Lately, the grounds of Northside Drive Baptist Church have looked like a construction site. At one point yesterday we had workers from CMS Controls, concrete pathway workers, and a general contractor for the pavilion all onsite at the same time.
25 stone slab steps are being installed from the pavilion to the lower playground, complete with a new gate. A new asphalt shingle roof is being placed on the pavilion. The control system which allows us to set the temperature and monitor our HVAC system remotely is being updated and overhauled.
Meanwhile, the Sanctuary sat as a mostly silent witness to this frenetic pace: the light filtering through each window at its appointed time, the soft shadows falling over the Communion table and pulpit.
I can begin to envision the pavilion being filled with people, the sound of music playing, the echo of children laughing. As we sat in the sanctuary for Church in Conference this past Sunday, the delightful sound of children playing around the pavilion kept trickling in. That's a good sound to my ears.
There's an old sign in the narthex that says "Enter in Silence." It is a command that is more aspirational than it is descriptive. I've reviewed a few unsigned Pinnacle articles written by (presumably?) clergy in the 50s and 60s that called out the congregation for making too much noise. While we were still worshipping in the Chapel, the Pinnacle advised the congregation to "enter in silent reverence, beginning the experience
of worship in quiet meditation. The service should begin for you the very
moment you enter." In other articles, more strident language is used. The Congregation is chastised at one point in the 60s in no uncertain terms:
When we come into the sanctuary, all conversation should cease immediately and a spirit of reverence and prayer should prevail.
We can guess at the theology behind such admonitions. My confession is that I believe God shows up despite our attempts to impose silence, no matter how laudatory our attempts. And, after a year of the Sanctuary being silent because of a pandemic, I welcome the noise of hammers, buzz saws, children laughing, buildings and stones built up and dedicated, Sanctuaries re-opened and inhabited and loved.
Enter in silence...leave with a shout of joy. The gathered people of Northside Drive Baptist Church are coming back.
Grace and peace,
Daniel Headrick, Associate Pastor
