Essay: How to "get" a church

This is written so that there should never be ruled our the miraclous in obtaining from God- a church building or for that manner, anything!

It so happened that our small congregation looked and looked to obtain a facility for the church which was forming. I personally had visited many buildings, church sanctuaries and secular but nothing seemed to be fitting or in our price range. Then Exie, my wife, had two key experiences. One was passing the a large Christian Science building in Manchester, Connecticut and she said to herself, and then to me, "If they can have a Church building, so can we!" The second was in the form of a vision. Exie saw in her mind a white church "in Vernon" and a stained glass representation of the 'Victorious Lamb" - a lamb, representing Christ carrying a banner waving. She knew immediately that this is the church we were to be given, and told me to stop search. I did so.

Shortly after we ate at a Ponderoso restaurant, and on leaving, we picked up a real estate booklet, and on looking through it, Exie's eyes came upon a picture of a little white church. It was located in Vernon. Exie told me, "That's the church in my vision!" We went to see it. It had a glass front door through which you could see insides and there, in the back of the Altar, was the stained glass window looking out to the back. And there in the center of the stained glass ensemblage was the "victorious lamb." See link of church below

You can imagine our excitement.

As miraclous as our introduction to this Church, which had been a charming and historic Episcopal Church - St. John's Episcopal, and then had come into the hands of a Pastor Saunders and his congregation in Manchester, how we actually negotiated was also miraculous.

Either we accepted the offering price, or we counter offered and they accepted. I don't remember. This was over 29 years ago. But I do remember the negotiating afterwards for everything that belonged to the Church.

We three sat at a table in the lower level of the Church. Myself, Exie, and Pastor Saunders. I had the least to say in the negotiations:

Exie: We would like these tables and chairs included in the agreement

Pastor Saunders: You got them.

E.: We would like the Pizza Oven (adjoining the large fellowship room was the kitchen with, of all things, a large commercial pizza oven)

P.S.: You got it.

E.: We would like the piano in the Sanctuary.

P.S.: You got it.

E.: We would like the organ

P.S.: You got it. But don't ask me for anything else. Because if you do, you're going to get it!

That's it. Never leave out the miraculous, when God comes into the picture

External links

• [1] The Church of the Risen Savior in Rockville (Vernon) In the upper right hand corner of the picture, appears the stained glass window with the "victorious lamb" in the center.