Faith Tested by Fire

I used to spend a weekend a month with my grandmother in Aurora when I was in university. When I was younger, I stayed with her for a week every summer. During those visits, I would go to church with her on Sunday morning. The Aurora United Church was founded as the Aurora Methodist Church in 1818 and the building I attended was built in 1878. My mother was baptized and confirmed there, and was a member of CGIT (Canadian Girls in Training) which had a branch at the church. The church had a clock that chimed every quarter-hour, something I found very comforting. Grandma and I would leave her house, turn left at the corner and walk a block to the church on Sundays. Aunt Joan sang in the choir and there was a magnificent organ. The last time I was in that church was for Grandma's 90th birthday party which was a big family and community celebration. 

Aurora United Church 2014 (source)

Sadly, the historic church was destroyed by fire in 2014. Mom died the year before, and I am glad she did not know about it. The congregation has not rebuilt yet and is sharing space with another church in town. 

Christian churches have been closing at an increasing rate in recent years as congregations age and shrink. Some buildings have been repurposed into theatres, museums, condos and other uses. The large, older buildings are expensive to heat and maintain. The pandemic has hastened the demise of many congregations.

While the Aurora church building was destroyed by fire, the North American Christian church has been burning with scandals, detrimental political involvement, a lack of discipleship with a focus on money and numbers. The historic abuses of indigenous people, women, children, and minorities by the church have also hurt its credibility and witness. In many cases, the church has not kept pace with the rapid social changes of the past generation. Sunday morning at 10AM is not a sacred hour in our society any longer. In some countries, faith is tested by deadly persecution, but in North America, faith is tested by our busyness, abundance, partisan focus, and self-sufficiency.

The church we have attended as a family since 1977 is one that went from a slow to a rapid decline over the past two years. It has been unable to retain the generation that attended Sunday School between 1975-2000. I have not attended an in-person church service since January 2020, almost two years now. This has been a time of personal assessment and growth and my faith remains strong. But the Christian faith is meant to be lived as a community of believers.

Today I left the house, turned left at the corner, and walked a block to a community church. The congregation has remained vibrant and is invested in meeting needs in our neighbourhood. It felt good to worship and take communion with other believers. 

I have bookmarked many tweets from people who are examining their faith and the state of the church of our times. Here is a sample of some of my favourites.

So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:7