Luminary Night for Downey Avenue Christian Church
By: Julie Stewart
Sunday was Luminary Night in Irvington, traditionally held on the Sunday before Christmas. Residents of the Indianapolis Historic Neighborhood lit luminaries that they placed along their sidewalks and driveways. Local Boy Scouts volunteered to set out and light luminaries throughout Ellenberger Park. Santa gave out candy canes to children riding in the family car, admiring the glowing outlines of yards and homes. Neighbors hosted gatherings for family and friends. Even the diehard Broomball players had to forgo the regular Sunday pickup game to participate in this holiday tradition, much to the dismay of those players who live in other parts of town.
As I reflected on this today, I thought about other recent events in my life. Friday evening, my church burned while I sat in a downtown restaurant eating double pan-fried noodles with my husband. We laughed and teased about our secret Christmas plans for each other. His sister’s phone call informed us of the fire, and our entire evening changed. We finished dinner and walked to the car, both knowing but not saying that we wanted to drive past the church on our way home. Driving down Washington Street, we saw the red flashing lights from several blocks away. After driving around the block and parking, we joined the pastor and other church members who needed to be there. Melted windows revealed the gutted back rooms of the church, its gothic skeleton revealed. Unable to go inside, people verbally inventoried those items that reflected their personal connection to the church. What about the pipe organ? The mural in the Sunday school classroom just below the burned area? The hymnals? The things that we touched and used every Sunday were possibly destroyed. I thought about the day exactly three months earlier when I had been married in the Sanctuary. My husband had played the piano that now stood in inches of sooty water. I mourned for the generations of his family that had congregated here. So what does any of this have to do with Luminary Night? On that night, a candle that provided light and warmth to us on one of the shortest days of the year was ultimately destroyed, melting away as it burned. However, in that small act of destruction, we found our connection to each other. We waved at our neighbors while we gingerly folded back the top inch of each bag, wondering if it would be as windy as last year. We stayed home and listened for the carolers who always come by the house. We stepped out onto the porch to see Santa wave and jingle his bells. We left our homes on a cold winter night to laugh and drink and be merry. The simple act of lighting a fire brought us together. And so it was with Downey Avenue Christian Church. Something lit a fire in our church home. We stood together on the sidewalk hoping that it would survive. We gathered Sunday in someone else’s sanctuary and enjoyed their hospitality. We sang Christmas carols and ate candy canes. We slowly realized that a fire’s destruction leaves space for new life to emerge. The people of Downey Avenue Christian Church had begun to rebuild. |
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