An historical document from the early history of our church. After spending two days at the Congregational Library on Beacon Street, I was able to transcribe and take pictures of one of the four extant sermons on file in their collection. I had heard that, at the end of his ministry, Paul Litchfield, a 1775 graduate of Harvard University (before it moved to Concord during the war), was a closet Unitarian. I think it likely that someone without a clear understanding of theological discussions of the day misunderstood what they read as the following sermon was delivered first in 1798 and then at Carlisle as in August 1821, close to the end of his ministry; there is no evidence in this sermon of any sort of Unitarian shift. Further, Litchfield is described as a Hopkinsian Calvinist, though there seems to be no evidence of this in these sermons (though they are a very small sample of his output--such views could appeared elsewhere or in letters).

This is the first page of the sermon.

Note how the pages have been sewn together.

Here is another, later sermon. Spelling and grammar throughout are flawless.

The following is not a critical text, though I have prepared such a text. It is an example of the typical sermon of the day, Reformed in outlook, with "improvements" or applications suggested at the end of the message. I've unabbreviated what Pastor Litchfield abbreviated for the sake of saving space ("Cht" for "Christ," for example). I've also tried to include his corrections which were apparently made at his first writing in 1798, when he had been pastor for 17 years.

Westford Agt. –98

Chelmsford April 10. 1808

Augt. 12. 1821

John 3.14, 15.

In the preceding part of this chapter we find an account that Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews came to Jesus by night through fear of being discovered by others, and acknowledged his conviction that Christ was a teacher sent from God: his conviction took place in view of the miracles which Christ wrought—“for no man can do these miracles, that thou dost, except God be with him.” At which interview Christ undertook to inform Nicodemus of the necessity of the new birth: or that a man must be born of the spirit and of water in order to enter into the kingdom of God. He gives him to understand that though the new birth be effected by the Spirit, yet that the operation itself of the Spirit is imperceptible—but that the spirit hath operated is known by the effect produced—

“the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell when it cometh and whither it goeth: so is every man that is born of the spirit. After this he bringeth the son of man, or himself into view as being lifted up or that he must be lifted up, in order to the for the salvation of sinners, even as the serpent was lifted up in by Moses, in the wilderness for the healing of the Israelites who had been bitten by fiery serpents. Our Savior by alluding to the serpent which Moses lifted up, does, by the allusion, bring into view the awful situation of sinners as being dead men and lost and at the same time the unspeakable importance of his own character as the Savior of rescued men. The says that he came to seek and to save that which is lost. – and in the text he virtually says the same thing. [when Litchfield’s replaced words are put in with what is crossed out above and written in between the lines, the text reads: Our Savior, by the allusion in the text, compares the awful situation of sinners, as being dead men and lost, to that of the Israelites bitten and himself to the brazen serpent which Moses lifted up. And gives us to understand that as those who looked unto the brazen serpent were healed, so sinners who believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life.]

To the two three general ideas which have just been mentioned it is proposed to attend—

I. To the awful situation of sinners, as suggested by our savior’s allusion in the text—Let us attend to the matter referred to by our Savior in the text—We have the account Num. 21 Ch. “And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people; and they bit the people and much people of Israel died.” This calamity amongst the people of Israel took place while they were travailing in the wilderness—Moses reminds the people of the even Deut. 8:15 telling them that God led them through that great & terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, & scorpions—It is probably that the bite of these serpents conveyed poison to the whose mass of their blood [an?] infected their whole frame.—Satan the old serpent, who is called a great red dragon Rev 12. 3 was instrumental, by his temptation, of sin’s taking place amongst mankind—and sin this awful poison has diffused itself through the whole human race, and has spread through the whole mass of moral exercises in men—All flesh have corrupted their way before God—they are corrupt—there is none that doth good not not one.—The whole head is sick, & the whole heart faint. from the sole of the foot, even unto the head. There is no soundness in it; but wounds and bruises, and putrifying sores—if this is definitive of the corrupt moral state of man—Says our Savior form within out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, murder, adulteries fornications, thefts false witness—

the moral exercises of men are so universally corrupt the poison finds vent through all the members of the body—eyes full of adultery—ears uncircumcised—hands full of blood—Their throat is an open sepulcher—with their tongues they have used deceit—the poison of asps is under their lips—their mouth full of cursing & bitterness—their feet run to evil—destruction & misery are in their ways—In my flesh dwelleth no good thing, saith the Apostle men while unregenerated are dead in trespasses and sins, & unto every good work reprobates—alienated from & enemies to God by wicked works. Every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts is evil, only evil, and that continually.

The bite of those serpents was destructive & deadly to the Israelites—and so sinners deadly & destructive to men. There is something tormenting in the very nature of a sinful temper in many of its operations—in a refractory, stubborn, murmuring, & envious temper—a spirit of opposition to God never suffers the person possessed of it to enjoy any rest or quiet of mind except it be by deceiving him either about hiss own situation or about the true character of God, or by an awful degree of stupidity—Sin the awful poison which pervades the human heart, under certain circumstances, occasions keen [?] and piercing distress in this world—Ask awakened and convinced sinners what keen remorse—what piercing anguish—what deep distress—what fear and terror in the fruit and wages of sin—The terrors of the Lord made the Psalmist distracted—Ask them whether any or all the allurements, pleasures, amusements delights & the sweets of sin are sufficient to counterbalance the pain, the anguish, the remorse the terror & distress [began to write “remors” and crossed it out] which they feel? Ask them if gall & bitterness be not the consequence of all their sinful sweets and amusement—ask them whether a reflection upon their sinful enjoyments does not now pierce them through with many sorrows—Ask them what is the consequence of disregarding God, his word, his Sabbaths, his Law, his son & his institutions—the consequences of despising and breaking all these things with contempt. Ask them what it is to see God frown—what it is to bear all the curses of the divine law thundering against them—what it is to hear inspiration declare, he that believeth not is condemned already & the wrath of God abideth on him, he that believeth not shall be damned—Prov. 23.31,32 It is said, “Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent & stingeth like an adder.” Jus so is it with all the pleasures & sweets of sin. they at the last bit like a serpent & sting like an adder—And they sweeter the pleasures, the greater the delights which men have in sin, the more painful will be the bite, the more piercing & distressing will be the sting. This will take place in this world, if the conscience of the sinner awake & he realize the truth—But if not, still the day will come when they shall gnaw their tongue with anguish. They shall dwell in the blackness of darkness—where the worm dieth not & the fire is not quenched—where is weeping and wailing & gnashing of teeth — [blank side of a page here]

However painful, distressing & fatal was the bite of the fiery serpent unto the Israelites, yet a remedy was provided—and God, who sent the serpents was the Being, by whom the remedy was procured—and god hath provided a remedy for perishing sinners he hath found a ransom. He hath laid help on one who is mighty to save—even unto the uttermost all who look unto him—The malady of sinners is terrible & awful, but there [there repeated] is balm in Gilead—and there is a physician there even Jesus Christ—

This leads to the second thing proposed which is the comparison of Christ to the brazen serpent which Moses lifted up for the healing of the Israelites—This serpent was made of brass—brass is durable, & so is Christ—he endureth forever—is the same yesterday, to day, & forever. Brass is capable of shining brightness—So of Christ it is said, that his feet were like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace Rev. 1—

The brazen serpent which Moses lifted up was made in the shape of the fiery serpent by which the Israelites were bitten and yet had no poison, no sting—So Christ was made sin for men, & yet knew no sin—he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh--& yet not sinful, he was in fashion as a man, yet was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners—

The serpent was a cursed creature—So Christ was made a curse for sinners

That which cured the Israelites was calculated to remind them of their plague. So in what Christ hath done & suffered is exhibited the evil of sin—he condemned sin in the flesh—he was wounded of for our transgressions—was bruised for our iniquities—the Lord laid on him the iniquities of us all—the chastisement of our peace was upon him, & with his stripes sinners are healed—

The serpent which Moses made was set up on a pole, --

so Christ was lifted up in the cross—John 12.32, 33. And I, if I be lifted up from all the earth will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die, He was lifted upon the cross for a spectacle & mark for all the concourse of people to behold, who were assembled at the time of his crucifixion—

The serpent was lifted up for all the thousands of Israel to behold—That they might all see it—So Christ is or finally will be lifted up by the preaching of the everlasting gospel. He said to the Apostles, God ye into all the world, & preach the gospel to every creature—Mat. has it—Go ye, therefore & teach all nations—and St John saw and angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation, & kindred & tongue, & people. Rev. 14.6 Christ in the gospel crucified is exhibited an held forth to sinners in the gospel—The Apostle Paul travailed among the gentiles & preached Christ crucified—

Christ is in the gospel set up as an ensign to which sinners are invited to repair. Is. 11.10. “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand as an ensign of the people: So it shall the gentiles seek, & his rest shall be glorious.”

3. As the Israelites who were bitten, were healed by looking unto the serpent which Moses set [?] up, so sinners who believe in Christ shall not perish, but have eternal life—

If any bitten Israelite were so insensible of his fatal situation or so despised the method as not to look unto the serpent—he justly died of his wound. But every one that looked to it did well—

so if any sinner so far slight their disease by sin, or the method of em[blurred] by Christ, as not to embra[blurred] Christ upon his own terms [“terms” is blurred as well but legible with difficulty and makes sense in the context] their blood will be upon them.

He hath said Is 45.22 Look unto me & be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. – This looking or believing implies a sense of the evil nature of sin abhorrence of it—desire of deliverance from it—A sense of being undone—Appropriation of the method of recovery from ruin The offer of salvation is universal whoever believeth shall be saved—

The salvation offered is complete—shall not perish, but have eternal life.

[the following in a lighter color of ink, added later?]

Im. [I suspect, as in Edwards, he meant by this “improvement,” how to get good use out of this sermon in your living it out, and that Pastor Litchfield fleshed out this sparse points in his application as was typical for the time.]

1/ Adapted to lead saints to reflect on the entire moral depravity of their natural state

2/—On the wretchedness of it.

3/The subject shows the marvelous grace of God in providing such a remedy—

4/--The groundlessness of the hope of being saved merely because a Savior is provided

[Seemingly in a different and crabbed hand:]

Preached by Rev Paul Litchfield of Carlisle, Mass.

Pictures from Sunday posted moments before we head back Monday morning.

A camera man. We really were in three adjacent rooms, each with a screen. I don't know whose idea the Christmas lights were, but they were fun.

Carolyn Custis James (Women's Bible Study will know who I mean) spoke before the Sunday morning session. She mentioned her experience as the wife of Frank James whose brother was one of three hikers lost on Mt. Hood, and their experience (positive) with the national media (I heard Frank speak at a Sunday School during one of my courses down at Reformed Seminary in Orlando, where he now serves as the president.)

Last music by the Getty-led praise band singing a song we've sung at Carlisle.

Paul Tripp delivers the message during the Sunday service. Without notes, of course. How does he do that?

After the morning service was over, we took a drive over to Lancaster to visit my dad and sister and Deb's dad. The grass was so very green (the picture barely does it justice) in the fields here . . .

And seeing the rolls of hay in the fields . . .

. . . or the Amish horses and buggies (note the detritus on the road that makes this romantic image just a little less so).

And when we're in Philly, we try not to miss this unique, extraordinary, and oh-so-sixties pizza place (I had buffalo wings pizza . . .

. . . . and a hoagie (ok, it's a sub, but we're romanticizing a bit the local color so familiar to us--lots of meats on this thing, though).

Wow. What a day. Two general sessions on the subject of dealing with fear given by Dr. Welch, who has recently come out with the book upon which this conference is based. Exodus 14:13-14 ¹³ And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." The Lord brought them out of Egypt and placed them before the Red Sea and the whole complement of Pharaoh's army. He was letting them in on their fragility and his strength. They could have had a clean and easy way out. The Lord told them to go where they could only be rescued by a show of His power. He was showing them His ways. A servant you don't tell; you say and they do. But a friend, well, you show a friend how you work. It's the not the way we expect. But it is the astounding way He works. Exodus 16:4 ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. He is the God who gives you the manna you need for today, and tomorrow's need tomorrow. It's as if He said, "Don't bother about tomorrow, you're not equipped for tomorrow; I've equipped you for today." We won't have grace for tomorrow until tomorrow. He says you will have manna, our fears say, "I don't think so, in the way I desire . . . ." But he knows how we work. It's as if He said [says Ed Welch] I'm going to give you a Greek test. Those of us who don't know Greek panic. But he says, first I'm going to teach it to you, so that when the test comes, you'll be ready to pass it with flying colors. God says, whatever that thing is that you are fearing in the future, I'm not giving you grace for that. I'm giving you grace for today. And tomorrow I will give you grace for tomorrow. Then, in the second session he spoke of God wanting to give us the better manna, the sort of thing I've heard someone else say along this line: you so wanted a horse and a buggy, and so afraid you're not going to get it; then you get a brand new Jaguar. Is it what you wanted? no. Are you unhappy when you receive it? no. Because what He gives is better and beyond our ability to see into what we really need. We just don't have the maturity to understand the gift. Dr. Welch has heard of a family that, when they buy a new car, allow the youngest to hit the new car body with a sledge hammer. They want that dent to remind them that this is not their hope. Then when there's that fender crunch in the parking lot or whatever, they remember the car's not what's important.

But, I suppose the biggest thing for me was the singing. We are 1800 strong, and it is always moving to sing with so many. This year, Keith and Kristyn Getty led. I don't remember a time recently when I was converted to a puddle. Unlike other years and other places, everyone sang. And so many songs we've already sung at our church, including the song from our most recent retreat (which they wrote), Speak, O Lord. And then, so I couldn't miss the kindness of the Lord, Keith Green's There Is a Redeemer. Keith Green I heard in concert before I was converted and this particular song has always been significant. It was as if the Lord gave me a view of the beginning of my Christian walk all the way to the present. A worship team from down here provided most of the band work. Here's Keith at the piano and Kristyn standing, looking at him.

She does most of the singing and he plays the piano most (a local guy provides additional vocals). And we sang, all together, O How Wonderful. Truly a time of worship when the crowd sang full voicedly and heartedly. We also sang "O what a morning" (Easter) and "In Christ Alone," all of these theirs. Here's what the whole platform looked like.

Then for lunch we went downstairs and, as there were no more seats around tables, sat down on the carpet close to a pillar, as did many. And there, coming from the beverage dispenser, were Linda Ware and her daughter Lauren Groves. What a treat to have lunch with them and talk. And where was my camera?

In the afternoon, Deb saw a favorite author whose name the women's daytime Bible study may remember: Carolyn Custis James. I heard Michael Emlet speak on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder with some helpful suggestions and encouragment for coming alongside those struggling with OCD.

My last seminar was with David Powlison on Facing Death. Dave faced it himself a couple of years ago, and then again this past year when Lauren [Ware] Groves' father-in-law, the distinguished Old Testament Prof at Westminster died of brain cancer. Many were the testimonies to the way the Lord used Alan as he faced his own death. Challenging and thoughful material and helpful. You may remember that, though incidents of particular cancers are down, mortality rate is still 100% and doctors eventually lose all of their patients. Will we honestly and in the weakness that is ours face His strength and His wisdom and agree that he is stronger and wiser? Many practical thoughts about facing our own coming deaths and coming along side others . . . deep calling unto deep.

Here's a picture that proves we're really here taken by a kind staff person. This is a remarkable production here, with many staff. Both Deb and I look forward to a final session tomorrow and then the worship service with a message by Paul Tripp and music by the Getty's. I think this weekend was a remarkably important time in my own life and a time where the Lord of the Universe has been so kind as to personally and directly touch me. I suppose the messages might have been useful to the other 1799, but it seemed they were all aimed at my heart personally. But then, He's like that.

Ah, I have indeed not written in a long time, but here we are, Deb and I together, the next day after the Imago Hymnsing, in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, at the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation Conference, this year on the subject of anxiety. Though I've not yet been at a session to hear them, Keith Getty and his wife are providing music for the Main Sessions (with Stuart Townend, Keith wrote the one praise song almost all English-speaking Christianity sings, "In Christ Alone.") and I had the opportunity to see them rehearse. Already today we have heard a message from David Powlison, Gripping Fear, a description of the struggle with the kind of fear that leads to panic attacks, a broad nameless fear, and how to come alongside. Then we heard Paul Tripp speak about the issues of midlife (actually, all of life) in a way that I'll likely not forget and which has already sent me to the prayer closet. In the picture below you see the evening panel discussion. The profs are the bright light in the center. LOTS and LOTS of people. And, um, lots of books . . . .

Our vacation, wonderfully, has begun. I don’t want to paint a picture of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where I was born, as some sort of Paradise (actually, Paradise is down Route 743 with Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse and the like).

Here's Deb, my wife, me, my dad and my sister Laurie in front of my dad's garden.

Since my youth (which was not exactly halcyon either), Lancaster has considerably less fields and farms, replaced by ubiquitous brand name stores, that make some new places feel familiar which aren’t. It seems there is a shooting everyday now in the city in whose schools I first taught 30 years ago this September. All the town is talking about a vandal who is throwing acid on cars, causing $400,000 damage so far and who remains unapprehended. Yet, there is much that is bright about Lancaster, beyond its genuinely friendly sales people and head covering clad Mennonite Maids. I’ve always enjoyed going to breakfast with my dad’s group of friends, people I remember from when he used to work at Alcoa (the plant long since closed down and replace by a Barnes and Nobles and a plethora of other trademark stores). Work friends for life, the group of them meeting almost every day somewhere for breakfast, waitresses who know them and their orders by name, and dish back the “hard time” these 80+ year old men give them.

And the restaurants with fresh made lemon meringue pie and shoo fly pie, where the principal sauce is the Lancaster County staple, gravy and more gravy. Thursday night, with Deb’s Dad at the Lititz Family Restaurant, I had something I’d not had in over 25 years, pigs stomach, or as my grandmother (“Ma”) who made it called it, “Hog Ma.” Some blend of sausage plus celery, onions, and potatoes all cooked in a, yes, it’s true, a pig’s stomach casing from the butcher. It’s remarkable how tastes and smells flood in memories from the past. My young man’s work of becoming independent is now past and I’ve had many opportunities to remember God’s kindness to me in giving me the parents he has, parents no more perfect than I was. Maybe better. Doing the best they had with the light they had. We ran across a box of papers in cleaning out the attic at my dad’s, papers that included a Shirley Temple coloring book from 1935 which had belonged to my mom (I'm glad to say that my Mom colored within the lines). Here also is the program from her 1942 Commencement, where she was valedictorian. We read a bit from a diary of hers. Fascinating to see that almost every night was spent at church with friends. Yes, Wrightsville, PA, on the side of the Susquehanna from Columbia, was never a large town, yet likely all small towns were like this, apart from the occasional dance. After some thinking and reading the box, we figured out the use of a metal “bracelet” that went over a child’s elbow, so it couldn’t be bent, but stopped the “nasty habit” of thumb sucking and which looked like some medieval torture device. Ah, our society’s techniques of child rearing. All of which, at the time, seemed sensible and caring, but in the light of time, show up as fads.

But back to the restaurants. At the Country Table in Mount Joy, we had a wonderful meal, but I was once again reminded of how different Lancaster County is. At this popular local place (come early if you don’t want to wait in line—it’s always been packed when we were there), the little carousel on the table that tells about specials (August was peach dessert month) also has the following story called "The Lord's Baseball Game."

THE LORD'S BASEBALL GAME

Freddy and the Lord stood by to observe a baseball game. The Lord's team was playing Satan's team.

The Lord's team was at bat, the score was tied zero to zero, and it was the bottom of the 9th inning with two outs. They continued to watch as a batter stepped up to the plate named 'Love.'

Love swung at the first pitch and hit a single, because "Love never fails."

The next batter was named Faith, who also got a single because Faithworks with Love.

The next batter up was named Godly Wisdom. Satan wound up and threw the first pitch.

Godly Wisdom looked it over and let it pass: Ball one. Three more pitches and Godly Wisdom walked because he never swings at what Satan throws.

The bases were now loaded. The Lord then turned to Freddy and told him He was now
going to bring in His star player. Up to the plate stepped Grace. Freddy said, "He sure doesn't look like much!"

Satan's whole team relaxed when they saw Grace.
Thinking he had won the game, Satan wound up and fired his first pitch. To the shock of everyone, Grace hit the ball harder than anyone had ever seen! But Satan was not worried; his center fielder let very few get by.


He went up for the ball, but it went right through his glove, hit him on the head and sent him crashing on the ground;
the roaring crowds went wild as the ball
continued over the fence . . . for a home run!

The Lord then asked Freddy if he knew why Love, Faith and Godly Wisdom could get on base but couldn't win the game. Freddy answered that he didn't know why.

The Lord explained, "If your love, faith and wisdom had won the game, you would think you had done it by yourself. Love, Faith and Wisdom will get you on base but only My Grace can get you Home:


'For by Grace are you saved, it is a gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephestians 2:8-9

Now, regardless of what you think of the theology, what is remarkable is that this is found on a restaurant dessert menu and no one thinks anything of it. No one complains or sues. Or take this picture of a wall hanging for sale in the restaurant we Lancastrians always drove by or stopped at on the way to the Jersey shore, the Gap Diner:

I don’t know if it’s because we don’t go out to enough restaurants in Massachusetts; maybe this is what you find in restaurants at home. But then, I must be quick to point out that restaurants in Lancaster county have some other things those in Massachusetts don't. Yes, with your cholesterol free eggs you can have scrapple. Now, wikipedia defines scrapple as "a savory mush in which cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour, are simmered with pork scraps and trimmings, then formed into a loaf. Small scraps of meat left over from butchering, too small to be used or sold elsewhere, were made into scrapple to avoid waste." You don't want to think about that too long, but it's quite popular down here . . . His and yours, Steve and Deb on vacation in some places that most definitely are not Massachusetts.

I'm posting the words of the prayer I used yesterday in the service from Valley of Vision, a book of prayers which I cannot recommend highly enough as a guide to prayer (several had asked after the service).

O LORD,

In prayer I launch far out into the eternal world, and on that broad ocean my soul triumphs over all evils on the shores of mortality.

Time, with its frivolous amusements and cruel disappointments, never appears so inconsiderate as then.

In prayer I see myself as nothing; I find my heart going after thee with intensity, and long with vehement thirst to live to thee.

Blessed be the strong gales of the Spirit that speed me on my way to the New Jerusalem.

In prayer all my worldly cares, fears, and anxieties disappear, and are of as little significance as a puff of wind.

In prayer my soul inwardly exults with lively thoughts at what thou are doing for thy church, and I long that thou shouldest get thyself a great name from sinners returning to Zion.

In prayer, I am lifted above the frowns and flatteries of life, and taste heavenly joys; entering into the eternal world, I can give myself to thee with all my heart, to be thine forever.

In prayer I can place all my concerns in thy hands, to be entirely at thy disposal, having no will or interest of my own.

In prayer I can intercede for my friends, ministers, sinners, the church, thy kingdom to come, with greatest freedom, ardent hopes,

as a son to his father,

as a lover to the beloved.

Help me to be all prayer and never to cease praying.

Above is a picture of a Vacation Bible Club held by our church in 1948 and directed by the Pastor's wife, Mrs. Charles Massey

I'm also including excerpts from an article from the August 17th Wall Street Journal about Children's summer programs like our Backyard Bible Club which someone handed to me yesterday. It is longish and I may not agree with everything I read here, but it's a reminder of how outsiders may be reached. (You may be able to read all of the original article here: http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110010484)

Vacationing with Jesus

by Jennifer Graham

There comes a time in every mother’s life when she has to make a decision to save herself and her loved ones, even if it means taking a leap of faith. There comes a time for Vacation Bible School.

The large signs beckon from every suburban church. Free baby-sitting, they whisper. All week! It is a seductive pitch, directed at frazzled parents desperate to entertain their bored offspring as the summer drags on.

A refuge for frazzled parents,

an opportunity for churches

Vacation Bible School, or VBS, differs by denomination, but churches that offer it share a common goal: to expose children to the Gospel, and maybe, just maybe, recruit their families into the church. For Southern Baptists, the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., VBS is the most effective tool of evangelism, the impetus for 26% of baptisms in 2006. Nearly three million children and adults attended VBS at Southern Baptist churches last year, resulting in 94,980 “decisions to receive Christ as Savior” and 280,693 “Sunday School prospects discovered,” according to Southern Baptist Convention statisticians “Vacation Bible School is today’s revival,” said Jerry Wooley, the VBS specialist for LifeWay, the SBC’s publishing agency.

Vacation Bible School was the brainchild of a Mrs. D.T. Miles, wife of a Methodist minister in Hopedale, Illinois. Mrs. Miles, it is said, was concerned that the children of her husband’s congregation weren’t learning enough on Sundays and needed a month-long course of study over the summer. The first session, in 1884, had 37 students. Like its modern-day counterparts, it included arts and crafts, singing, exercise, drama and Bible study . . .

Chapel Hill United Methodist Church, in Chapel Hill, Tenn., has 150 members, and for them, VBS was a budget-breaking expense. At $1,000, it “is one of our highest funded pro- grams,” said Jenny Youngman, the wife of the pastor. The investment paid off: Chapel Hill's program, held July 22 to 26, drew 55 children each evening and resulted in three new families attending church the next weekend.

VBS often begins or ends with a party—as simple as a family worship service with refreshments afterward, or as elaborate as a carnival with pony rides. During the course of the week, children may go on field trips, and they often take home T-shirts, CDs, hats, bracelets and videos. Usually all of this is free, while a week at other camps can cost $250 or more. . . .

Glynis Jaszewski, a Roman Catholic who lives in the suburbs of Richmond, Va., sent her two children to Vacation Bible Schools at Protestant churches without qualms. “When I was working, they would always go to two or three of them in the summer; it was day care,” Mrs. Jaszewski said. She believes their generic Christian message doesn’t vary much, even across denominational lines. . . .

Mrs. Youngman, the pastor’s wife, said churches welcome any child to VBS, whatever the parents’ intent. “If we can connect with just one family, it’s worth it,” she said.

Ms. Graham is a writer in the suburbs of Boston.

This will seem quite a different blog, so I've left several days in between posts (sure, that's why I did it.) Last Wednesday was a day of culture for Deb and I. We ended the evening at the Hatch Shell in Boston beside the Charles River with a free concert by the Landmarks Orchestra with stars from the upcoming Boston Lyric Opera performances of Abduction from the Seraglio (early Mozart opera about which Schaeffer has the king of Prussia say "too many notes." It's all Turkish sounding music [remember that Muslims were surrounding and threatening Vienna much of those days--Muslim clothing fashions and music were all the rage]), The Elixir of Love by Donizetti (typical opera of the late Romantic error, frivolous, with some lovely singing) and Puccini's La Boheme, one of my favorites of all time--it snows on stage in the second act. It's the typical opera thing where the female is sick with what is likely consumption (that was the fashionable operatic disease to die of, as did Violetta in La Traviata) and the young man in the dark tries to help her find her key, and touches her cold hand and tells her his life story and falls in love with a woman who is dying of not being able to breathe and sings about it for two more hours.

Oh, but it is wonderful. It was one of the first opera recordings I owned, when I sent away to Columbia Music Club: you got this set free but you had to buy 10 more in a year. I played it and played it. Rudolpho (who falls in love with the expiring Mimi) was sung by the young Pavarotti. In the opera, unlike the movie version of Rent which is based loosely [maybe the word I'm looking for is rudely or inelegantly] on the same story, Mimi actually dies, but after some wonderful music. The singers were quite good, but the soprano was, to my ears, the most consistent and best. All three, uncharacteristically for opera singers, were very gracious and encouraging to each other and wonderfully in character (though not costume). Every night a free classical concert with an above average orchestra--hard to beat. Easily accessible by way of Alewife (down Route 2) by way of the Red Line (Charles/NGH stop). We arrived at 6:45 for the 7:00 concert with only our blanket and had not trouble finding a front row seat (we got back to Alewife by 9:39pm).

The earlier part of the day was spent at the Museum of Fine Art. NOTE: Wednesday nights, thanks to some bank or other, are free, at least this summer. Too good a treat to miss. many famous paintings like this of Monet. And a wonderful collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Hokusai's Tidal Wave is there but not yet on exhibit (at least, I couldn't find it--there is an upcoming exhibit on Japanese art that is in process).

And many wonderful surprises like this by the English painter John Martin of the seventh plague (hail). Note Moses with the rod and Aaron at the lower left. Martin used archeological sketches newly available in his day to create an accurate setting to show the power of this massive and advanced civilization, over whom Yahweh still rules.

It was also interesting to me to see biblical references in Latin in the musical instrument room which were untranslated by the exhibit, though it seemed every other non-English word in the museum was translated. "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord" on this clavichord.

"Praise Him with loud sounding cymbals" on this spinet harpsichord. (I'm guessing here; I'm no Latin scholar.)

We had to buy tickets to see the Edward Hopper Exhibit, which is soon gone. Hopper, like Stephen Sondheim, is very good at pointing out the idiosyncracies of our society but, also like Sondheim, not as good at suggesting answers. He spent two summers in Maine with his wife (of 44 years--she was also an artist and died nine months after he did in 1967) where he painted his famous lighthouses.

But more significant were his glimpses into city life. Living in Washington Square in New York City (only a couple of blocks from Cooper Union, where our son Josh attends), he would paint pictures of people that you'd likely glimpse as you'd pass by on an elevated train or see from a distance. People who don't know they've been seen. Kind of an exposed anonymity. You see it on the subway a lot, people reading, earphones in, isolated by the company of others. Each Hopper painting is tantalyzingly "the suggestion of enigmatic narratives," but you don't know what should happen next or what came before, the people are oddly the kind of memory you would take away from a glance in a lit window of a building, they are almost faceless, blank. Here, see a couple framed by the gray window of their city apartment. The husband is just home from work, having taken off his suit coat, and is already engrossed in the newspaper. His wife sits, as the exhibit says, "desultorily," plucking away at the piano. She is dressed in an evening gown. Has she been at home all day and is now dressed for going out, but her husband has come home and is in his own little world? We can't know, but we do know there is a story here, that draws us in.

Hopper shows us "the solitariness of individuals, even when in one another's company." In Nighthawks, see how distant each person looks, even the sugar, napkins, salt and pepper reinforce the isolation.

Or in New York Movie, see the movie screen and off to the side, the usherette lost in a reverie about her life (reflective of or inspired by what she sees in the movie?).

Or this etching, from above, to bring out the stark loneliness of the solitary man walking.

Artists have so poignantly, in modern times, shown the flaws, the idiosycracies, they've become mirrors that have allowed us to examine in us what we don't normally see, but when we see through the artist's eyes, we can say "Oh, I know that feeling. I've seen that, felt that, know that . . . " But a diagnosis is not enough. Nor are there simple disneyland/crystal cathedral answers that ignore the reality of a sin-broken world, as do the platitudinous answers most Christian books today offer ("Jesus is the super-economy sized best brand--buy Him®--He's better than all the other products."). The Bible is much wiser than either the useless and gnawing pessimism or unsettled groundlessness of our present modern times. It points to the seriousness of the Tower of Babel brokeness and the brutality of the cross necessary to bring real community. Real community doesn't so much grow out of spending time together doing happy things but, rather, really knowing who Jesus has shown Himself to be, serving Him together, suffering together for him, and serving each other as He did us. Those are the times that He works in us all that marvelous Day of Pentecost wildness that undoes the Babel curse, that we once again, if only intermittently until we are Home (but truly) share mystic sweet commmunion, beat out in the blast furnace of this world, as we see that the faith He has begun in us is pure gold and this time on earth is for the refining of that gold. Hopper has eloquently seen the problem, drawn the poison to the surface; Jesus has bought the medicine, applied the prescription that heals (not the bandage we prefer that hides and allows the untreated wound to poison the rest of who we are). A wonderfully thoughtful day in the real world.