Covenant Stories: Our First Funeral
Story #15 in the Covenant series
Births, weddings, and funerals. These are hallmark events of any church. At Covenant we had seen a few births, including two of my own children, and a number of weddings. But as of 1997, there had been no funerals. The reason is obvious enough: our oldest member at that time was 53. New churches are often started by younger people, but I always felt a little out of balance in those days. In the churches of my youth, there were always plenty of gray hair in the pews. I asked Ben once what he thought we could do to attract some older people to Covenant.
“We might just have to grow our own gray heads,” he said. “And if the offerings keep looking like this, Luke and I will be our first.”
But, as we all know, the old are not the only ones who die. And so death made it’s inevitable first call to Covenant Baptist Church...
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Must be dust in the air.
Submitted by Simon on Thu, 06/18/2009 - 08:58.-
Holy shit, RLP. I'm bawling my eyes out here. That simple, yet enormous act of faith was incredibly moving. Thank you.
Crying here too
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 06/18/2009 - 10:14.What a beautiful story. How wonderful that you and Jeanene and everyone at Covenant was there for George. I agree, if that's not faith, I don't know what is.
Also in tears
Submitted by MN Lutheran (not verified) on Thu, 06/18/2009 - 14:38.I read the article at work. Managed to avoid making a scene. Thanks, Gordon, for this great story of faith.
Thank you
Submitted by wfinley on Thu, 06/18/2009 - 15:43.Gordon,
Thank you for writing this. It touched me deeply.
Blessing,
Bill
bill.finley@gmail.com
I agree, if that's not
Submitted by christian louboutin (not verified) on Fri, 06/19/2009 - 00:58.I agree, if that's not faith, I don't know what is. Thanks.
Engrave "George's Rock" into
Submitted by Lauren (not verified) on Fri, 06/19/2009 - 04:55.Engrave "George's Rock" into that stone.
George's Rock
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 06/20/2009 - 10:01.I lovingly disagree with Lauren.
The act of faithful remembering demands your constant care and upkeep of that rock. To update the faded marker every couple of years or so is a deliberate act of rememberance that would be lost were you to simply engrave his name into that stone.
Perhaps I should write it
Submitted by rlp on Sun, 06/21/2009 - 07:50.Perhaps I should write it myself, as I have for the last 10 years. And then, when I leave Covenant, maybe I'll engrave it, just to make sure it isn't forgotten.
Thanks everyone. It's a
Submitted by rlp on Sun, 06/21/2009 - 07:51.Thanks everyone. It's a tender memory for me. I wrote in much more detail about George in a series of three essays that are in my book. I think you can still find these articles in my archives somewhere...
They are a bit more earthy.
Gentleness
Submitted by Nathan Pruett (not verified) on Tue, 06/23/2009 - 07:29.My church is going through the Fruits of the Spirit and this last Sunday was gentleness. I hope you don't mind, but I used this story as an example of a gentle church. Thanks for the illustration.
Ed Hardy Clothing
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 03:28.fhfgjhfgj