Everyone sing along:

I am the church!

You are the church!

We are the church together!

All who follow Jesus,

All around the world.

Yes, we're the church together!

The church is not a building

The church is not a steeple

The church is not a resting place

The church is the people!

This is a good thought to remember since earlier today, the old White Church located at 415 Monroe Street was torn down.  This building was started in 1903 and I believe was completed sometime in 1904.  It was the oldest church structure in Piedmont.

Since the sale of our old facility at 4th and Monroe to the Soldier Creek Church of Christ, we knew that this was probably coming.  But to actually see it produces some grief for a lot of people, myself included.

The building has served the community of Piedmont well through many generations.  It was witness to baptisms, conversions, weddings, and funerals.  It would be hard to estimate how many casseroles were consumed there!

When I arrived in Piedmont in 2001, it was not in use.  We turned it over to the youth who quickly made it their own.

I was accosted by several of our senior high youth last night when they heard the news of the impending destruction of their beloved building.  And so the grief is largely felt by the oldest in our congregation but also by our youth.  Ask some of them about the pillow game and you might coax a smile out of them!

For the older members experiencing grief, we remember that it was remodeled in the 1970's and no longer had the original sanctuary on the inside.  We see the earliest pictures and remember that it no longer had the bell tower that once stood proudly.  We remember and we grieve the loss.

I do not regret our decision to sell the old facility.  It had served our congregation well.  Nor do I hold any ill will toward Soldier Creek because it would have been a money pit for them.  But God does call us to make sacrifices.  We move onward, remembering that our primary responsibility is that of discipleship.  We are not in the museum business or about preservation for preservation's sake.  These are important functions of a society but not necessarily the functions of a church.

Our job is to look forward.

And so if you are mourning, I invite you to mourn with me.  We remember the good times.  But let us also remember that we were shaped in the faith there.  A faith that bids us to recognize the life-changing nature of our relationship in Jesus Christ.  A faith that calls us to introduce others to this relationship as well.  In order for us to do that as effectively as possible, sacrifices sometimes have to be made.

So we thank God for those pioneering members that constructed it.  May we seek to be as faithful as they!