Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

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Church cornerstones

Jim Grey
6 comments on Church cornerstones
1 minute
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I love to photograph church cornerstones.

St. Joseph Catholic Church
St. Joseph Catholic Church, Rochester, IN

I especially like the ones that quote Scripture. This one’s both clever and obvious.

Brazil, IN
First Presbyterian Church, Brazil, IN

In Metea, they hew to Proverbs 3:6.

Metea Baptist Church
Metea Baptist Church, Metea, IN

This isn’t exactly a cornerstone. But no matter; I love its lettering. From Romans 1:16.

St. John Lutheran Church
St. John Lutheran Church, Indianapolis, IN

This plate shows the common practice of naming the church and calling out its key dates.

Crooked Creek Baptist Church
Crooked Creek Baptist Church, Indianapolis, IN

I come upon lots of little country churches while I’m on the road.

Vallonia United Methodist Church
Vallonia United Methodist Church, Vallonia, IN

I also find large, prosperous old churches in bigger cities.

Christ Lutheran Church cornerstone
Christ Lutheran Church, Columbus, OH

I attend West Park Christian Church today.

West Park Christian Church
West Park Christian Church, Indianapolis, IN

Some cornerstones are verbose.

First Christian Church
First Christian Church, Bedford, IN

Some cornerstones get right to the point.

1911
Epworth Memorial United Methodist Church, South Bend, IN

Churches with roots in the 1800s are usually proud of it.

United Brethren Church
United Brethren Church, Fulton, IN

1900-1910 must have been a time of unprecedented church construction.

Burlington Church of Christ
Burlington Church of Christ, Burlington, IN

I used to attend North Liberty Christian Church.

North Liberty Christian Church cornerstone
North Liberty Christian Church, Indianapolis, IN

Hard times forced us to sell. We took our cornerstone with us.

North Liberty Christian Church cornerstone
North Liberty Christian Church, Indianapolis, IN

We found a time capsule inside the cornerstone! Read about it here.

See a historic panoramic photo of West Park Christian Church here.

Comments

6 responses to “Church cornerstones”

  1. Lone Primate Avatar
    Lone Primate

    “The First Christian Church”? That seems a bit much.

    The sight of North Liberty’s cornerstone removed and sitting solemnly alone is wholly sobering. I’m reminded of the scene in Fiddler On the Roof where the rabbi, with the Torah bundled in his arms, turns back to look in tears at the synagogue he has to leave behind. Has that stone found a new place to settle yet, do you know?

    Reply
    1. Jim Avatar
      Jim

      Unfortunately, North Liberty has yet to build its new building. When I left, we had just had a costly tussle with the city — they had a “village plan” for the area we wanted to build in that would have dictated that our building’s back face the street, rather than its front, and we spent a very large sum of money fighting that. That drained our accounts to the point where we could no longer afford to build our building. I drove by the site the other day and it is unchanged from over a year ago. It’s very sad. The elders there are continuing to work on ways to raise funds but apparently have not yet found success.

      Reply
  2. Neil Avatar
    Neil

    I loved the variety of cornerstones in your post. Thanks so much.

    Reply
    1. Jim Avatar
      Jim

      Glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply
  3. kiwiskan Avatar
    kiwiskan

    I particularly like the one from Brazil.

    Reply
    1. Jim Avatar
      Jim

      I’m partial to the “Not Ashamed of the Gospel of Christ” plate, myself!

      Reply

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