In ancient Jerusalem, the High
Priest was the only person who could approach God in the holiest place of the Temple. A curtain kept everyone else out. However, Jesus granted full access to God’s
presence to anyone who wants it when he died on the cross for our sins. At his death, an earthquake split the Temple curtain
completely in two. Now everyone may come
into God’s presence through Jesus Christ.
We changed the code to the church door recently. Please call the church office if you need
it. Does anyone remember when we started
locking church doors? It must have been
before I was born in 1974. Doors have
been locked for as long as I can remember.
I have talked to some older church members who remember times when
church doors weren’t locked. People
could come in whenever they wanted. It’s
kind of sad that those days are gone, isn’t it?
Today, we even keep the church doors locked when the office is open. People have to ring a doorbell so the church
secretary can check to see if it’s safe to let them in. That’s the world we live in—a place where we
need to keep our homes, our cars, and even our churches locked up tight.
I think some churches go too far though. I was driving the other day and missed my
turn. I saw a church and decided to turn
around in their parking lot, but I had to slam on the brakes as I turned in
because they had a chain across the entrance.
I almost hit the chain with my car!
There were two entrances to that church parking lot and both were
chained off! I guess they really don’t
want people in their parking lot! Now
what does it say to people that you chain off the parking lot of your church?
(And no, I checked and that church was not out of business.)
We try to strike a good balance at Pleasant Grove UMC. We recognize the unfortunate necessity of
keeping our doors locked, but we also wish to be as accessible as possible. Our code lock is a good compromise. The code lock helps us to keep the building
secure and also allows us to grant access to trusted people. Furthermore, we can change the code from time
to time just in case the code may have gotten into the wrong hands.
Now, we are never going to be as secure as a bank and I
don’t think we should. We’re not a bank. We are a church. Our goal is to be reasonably safe and secure,
while still offering access. Access is vital. I mean come on, the slogan of the United
Methodist Church is: “Open hearts, open
minds, open doors.”
Seriously, Pleasant Grove is not some exclusive place where
only a few families or a small group of leaders have access. Everyone is welcome. Everyone is encouraged to participate. Everyone is invited to come. While we will do our best to keep our
facility secure, we must also insist
on an attitude of openness. PGUMC
is for everyone, just as Jesus is for everyone.
Of course, I’m no expert and I certainly don’t claim to
know everything, but that’s the Truth as far as I can tell…
Remember, God loves you and
so do I!
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