By Pastor Leah Fintel Krotz, Trinity Lutheran Church, Bruning
A couple of miles from our place is a small country cemetery, which is all that remains of Zion Lutheran Church. It's the church my dad's family attended up until the 1950s—when it closed, as so many country churches have over the years.
The church members dispersed to other congregations in the Byron and Deshler area, and the beautiful altar, furnishings, and bell were dispersed. I'm sure it was a sad and bittersweet time for the people of that community, whose family members had gathered there to hear the word of God and receive the sacraments.
But there is more to this particular story. A group of other area congregations, including the church I currently serve, Trinity Lutheran in Bruning, gathered together to carefully deconstruct the church, ship the lumber to Belleville Kansas, and use it to build a mission congregation there which is still in existence to this day.
In a beautiful demonstration of Christian love, this congregation gave all they had left to give so that another congregation could have a start, reaching new brothers and sisters in Christ. In a personal completion of the circle, I ended up marrying a guy from Belleville and we raised our family in that very church, built because of the giving spirit of my grandparents and their fellow believers.
We are very fortunate to have a piece of history—a film that was made, showing the demolition of the old church and looking forward to its new life as a mission start in Kansas. The video has now been converted to a digital format and I've posted it on YouTube. You should be able to find it here: A Church Transplanted
There is a lot of worry today about the decline of Christianity and we all know of churches that have closed, or are in danger of doing so. But the story of what happened at Zion is a perfect reminder of God's words for us in 1st Peter 1:24-25, “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
God's word is not dependent on a certain building, a certain congregation, or a certain group of people. He has promised that it will endure forever, and God's promises never fail. We can put our hope in his living Word, our Savior Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
