What makes a church? It's people, not buildings

In 15 years covering the religion beat, I've been in a lot of churches.

I've been in cathedrals; in magnificent gilded naves echoing to the sound of thousands of pipes from the organ; in high-tech, multi-media auditoriums; in low-tech, no-music sanctuaries; behind rough-hewn whitewashed clapboard; inside thick stone walls.

I've been to church in a high-school auditorium; in a converted Mick-or-Mack supermarket; in what was once a downtown business office; in a park; at a marina; in a house; a hotel; a civic center.

But until last Sunday, I had never been to church in a garage.

Visiting Beacon Baptist Church as it met in the Automotive Frame and Collision Repair shop in Salem (see accompanying story) was a potent reminder that a church is people, not a building.

I'm greeted warmly everywhere I go to speak to a church group or to write about a congregation. And religious folks - of every stripe - are generally happy souls who want to share the joy they've found.

But I'd have to say that among the most happy - the most overtly joyous - are those who have to overcome one or more obstacles to join together with their fellow believers for worship.

Beacon Baptist is just the latest example. The very first person to greet me shared a joke. The dog who greeted us brought smiles again. Stories of cleaning up oil spills for church were accompanied by chuckles about this incongruous co-mingling of the secular and the sacred.

But there was no mistaking the potent truth that a sense of the sacred is something we bring with us to worship, whether it's in the National Cathedral or a body shop. That's why so many folks can say they feel closer to God walking in the woods than they do in a church; why so many commune with God while they serve a meal at the Rescue Mission or RAM House.

In fact, it's why people like Danny Arnold, who owns the body shop where church is held, are in church every day. That has nothing to do with the fact that his church meets in his building, but that he carries his faith with him every hour.

For most Christians in this country - the protestations of a few to the contrary - living our faith is risk-free and toil-free.

We don't have to worry that we'll be arrested or blocked from our churches. We don't have to work too hard to get to church, which we often support more generously with our checkbooks than our time.

Of course, the congregation that is Beacon Baptist isn't facing real oppression, either. It's free to meet as it wishes - in fact, as a splinter from another congregation, it's evidence of the free expression of religion that we cherish in this country.

But the members do have to be willing to put a little extra effort into the simple act of sitting down together to worship in song and prayer.