Many Years

This year our church, in the middle of nowhere, is celebrating a 200 year anniversary.  Back in 1816, a couple of Scottish missionaries made their way, for some unknown reason, to a tiny village in Eastern Ontario.  Starting with a house church, a small group of people met to worship together.  Later, they built a stone church, and much more recently, they added on a church hall.  They named it Breadalbane Baptist Church after Breadalbane, Scotland. Over the years, the number of attendants has waxed and waned, but every Sunday for 200 years, weather permitting, a service was held.
This year is the 6th anniversary of a sister church that we started in a nearby town.  We asked some of our members to leave their cozy home church and embark on a new adventure.  At first, they met in the library of the local high school.  Now, they rent the town hall for Sunday mornings.
Many churches in our area are dwindling.  Why is ours growing?
Is it our pastor? Is he some charismatic preacher - No. Does he have a wonderful, warm personal manner? No.  Is he really smart? No.  Is he full of energy? No -he has a chronic illness that makes him tired much of the time.
So is it the congregation? Are they charismatic, warm, energetic, smart?  Do they organize lots of engaging activities?  No, no and no. 
What we do have is a pastor who believes that it is God's church and his parishioners are God's people that he has a responsibility to nurture and equip.  And we, parishioners, also believe it is God's church, not our church, and that our job is to love and care for each other.  We also feel it is our responsibility to encourage and support our pastor. We talk a lot about forgiveness and strive to walk the talk. We try to be slow to anger, and quick to be kind. We embrace the love that God has given to us.  We are happy to have a haven.
It's Palm Sunday.  Hosanna!