The pastor Arza Brown had long told the congregants of Grace Baptist Church that if they left the sanctuary and gathered beneath Lahaina’s mango trees, that then their church would be under the mangoes, too.
“When we talk about the church,” Mr. Brown said on Sunday, “the building is not the church.
The building is just where the church meets.”This weekend, Grace Baptist was not inside the handsome blue structure two blocks from the Pacific where members had worshiped for 50 years.
And it was not beneath the mango trees on the lawn.
In times of crisis — tsunami warnings, hurricanes, fires — Grace Baptist had been a refuge.
Persons:
Arza Brown, ” Mr, Brown, Grace Baptist, Grace, — Grace Baptist, Harry Timmins
Organizations:
Grace Baptist Church
Locations:
Grace, ”, Wailuku, Lahaina