A Church Visit

Today I visited Mamre Moravian Church, a denomination with a rich history within the pre-reformational pietistic movement. As I stepped out of the vehicle the first thing that I noticed about the church was that the entire building focused the viewers eyes upward until the view culminated at the steeple. I walked in and noticed the old wooden pews in a simple square shaped room surrounded by simple picture windows. Next my eyes noticed a very large box shaped pipe organ which took up the entire front right hand corner of the front of the church. Apparently the church had not been designed with an organ in mind. In the center was a pulpit flanked by two picture windows, one of of the Scriptures and another of two stone tablets. Above the pulpit hung a multi-pointed white star (which I later learned is supposed to communicate a symbol of diversity).

The service was led by a young lay member in his fifties and assisted by an organist. Attendance on that Sunday was twenty-one, however from what I understand there are normally less than twelve, the youngest of which is in his seventies.

The sermon went well. The guest preacher confidently began with a funny story about himself and continued in an organized and interesting fashion. The only part of the sermon that I thought was a might bit disconcerting was that each time he finished a main point of the homily, his voice tone and length of pause was such that I thought it was the end of his sermon, and then he would continue.

After the service was complete everyone went into a side room, and sat down around a couple of tables for coffee, brownies, cookies and conversation. There was lots of reminiscing amidst the dialogue, as well as friendly chatter and questions as to where I was from and the like. Everyone was very welcoming.

After the service I walked around through the grass around behind the church to use the outhouse. The church has no indoor plumbing of which I am aware. It was a two-seater, which I thought interesting. Curious how our culture has changed over the years since this outhouse was first built.

My visit left me wondering, what is it that keeps these rich and heartwarming folks returning to this pretty, but dwindling church, week after week with such dedication?