Revive us, Lord . . . . so your people can laugh and sing!

Revive us, Lord . . . .
so your people can laugh and sing!
Psalm 85:6


About this time year in 1926 some men met in the living room of a nearby home.
They had been watching the construction of the new church building on Turner Avenue and they were meeting to make plans for a proper dedication the building and inviting people to the very first service there.

There was excitement in the air – as there usually is when people begin something new.

The Presbytery had identified a few elders that had moved into the new suburban community of Drexel Hill and had determined that there should be a Presbyterian presence there to give witness to the presence of God in the developing community.

It had been just a few months since a congregation in Chester County had decided there was no longer reason to own and operate a separate building for their use, and voted to sell the building and join another nearby Presbyterian Church.

The sale of that building provided enough money for the Presbytery to purchase this property and construct the building we are in this very day.

As time went on, the population of the new community was very Presbyterian-prone.

For the next 30 years, all nearby Presbyterian churches were filled to capacity – and beyond.

Here, within 15 years, the congregation need the space and built the big sanctuary building with a big open fellowship hall underneath.

15 years later another addition was constructed that added much needed classroom space, a larger fellowship hall, offices and a commercial kitchen.

Membership here swelled to some 750 and this church was known as a pillar of the community.

Then, by the late 1950's and early 1960's a distinct shift in the population was noticed.

Folks simply did not see their new neighborhood in the same way their old neighbor was seen.

Before, families stayed in the neighborhoods they were born in.
For the most part, neighborhoods were stable.

But, many folks that had moved to Drexel Hill had moved out of stable neighborhoods and found that it was much easier to do it again.
And so they did.

The main-line attracted more and more of them as the Drexel Hill migration began to communities from Ardmore to Malvern.

And, the large houses they moved out of, attracted other families moving out of the city – large families – families of Roman Catholic persuasion.

The number of Presbyterians was on a decline, and the number of Roman Catholics increased – significantly.

Of course, many, many things changed in our society as well.

Churches became less and less the hub of family life – as families would stay home and eat TV dinners in front of their new televisions –
and sit on the front porch only on occasion –
and hardly ever venture out to visit friends or neighbors.

When I first came here, a visit with one of the pillars of the church relayed to me concern that a former pastor here, Jack Harvey, expressed to him sometime in the late 60's.
The way things are going, the pastor lamented, we won’t even have a church in a few years.
– and, he went on, There is nothing I can do to stop it from happening!

The handwriting has been on the wall for some time now.

Five years ago we were given a unique opportunity few churches ever have.

Upon his death, Fred Davis left the church a considerable sum of money.

To honor Fred’s passion for his church, The Session embarked upon a major campaign to make the church more visible in the community.

Consider effort and time and money was spent to make the building more visible to passers-by. Trees and bushes were removed. The church was painted and cleaned up. Nearly every room, every nook and cranny was cleaned out, renovated and spruced up.

Outreach is #1 was introduced and hundreds of thousands of people encountered our church through tv ads, post cards, newspaper ads and articles and community events.

A new sign was erected to proclaim messages of faith to thousands of people driving by the church each day on State Road.

And the financial market crashed.

Given the expenses it took just operate and maintain our program and building, it became evident that what money that was left in the Fred Davis fund would run out within months.

The congregation was notified of this and prayers were sought over a year ago.

During our Annual Meeting in January of this year, the Session announced that all indications were that the money would run out before the end of this year – stay tuned for the exact date.

The Session – and many of you – continued to pray for guidance.

After much discussion and prayer the Session made a radical proposal:
to get out from under the overwhelming costs of operating and maintaining this building –
costs that way out of proportion of our use of the building –
see if we could sell the building and lease back space more appropriate to our use.

Correspondence, telephone calls, and meetings ensued as Presbytery staff and committees were consulted about whether it could be done and how it might be done.

A Realtor with experience in marketing church properties was found and credentialed.
A proposal made and a congregational meeting was held in June wherein the vote was unanimous to list the building for sale.

My experience in this Presbytery over the past 20 years or so led me to believe that there was an active market for church buildings.
But, most were skeptical and didn’t believe me.

Seeing a for sale sign in front of a church can be an unsettling experience.
I wanted to get the word out that it was our building that was for sale – the church was not for sale.

Within days of the sign going up a full price offer was tendered to purchase the building.

The offer was from another church seeking to move out of the city and expand its program and reach.
With 250 members, they had immediate plans about how they would use the space and bring life and purpose back to the rooms of the building.

They were willing to work with us to ensure that we would have the time and resources to ascertain what God intends for us to in the years ahead.

So, the sale includes a negotiated arrangement to lease-back certain space for our exclusive use – using this chapel room, the large Sunday school room, the smaller office room and a couple of rooms down stairs.

Because of the way we have asked the agreement to be structured,
it is a three year lease with no cash outlay by us at any time during the year –
and includes the heat and utilities.

Some of the funds could be used to renovate the rooms and make them useful to us, and
the bulk of the money would be invested in an endowment with the Presbytery that would provide us with around some $60,000 in annual income.

And, we are out from under the expense of owning, operating and maintaining the building –
which are expected to be around $87,000 this year alone.

Clearly, God is not finished with this church yet!

There is more sacred work to be done.

On my way here this morning, I passed a church that had a sign out in front.
The message on the sign read: When a door closes, God always opens another.

When a door closes, God always opens another.

Should the sale of this building be approved during the meeting this morning, our task begins to give answer to the question: Now what?

In a very real way, we have been given a reprieve.

We have been given another opportunity.

What are we to do with the next three years?

Where is that new door and what does it open to?

Let the prayer of the Psalmist be our prayer: Revive us, O Lord . . . !

This our Bible verse of the day – let it be the Bible verse for the days ahead.

Let us be open to be aware of the God-nudges that will lead us into a clearer picture of what we are to do – and what we are to become.

Let our prayer be that of the Psalmist:
Revive us, O Lord . . . !

And, for the same reason as the Psalmist –
so we can laugh and sing!

For too long, we have been living in the doldrums . . .

It doesn’t have to that way.

God does not intend for any of us to live down-in-the-dumps.

God wants us all to spend our days laughing and singing.

Our Sacred writings proclaim a way of living for folks who are down and out –
changing your attitudes –
changing your way of looking at things can lead to a life of laughter and song!

Revive us, Lord . . . .
so your people can laugh and sing!

Amen.