Editorial June 4, 1990 Issue

Spiritual vitality—is it always somewhere else?

Allison W. Phinney, Jr.

It wasn't just that springtime sun was coming through beautiful stained-glass windows behind the altar and there was a choir that could move your heart. You felt you were in the midst of Christianity that had survived from another age. It was alive and well and living in that church service.

The people had a lively care for one another and for visitors like us. They knew something of God's presence through this love. It was tangible. The handshakes and hugs were deeply felt. For these church members the gospel seemed almost as immediate as if Jesus were a presence quietly standing and observing at the side during their worship service. They wanted to please Jesus.

After this church service that I visited several years ago at People's Baptist Church here in Boston, comparisons were a long way from my thought. I was just tremendously grateful for the strength of real goodness. It had persisted and was feeding people in the midst of daily harshness and violence. But later I did compare. I thought about various church services of my own denomination, some that were alive and some not so alive.

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