We can see hope, where hope may not be apparent

On Wednesday April 24, 2024, at approximately 4 a.m. plus or minus, we had a huge loss.

The Doniphan United Methodist Church at 305 Plum St. caught fire. It was a 136-year-old landmark. It was the oldest religious building in town, having been built in 1888. It was a religious hub, a community center, a meeting place and…

It was a building.

Yes, the structure at 305 Plum St. was destroyed, but that part was just the building. The church survives and even thrives. The body of Christ came forward in the form of condolences and tears. So many churches, in fact every church in the area, was willing to sacrifice their worship times to allow our congregation to have a place to worship until we got things sorted out or rebuilt. Our community and the surrounding communities are even now working hard to help in any way they can.

We, at DUMC, are feeling the love of the body of Christ. We have been offered everything from shelter, to hymn books. People from all over the country and even the world are praying for us and contacting us to see what they can do.

I call this Collateral Beauty. (Yes, I got that from the 2016 Will Smith/Helen Mirren film)

For me, Collateral Beauty is the good that comes out of bad times. Our church has come upon bad times, and the love and care we are receiving is that collateral beauty. We lost everything we had that we used to worship God, and God through all these good people, is providing us with worship space and prayers and support. In our grief, we are seeing beauty.

But, again, we just lost a building, not a church. We truly found out we were part of the Big C church, not just a local society. The people of God have truly shown us the love of neighbor and of God.

This really isn’t surprising; God is always leading us to be there when things go bad for others. Sure, we lost the building, and I lost 25 years of books, bibles, personal mementos. But we did not lose Christ, and thus we have not lost Hope.

For the time being, the Presbyterian church at 209 Locust will be our foster home. We will hope to get to some sense of normalcy within the next few weeks. The phone number and email address will remain the same.

Folks, we are about to do something new. Isaiah 43:19, “Behold I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth.” From here on out, Doniphan UMC will be doing new things, in new places. This new location will help us in seeing the mission field a little differently. We will strive to do ministry more effectively, and now we see things in a new light. We can see hope, where hope may not be apparent.

But as John Wesley said, just before he closed his eyes to this world, “Best of all, God is with us.”

Shalom my friends. See you in church.

Rev. Kent Wilfong is the pastor at the United Methodist Church, Doniphan/Neelyville.