriment of the more vulnerable. Once in a while, you can find beautiful cathedrals filled with beautiful music so it can be open to anyone. Instead of being citadels of the elite, they can be a refuge where the rich and poor can worship as equals.

As we continue to move forward, we should abandon any idea of what our building should look like, or the privileged assumption that the state of our physical plant does not matter. Instead, I hope we can let go and listen for opportunities to do ministry through our building. We already do a fantastic job of doing this with the Ghanian congregation, the Day School, the Boy Scouts, and every other group that uses our building. Let’s not take them for granted and strive to make this the sanctuary they need.

Blessings,

Nick