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Church of the Epiphany, New Iberia, Louisiana
I grew up going to church every Sunday. When I went to college, I chose LSU because of the Episcopal student center. I joined the music group. We sang folk songs to guitar and piano. For the Eucharist on Sunday night, we would gather around the altar in a circle and pass the bread and wine to each other. This service was intimate and sincere.
I also love a high church service complete with smells and bells, a full four-part choir with men and women processing in robes, banners waving.
The church I attend weekly is a historical Episcopal church dating back to 1857. The sanctuary was used as a hospital in the Civil War. We still have two of the pews that were used as horse troughs. You can see the holes that were bored for drainage. I sing in the choir loft that was once a loft for slaves. If the walls and windows and pews could speak…
Why church? Not because I’ve always gone. Not because of the building or the traditions.
Church is home. Church is community.
Church is a place where God is always present.
I go to church because I would feel incomplete without it.
The words inspire me.
The people love me.
The Eucharist nourishes me.
I don’t think I have ever seen such a beautiful brick church. What amazing history it has.
I so agree with this. Lovely. Thank you.
“I go to church because I would feel incomplete without it.” This is a profound statement that I feel but never put into words like yours. Thank you for that statement, Margaret.
Without church where would I be in the continuum of life? Without faith what an empty life it would be.
During my family’s trip to Gettysburg, we went inside the church that also was a hospital during Civil War times. It was hard for me to believe that the very small structure could transform itself into a medical unit. So many souls were left there in the heat and dust with very few people attending the ill. Yes, if the walls could talk then perhaps those left behind would tell the story of how the Lord came upon them during the battle of Gettysburg.
What a beautiful building indeed! I love this part of your description: “We sang folk songs to guitar and piano.” I remember those days too.
The last stanza of your poem sums things up so well.
What a beautiful building. By your description, it sounds like it’s much more than a beautiful historical building, though. It sounds alive with the Spirit! In your last lines, you’ve captured the power of a church home perfectly.