Sunday, February 24, 2008

Here's the steeple; where's the church?

There's a big Baptist church just down the road from our house in Nashville. When I was living there full-time before Spence and I married, I would give people directions by saying, "Turn right after the two big steeples." About six months ago the Baptists sold the church to a Hispanic Catholic congregation, and last month they completely renovated the building and removed the steeples. Weirdly, they set one of the steeples in the courtyard of a retirement high rise next door. I guess the residents wanted a memento from the Baptist church, which had been a city landmark since I was a kid. I personally thought it was an eyesore.


Three weeks ago a storm came through and did this:



I think I may have said a short, silent prayer that they take the steeple out, but this was not quite what I meant. Anyway, my prayer wasn't completely answered as, nearly a month after the storm, the steeple still sits exactly like this.