Monday I hitched a ride up to Plattsburgh with our District Superintendent, Pastor Paul, who took the opportunity to drop a lot of church leadership wisdom on me.
Near Plattsburgh I picked up a U-Haul and followed him the rest of the way to a Wesleyan Church in Plattsburgh that has closed and I backed the truck up to the door and began the bitter-sweet process of looting a defunct church. Sweet because there was much there that will be of great use to us as we move to the new location in Pittsford. Bitter because it is a sobering, chastening thing any time a church must close.
Church's have lifespans and sometimes it is necessary that the "kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies" so that its death will produce many new kernels, "a plentiful harvest." But even when the death of a church is so evidently an answer to our prayers it is still not a cause for celebration.
A couple of hours later the truck was full to overflowing and I drove home with scarcely room in the cab for the driver. Chairs, a lectern, tables, and other sundries belonging to the district but available for our use. My heart was the only thing more full than that truck.
Job and I unloaded all the chairs yesterday at the new location in Pittsford. I had been told that there were about 120 chairs and we didn't bother to count as we loaded them up. But Job and I counted 142 chairs at the unloading. And there are 9 other chairs and some other assorted items that Ed Elliott will be bringing back for us this weekend. A total of about 150 chairs! What an answer to prayer.
And the best part was seeing those new chairs that God has already provided, in the building that he is in the process of providing, and imagining them filled with people that he will provide.
People I haven't even met yet will have the good news of salvation made clear to them while sitting in those seats.
What a privilege to be part of this! What a thrilling thing it is to be at the intersection of providence and effort!
