An Old Stone Church

An old stone church building stands empty on the corner of Main Street and Granite Avenue, in the town of North Canaan, Connecticut, a victim of the cold spiritual currents of New England. It isn’t for a lack of trying that the once vibrant church now languishes in wait for a commercial real estate buyer. Several attempts to revive and revitalize the ministry of the historic church failed. But where there is no hunger for God, a church will not thrive.

The same holds true for the individual believer in Jesus Christ. Unless there is a hunger for God, we cannot thrive and fulfill the purpose for which we were created and Christ died to save us. Many of us often find ourselves doing those activities that we feel are expected of us as Christians, but we do them without a passion for God. We become “weary in well doing,” and that weariness, like an empty old stone building, holds no appeal to the lost souls who desperately need Christ all around us.

Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you…”(Luke 11:9-10). Perhaps it is high time that we accept Christ’s invitation to pray for Him to remove the appetite blockers in our lives, and then to fill us with more of Himself. For He has promised, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13).

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hiddenarrows

So, who is this guy? Ed has had over 30 years of ministry experience, sixteen of them as the pastor and lead elder of Greenwoods Community Church in the southwest corner of Massachusetts. More recently he fulfilled a four year term as the transitional pastor at Leesburg Alliance Church, Leesburg, Florida. In addition, Ed has had nearly 13 years of experience in the field of geriatric healthcare. Ed is happily married to Lynn, having recently celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary. Lynn is a true partner in ministry, having served Greenwoods Community Church as its Children's Ministry Coordinator for over ten years. She is a decorator, colorist, instructor in furniture painting techniques, and an artist in her own right. Lynn is also active as a women’s outreach speaker for Stonecroft Ministries in Florida. Together Ed and Lynn have a mingled family, consisting of ten adult children and twenty-three grandchildren, scattered north and south, and coast to coast across America. God has given Ed a burden to be a mentor pastor, developing leaders for the church in the 21st Century. One way in which he is fulfilling that calling is through Rockbridge Seminary, where he serves as an adjunct professor of Spiritual Formation. Ed has earned degrees from Cairn University (B.S. 1971), Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M. 1979), and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (D.Min. 2007). He has published several articles on the Spiritual Heritage of Litchfield County, Connecticut, and led several tours of sites associated with the Village Revivals that spawned the Second Great Awakening in New England. In his spare time, you are likely to find Ed at the piano or pecking out a blog on his blog page, https://hiddenarrows.blog

One thought on “An Old Stone Church”

  1. A very timely message, Ed. Pastor Lee has retired from the Canaan United Methodist Church, and the District Superintendent is meeting with the Church today to try to forge a path forward. The United Methodist Church continues to implode, and the Superintendent has no one to appoint full-time. The Church is likely to be a part-time Church that is part of a group of churches to be served by the same pastor. Ten of us from Greenwoods have been attending there and may be looking elsewhere for a church home after today. Please pray when you get this. God bless – Chuck Lewis

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