A curious thing happened at Kiruna Church this week in the northern Swedish city of Kiruna near the coast of the Norwegian Sea. As the ground under the church began to shift and crack as a result of a century of over-mining (the church itself is 113 years old), the residents of Kiruna decided that the church would have to relocate to where the ground was more stable.
Usually moving a church is somewhat similar to moving a home. We find a new place, pack our most precious belongings, move all the furniture that we want to keep, and leave the rest behind, particularly if the foundation of the building is giving way. After all, the church is not about the place but the people. But not in Kiruna. An army of engineers descended on Kiruna Church, lifted up its entire wooden structure standing 115 feet tall and 130 feet wide, and rolled it across the city. It took two days to reach its final destination just 5 kilometres away leaving a pathway where all the roads had to be widened, all the traffic lights had to be removed, and where trees had to be replanted.
It makes me think about what it means to be church. Kiruna Church had stood empty for a number of years and will likely stand empty for another year or two as the engineers busy themselves in ensuring that the building is worthy of occupation. The church will likely be filled for a celebration and then stand empty again. Everyone interviewed regarding the move stated, “I’m not religious, and I don’t attend church. But Kiruna Church is part of our tradition.”
It made me think. Church isn’t about the tradition of a place, the beauty of the architecture, or the history with which it is associated. An empty church is just another empty building, not a church. I think that it is a worthy thing that Kiruna did in funding the moving of the church from a collapsing foundation. In fact, they spent C$1.4 billion in the effort. Yet, it disturbs me that the foundation is so easily eroded by mining for iron ore (the major industry of Kiruna).
Paul paints a very different type of church. Church, the real thing, is built on the foundation of God’s Word taught to us with Christ as the Chief Cornerstone. It is He who pulls the church all together and it is the Holy Spirit who lives there (Ephesians 2:20-22). Take a second look at the context of that passage, and you will see that it is ordinary folks made into citizens of heaven who form the “house of God”. And what if people decide to drop out of church or to strike it off the priority list because something else becomes more important? What if there is no thought of living out the Word of God and sharing the Truth of God with others? Well, that’s Kiruna Church. In the end, it’s rolled down the street because its foundations are cracking.
May we learn how indeed to be church just as Jesus intended. May we pray for places like Kiruna Church, that it would not simply be an address, but a family of heavenly citizens in the city in which it is planted.
Just Church
As we think about the reality of church in our neighbourhood, let’s think less about a postal code but about who we are as a family of believers meeting together for the purpose of proclaiming Christ. “The vision of Just Church is to establish a church in just the way Christ called the church to be – true to His Word, loving Him, loving one another, and loving the lost.”
