This is the second post in the #OutsideTheChurch series I started on Sunday, Jan. 7.
I walked away from organized religion years ago, but I still have mixed emotions about the process of exiting, and about where that left me in life. The idea of this series is to post a different picture of a church every Sunday and see where it takes me.
For more background, you can read my first post here.
This is a picture of the old Presbyterian Church on the corner of Eighth Street and Harrison Avenue in Leadville, Colorado. Dedicated in 1889, The Old Church (as it's called locally) is no longer used for services, but it still does an excellent job of looking churchy and historic.
You can probably see that I took this photo at night during a snowstorm. It was cold and miserable outside, and the hour was late. The only thing any sane person outside would be thinking about is how to get inside.
The church's doors were locked, of course.
If a church is a house of an omnipotent and omnipresent god, and if a church is where you're supposed to find love, healing, and salvation in time of need — then why are church doors always locked when it's cold and miserable outside, and the hour is late?