Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Since 2007

Tag: Christian Church

  • Moving on is a simple thing; what it leaves behind is hard

    When I measure the health of North Liberty Christian Church in terms of key external indicators, things don’t look good. I’ve been writing about this church’s challenges for two years now, chronicling its story of a dying congregation, of leaving the land it called home for 170 years, of delays and cost overruns in building…

  • The real value of Christmas

    Even though I’m a Christian, I don’t celebrate the birth of Christ at this time of year. The home in which I was raised followed no particular faith. My parents acknowledged the God the Bible described, but their devotion went no further. For us, Christmas was a big family holiday where we got to see…

  • Finding joy in service

    A year ago my church was still in our building on land where our congregation was founded in 1839, but we were dying. Six months ago we sold the building, bought some land, and prepared to build a smaller building, one we could afford to heat and cool while still paying our pastor. Today we’re…

  • The old songs

    I went to an evening church service last Friday, Good Friday. I’d never done that before. My Christian “heritage,” if you can call it that, has its roots mostly in Restoration Movement churches (Churches of Christ, Disciples of Christ, and Christian Churches). These churches tend to lack the usual trappings of Christendom as part of…

  • The time capsule

    We found a time capsule in our church building’s cornerstone. See what it contains!

  • Renewing a 170-year heritage

    We sought God’s leading for our dying church. The path he put us on led us away from our home of 170 years, but it unified us behind him after years of strife.

  • Afternoon of awe

    On one of the first warm nights last spring we were standing in the pastor’s kitchen in our shorts and flip-flops after a meeting. “I keep having this dream about a concert,” Nancy said, “in the parking lot at the church. Over and over again I’m dreaming this. I’m getting the feeling that I’m supposed…

  • Like Gideon’s army

    We lost a couple more families at church recently, people who were very involved. Not only is it hard to watch them go, but it’s hard to fill the void they leave behind. And given that our church is small, and that those who contribute tend to wear many hats, that void is significant. We…

  • Yes, Lord

    The church where I attend is dying. Neighboring farm families who settled in northwest Marion County founded North Liberty Christian Church in 1839. Their names are on the gravestones around our building. The congregation has has its ups and downs in 170 years. We’ve built two log cabins, a brick church, and the current brick-faced…

  • The temple’s grandeur

    Thanks to Solomon’s sins, Israel found itself exiled, scattered across Babylon. Jersualem, and Solomon’s glorious temple with it, was destroyed. But much later, as God said would happen, King Cyrus allowed any Jews who wanted to return to Jerusalem and rebuild. 50,000 of them went back, and right away started work on an altar and the…

  • The church’s role in community

    The anti-establishmentarian in blogger Hoosier Reborn questioned the church trend of creating community. I wanted to expand on a comment I left on his post. North Liberty Christian Church was founded in Marion County, Indiana, in 1839. I’m told it’s the third oldest church in what is now Indianapolis. I found this 1855 plat map…

  • A cappella

    Ten years ago my wife and I visited a little Church of Christ in a plain building that stood on an empty highway in a rural corner of the city. The warm and friendly members eagerly accepted us as guests. The service began simply with a welcome and a prayer. Then a man walked to…