Hidden Hinges

Small moments in life with huge consequences

Photo by Rene Böhmer on Unsplash

The boy’s family was new to the Washington Park area in Providence, Rhode Island, and were looking for a church near their home. They wanted to join a faith community to raise their family in. At that point, they had a son and a daughter just old enough to start school.

While mom and dad worshipped in the sanctuary of the Baptist church, the children spent the morning in Sunday School classrooms nestled deep in the old New England brick building. It was a pleasant experience…until the children were released to join their parents.

Being new to the building, and old buildings being what they were, having narrow, winding hallways lined with non-descript doors, leading here and there, the boy quickly became disoriented. And unable to find his parents, his panic grew. What seemed like eons to the boy (probably just a few moments), he finally made his way to his parents, but the damage was done. The boy was inconsolable and refused to enter that frightening building ever again.

The parents settled on joining a United Methodist church closer to their home, though at the time they were not Methodists. The father eventually became the head usher, the mother a Sunday School teacher and a preschool teacher at the church. The couple went on to have three more daughters. The next to…