By Dr. Craig Rikard
My first church was snuggled into the hills of rural Kentucky. It would have made a nice postcard scene. A large cemetery surrounded the one room church. They were Presbyterian but called this young Methodist theology student as their pastor until I graduated.
Their number had dwindled to about ten people. They perceived themselves as surviving, not thriving. They paid $50 a week. The church stood 65 miles away in Eastern Kentucky. Consequently, we lost money. Still, I felt called.
One day I arrived hours early and went exploring. I began in the cemetery and found many graves of people born in the 1600s. I then found the headstones of people killed in the Revolutionary War and every war thereafter. I was standing on very old sacred ground. My next journey led me into the church's attic. The beams were all hewn from axes and there were no nails. Wooden pegs held the hand-hewn timbers in place.
Over the next Sundays I reminded the small congregation of their history. They had survived through every war, economic storm, and struggle of our nation. My theme became, "We are still here! What shall we do with our time in history?" Slowly the congregation began to experience renewed hope and purpose. When we left, we had grown to over 40 in an area so rural many would never visit. We became a loving family, and we wept with them as we graduated and moved home.
When I am called to a church, I immediately read its history. I remind them that we stand on ancient sacred ground approximately 2,000 years old. We sing psalms written by King David and hymns written by the Wesleys and others. I preach from ancient scrolls now printed.
In February our culture celebrates love. I love Gail, my girls, family, and friends. And I really love the Church. In spite of her times of misdirection, mistakes and weakened witness, she is an ancient gift possessing potent relevancy. I thank God for allowing me to stand with "the great cloud of witnesses." I did not take a vow to stand with the perfect. I vowed to serve everyone in the Spirit of Jesus and to call people to receive the same grace that accepted me. I regularly ask myself, "What am I to do with my time in the Church's history?"
I pray you will lovingly embrace the gift of Jesus and his sacred Church, and continue to find your place in her sacred history.
Dr. D. Craig Rikard is a South Georgia pastor. Email him at craigrikard169@yahoo.com.
