A History and A Hope

Since I was seven years old and walked away from a graveyard in whose ground rested my father, I have been one who regarded those places as hallowed ground.  It is not only the bodies of our loved ones who are placed there, but also their stories, their memories, and sometimes the hopes and dreams they never realized.  Every graveyard has its stories to tell for those who walk slowly midst the markers and headstones to read the records etched in stone.   As I walked midst the stones telling past stories in the Zoar Church Cemetery a few days ago, I found a headstone which was put up in that place back in 1863.  It caused me to stop and stand there a moment considering what had happened to the Church whose shadow had been cast over that single grave for over 160 years.  

The records show that the first mention of the Zoar Church was in 1846 so people have been worshipping and burying their loved ones there for several generations.  History would tell us that the first sign out front declared it to be a member of the newly created Methodist Church Episcopal, South and it stayed that way until 1939 when a denomination split by slavery and war finally became one again to form the Methodist Church.  It stayed the same until 1968 when another merger created the United Methodist Church and now another schism much different than the first will soon bring about another denominational name change.   

When I served the church back in the early '70s, it was a strong country church with seventy five or so folks present on the average Sunday morning.  Today that number has shrunk to around twenty.  As I walked among those whose stories include being a part of the rich fellowship and heritage of the church which cares for their resting places, I wondered about the future of this holy community which has been centered in that place for so long.  Will it weather still another denominational name change and find a way to thrive again, or will it continue its decline until only the graveyard brings people to its hallowed grounds?  I pray that future generations will walk midst the markers and also discover the power of God for their lives as they go and sit midst the visible and invisble community which gathers within the walls of a church that has served Christ for so very long.