Here is the church, here is the steeple . . .

I love going to the Baltics because history envelopes you. Streets and buildings hundreds and a thousand years old are common. In the old town districts most of the streets become alleys, even sidewalks, as they wind without reason among brick, mortar and wood buildings, usually topped with terra cotta roofing. Each doorway and window, each staircase that descends to some mysterious place below street level, invites curiosity about the life that has gone on in those places for centuries, and what goes on even as we walk by.

"There is another beautiful church. Take a picture."

By the end of our trip we quit raising our cameras every time a magnificent old church or cathedral appeared. Every shot was a post card. They are beautiful. And they are everywhere. Except for the size, age, and architecture of the buildings, it is sort of like being back in the southern USA, a church building on every corner.

But is is not like the southern USA during worship times. Many of the church buildings are no longer churches at all. They are abandoned or are used for another purpose, maybe a museum.

Some are still active. Each morning and each evening you can watch and be inspired as the small crowd shuffles into the church for prayers, the attenders generally appearing to be about eighty years old. The crowd appears even smaller as it is swallowed by the huge sanctuary.

But the Church has a vital and exciting heartbeat in the Baltics. It is not centered in the huge old cathedrals and sanctuaries. Tourists are not compelled to take photos of its home.

It beats in the houses, abandoned store-fronts, and renovated back street commercial buildings where followers of Christ gather to worship and to serve. Where they are learning to be the Body of Christ.

One of the phrases that is a curse to leaders in churches everywhere in America is "but we've always done it that way."

In the Baltics, thanks to several generations of Communist oppression, that is one problem the new churches in the Baltics do not have. Many of the churches are so new that they have never done it any way before. All things are new. It is exciting and a beautiful thing to watch.

More beautiful than the grandest empty cathedral.

.