Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Tag: North Liberty Christian Church

  • Under the catalpa tree

    A story about a very old catalpa tree.

  • A milestone in a 175-year-old church’s history

    A few years ago I wrote frequently on this blog about North Liberty Christian Church and its journey after being forced to sell its building, on land they’d occupied since 1839. At last, this congregation’s new building is complete. It was a long time coming. The backstory: in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the…

  • The real value of Christmas

    I first posted this in 2010 and again last year. May this Christmas Day truly bless you and those you love. 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…

  • The old songs

    On this Good Friday, I’d like to repost a story from a few years ago. I’m now a member of the little church in this story, and we will observe this Good Friday just as described here. I went to an evening church service last Friday, Good Friday. I’d never done that before. My Christian…

  • The real value of Christmas

    This Christmas memory was originally posted in 2010. 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…

  • 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…

  • In God’s house

    North Liberty Christian Church and Bethel United Methodist Church have been neighbors for a very long time. For more than 150 years, the two churches stood about three quarters of a mile apart on the same road in Pike Township, Marion County, Indiana. Check out this section of an 1855 plat map that shows both…

  • 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.