after more than 130 years salem church held its final service. though it hasn't been my church home in decades, it still feels significant as so much of my history is connected to to this place. it was home from birth to my teens. it's the church my mom grew up in, and where my parents met and were married. my grandparents attended here. my uncle. my great aunt and uncle. cousins and second cousins. it's also where i found a chosen family. bonus parents. best friends. people who are still near and dear to me decades later.
i have so many memories of this special place. i spent more hours on these grounds than i could ever calculate. if i close my eyes i can still see every detail of the building in my head. the green carpet. the brown tile. the mural. the long door pulls. all the stained glass. the christmas ornaments. the drinking fountains. the way the ceiling of the sanctuary looked like the bottom of noah's ark if you hung your head upside down. i can hear the sound of the bells. i can even remember the scent.
i remember the stories of my grandpa harry sitting in the same pew each sunday, down front on the right side of the center aisle, very conspicuously checking his watch anytime he felt the sermon was going on too long.
i remember grandpa picking me up in the hallway after sunday school, often with a safety pop from shoney's in hand.
i remember hearing bible stories with flannel board visuals.
i remember the bunk bed cribs in the nursery with the rails that slid up and over the top.
i remember building with the big, red cardboard bricks in the toddler and pre-school rooms.
i remember the wire racks on the counter that held the wooden puzzles.
i remember that our kindergarten classroom doubled as the green room for the adult choir and how i would dart around all the adults in their long green robes looking for my parents [and how many different color options they had for their stoles].
i remember putting my birthday pennies into the little white, plastic church during sunday school.
i remember spending wednesday nights hanging out in the nursery while my parents were at choir practice, and that my favorite things to do was to take all the toys out of the toy box and organize them.
i remember spending most services in the balcony with the choir. i alternated between sitting down on the low window sill by my mom and standing on the pew in the back row with my dad, singing along with the bass section [i had a number of back row buddies, but jack and larry were my favorites].
i remember opening the bulletin each week wishing and hoping it would be a week with a blank page so i could draw.
i remember standing on the north sidewalk on summer mornings, waiting for vacation bible school to start and hoping to get picked to carry our class sign.
i remember the red koolaid and cookies that were our standard snack.
i remember the thrill of getting to be part of the worship team and skits during vbs.
i remember the buzz that surrounded stewardship project season, and the anticipation of walking down the back hallway to see if your entry had earned a coveted prize.
i remember the sonshine bus stop and the fun of those long drives to and from church.
i remember our green sonshine bags and the mystery dinners where you would inevitably end up eating pudding with a knife.
i remember raising my hand with song requests during the wednesday night lent services, and the excitement of being chosen.
i remember the purple songbook with teal letters that we loved singing out of in youth choir.
it's not an exhaustive list. there were also easter egg hunts and advent workshops. musicals and grand choir performances. puppets and a hand bell choir. games of red rover by the playground. the anticipation of being old enough to attend youth group in the parsonage.
this place is where i first experienced camp, which is still one of the greatest joys of my life. it's where i learned the foundations of my faith and it's where i first met Jesus. it was bittersweet to say goodbye to a place that holds so many memories. i'm thankful i had the opportunity to be in the building one last time, and for the unexpected bonus of fulfilling my childhood dream of pulling on those giant ropes and ringing the steeple bells.
