A sermon on the 125th anniversary of the consecration of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.
July 9, 2023 The Rev. Patty Mouer
St. Luke’s Church, Chunn’s Cove, Asheville, NC
I love to think of who was here on Saturday, July 9, 1898, at the consecration of this church building. Did they imagine that in the year 2023 a congregation would gather to give thanks for their faithful service and witness? The gifts we celebrate today are the gift of a church building set aside for the worship of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and the gift of a legacy of faith in this particular part of God’s creation. Today we join those across the generations who have been a part of this place in giving thanks to God.
For now, take a moment to rest in this place. Take a deep breath and relax into the steady support of the pew. What is it like for you to be here right now? What catches your eye? What do you feel? What do you hear? And let yourself consider what it has been like for you to come to this place week after week. Consider the memories you have, encounters with God and moments of connection with other people. As I reflect on the hours spent here, I am overwhelmed with a sense of the presence of God, in moments large and small: sunlight streaming through the stained glass window at 8:44 am; the voices lifted in song that transports me beyond this place; a person gazing out the window in silent contemplation after Holy Communion. The memories of this place are beautiful; they point me toward the holy.
We celebrate today the consecration of St. Luke’s as a Christian church in the Episcopal tradition, set apart for holy use by the Bishop and the congregation. An official service articulated and celebrated the specific purpose of this building. But in the Episcopal Church an item or space is consecrated, or made holy, by being used for the purpose for which it is intended. By that definition the building was already consecrated, since the congregation had been worshipping in it for almost 4 years. This building was built in 1894 and was “sufficiently completed” so as to allow the first service on September 17. Before that a group of people worshipped in the Episcopal tradition for many years – the first service being held on Sunday, June 13, 1858, in the home of Mourning and Hosea Lindsey, led by the Rev. Jarvis Buxton, rector of Trinity downtown. Services were later held in the home of Mary Lindsey and William Thomas Owen, and under the weeping willow tree in the yard of Mrs. Martha Metz. William Owen dreamed of a parish church in Chunn’s Cove, and Eugene J Armstrong, a retired engineer, drew up the plans and oversaw construction, even while he was ill. The land was bought from Jane and Matthew Baxter for $50.00, and the building was built for $728.70. The stone foundation was laid; mortar was probably mixed with sand from Ross Creek, windows were opened to the breeze coming across the mountains. The people of Chunn’s Cove, joined by priests and parishioners from Trinity, gathered here to worship. In 1898 the Rev. McNeely DuBose, rector of Trinity, was minister-in-charge; he was assisted by the Revs. Albert H. Stubbs and William F. Rice (another son-in law of Mourning and Hosea Lindsay). Mr. Herbert Childs was the lay reader. There were 6 families of record, 17 baptized persons, a whole number of 37, with 7 Sunday School teachers and 53 scholars!
We heard the original petition read today, informing the Bishop of the congregation’s desire to appropriate the building and property “to the Worship and Service of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, according to the provisions of that branch of the Catholic Church of Christ known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America”. The petition asks the Bishop to take the building and property under his Spiritual Jurisdiction, and “the said Building to Consecrate by the name of St. Luke’s Church, and thereby to seperate it from all unhallowed, worldly and common uses“. The petition goes on to assure the Bishop that there is no debt on the property, that worship will be expressly Episcopal, and that there will be no charge for the seats of the church for those who worship here. The petition was signed by Mr. Dubose, Mr. Childs and Mr. Armstrong. Bishop Joseph Cheshire preached and celebrated the Holy Communion; ordained participants included the Revs. Stubbs and Rice.
Today, 125 years later, we give thanks for the grace of that day.
As we give thanks for the official consecration of this building, we do have to remember a few things. One is the mantra that we repeated during the long months of COVID: “the church is the people, not the building.” We reminded ourselves of this truth, as the church gathered online by Zoom, in Hamilton Hall 6 feet apart, on the field with the hawks and bears, rain and gently falling leaves. The church is the faithful people of God gathered in worship in the name of Jesus Christ, and we do not need a designated building to gather. In fact, many people feel especially close to God in nature, outside of four walls, in the great expanse of God’s creation, God’s first cathedral. Our God does not “live” in a church building, although we often refer to church buildings as “houses of God.” Our God is available in all places, to all people, at all times. The “church” is not a building.
Besides the confusion of what the church is and is not, church buildings carry other risks, as well. A church building can become an idol of sorts, as a congregation can focus on the tangible building instead of on the intangible mission of God. Church buildings cost a lot of money to keep up, demanding often extraordinary resources of time and effort. The buildings sit empty for much of the week, as the worshipping congregation goes about its service in the world. And sometimes the very space set aside for the honor and glory of God is the setting for the harm of people, either physical or spiritual or both. We are cautious when celebrating the consecration of a building.
And, yet, our buildings are important. A church building has the ability to give us a recognized, communal, sacred place, and place is part of what it means to be human.
We humans are physical beings, created by God from the elements of the universe and imbued with the very breath of God. We are part of the created order, and a part that God blessed as very good. Yes, we are spiritual beings, but we also are physical beings; we not only have bodies, we are bodies. Physical buildings provide necessary shelter for us physical beings. God the Creator further blessed the physical realm by becoming human. God came to us as a human, Jesus, the incarnate Word, born of a human in a particular location in a particular time in human history so that we might know God more fully. We further trust that one day God will redeem the whole, physical creation. The physical, embodied realm is part of the reality of our God, and buildings have the potential to be sites of encounter with the Holy.
But church buildings also have a symbolic role. A church building bears witness to the presence of God and the reality of the love of God in Jesus Christ here and now for all people. The structure can remind us of God-with-us, not only in this particular spot but everywhere we go. A church building can be a beacon calling us to be connected to God and to one another in love when so many people are dying of loneliness. A church building can be a place of spiritual grounding in a society that has become increasingly mobile, dislocated and rootless. A church building serves as a place for building Christian community over time, a place to be rooted in a Life that is greater than our own, a place to call a spiritual home in this world. A church building can take us beyond ourselves and point us to beauty, love, joy, strength, challenge, intimacy, belonging, peace. The church building can speak of God’s presence.
The theologian Walter Brueggemann writes about the role of “place” in the Christian faith. He describes the difference between “space” and “place”. Space is a physical locale; place is a physical locale that has acquired individual and corporate meaning. He writes, “Place is space which has historical meanings, where some things have happened which are now remembered and which provide continuity and identity across generations. Place is a space in which important words have been spoken which have established identity, defined vocation, and envisioned destiny. Place is a space in which vows have been exchanged, promises have been made, and demands have been issued. Place is indeed a protest against the unpromising pursuit of space.” For Brueggemann “place” is physical space that characterized by relationships between human beings and between humans and God, relationships that span the generations. St. Luke’s Church connects us to God, to each other, to generations of the faithful past and future, and to the ongoing mission of sharing the good news of God’s love in Christ. St. Luke’s is a sacred place.
Today we celebrate a great legacy of place. As I strolled the grounds yesterday with the Second Saturday Weed Warriors, I marveled at the beauty of this place. I imagined that Mr. Owen and Mrs. Owen and Father Buxton and Mr. Armstrong and Bishop Cheshire would be pleased with the church they built. But as we look back, we also look forward into the next 125 years. What will St. Luke’s be like in the year 2143? We continue to take our place in the history of God’s saving work in Chunn’s Cove and beyond. As we celebrate today, we remember that we are called to the work, not just of being stewards of a building, but of sharing the Good News of God’s love in Jesus Christ. The physical buildings help us do that, but our ultimate call is to continue to pray and listen and serve our God, today and into the next 125 years. We pray for the grace to do that.
