Hollow Church, Hopeful Church

Hollow Church, Sherman County, Oregon. Photo by Tim Graves.
Hollow Church, Sherman County, Oregon. Photo by Tim Graves.

Hollow church, hollow church,
Long forgotten place of joy.

Hollow church, hollow church,
only an exoskeleton remains

Former home of joyous hymns,
laughter, smiles, and hugs,
rippling across nearby wheat fields,
you are empty but for memories.

Place of Bible-thumping,
human weakness,
and sin-confessing.

Hollow church, hollow church.
Where is the joy? Where is the Good News?
Should we shed a tear at your empty shell?

“No,” says the LORD.
“The people have spilled out of the building,
to be my hands of justice and arms of love.”

Hollow church, hollow church.
You were but a building not the church.
The church is Spirit-led people moving out into the world,
being the unfolding realm of God.

2 comments

  1. I see you found the church down Fulton Canyon. It’s always interesting to see from anothers perspective the things we’ve grown accustomed to. We’ll have to make sure you get out to see the Lonerock church one of these days. Thanks for sharing!

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