# 33 WHO CAN SEE THE CHURCH
This is post is number 33 in the marathon.
I have had my church membership here for 44 years. Ron decided to bring his membership here with me in 2006. This is the church where I raised my children. My brother was an associate pastor here and my parent's attended this church in their retirement years. It shocks me sometimes to look at the beautiful pictures of the building because to me this church is the people and not the steeple.
Arriving on Sunday or any day, I think of the parking lot, the side door, the fellowship hall and parlor, the regular seats our family has occupied for 44 years, (if we got there in time because we never saved seats) and the familiar faces awaiting me inside. There are 8,000 members of this church but I see more people that I know and love here on Sunday morning than I have in the small churches we have attended.
My son has raised his three children in this church and it is a thrill to receive the church paper and see one or two of my grandchildren peering back at me involved in some activity.
The children and I would play a game every Sunday morning, Who Can See The Church. We would peer through the thick trees blocking the view on the way downtown and sometime, after turning onto 18th street, someone would spot the tower (or say they did) and begin the cry, "I see the church! I see the church!"
As a child I attended a multitude of Methodist churches all over Oklahoma because my father was a minister. These were small churches. Ron and I attended a small church in Kansas and we attended a local church here a few times. It is odd how these small churches never made us feel at home, but our Tulsa church embraces us and gives us that warm feeling.
Anytime I run into someone from our church home I want to shout, "I see the church!"
Yes the church is the people and not the building. Although ours is a small church, I've always said the big churches got big by acting small, meaning when you go in they are connecting with you on a personal level or you wouldn't go back.
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely to have that kind of connection.
ReplyDeleteCliff -- How right you are. It is rare that we attend our church in person but we can catch the weely sermons online. If we lived 30 miles further west we could watch the whole service each week on television.
ReplyDeleteLynn -- When I joined the church I was married but my spouse would not attend with me. I joined on my own and the church has been there to help me through many obstacles including a divorce and life as a single parent.
This is one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen,and that includes many European Cathedrals that people travel thousands of miles to see.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the church is the people but I also think that the nicer the surroundings a person has, the better they act.
Wow. that is a beautiful church building. Is it a Methodist congregation? I have a fondness for Methodists. How special a church "home" is. You are really blessed if you have one.
ReplyDeleteYour title seems like a trick question, cause I can see the church in your pics right there! Always tough to replace the original church! I think it's because of the built up memories over the years.
ReplyDeleteNancy -- Our church is over 100 years old. It is listed in many Architectural magazines and is an oficial historic landmark. The design for our church was created by a woman.
ReplyDeleteSeriously Though -- Oh yes, Methodist. If I ever decided to become a Buddhist or Jewish or Hindu, I would still have to say that I was a Methodist.
Snaggle Tooth -- Well there you are, you win! You saw the church:)