A look back

Highland Mills - As I walked down the street after leaving the church, I turned and looked over my shoulder. The area was quite dark but the lights from inside were warm and inviting and I realized that it was the last time lights would glow from within St. David’s. The little Episcopal church on Route 32 in Highland Mills had just conducted its final service and the Rt. Rev. Mark Sisk, Bishop of the Diocese of New York, had declared at the conclusion: “Now after many years of faithfulness, with thanks to God for the good accomplished here, I declare the Church of St. David’s closed.” At that moment, my reaction was one of profound sadness and I’m hard pressed to know just why. I have lived in Highland Mills for over 35 years and yet, until Nov. 16 - the night of the final service - I had never found myself inside St. David’s. Since coming to Woodbury, my family and I have been active members of the Highland Mills United Methodist Church and we find there a very caring and supportive church family. Yet I find the closing of St. David’s, and perhaps any church, to be very troubling. Whether or not a person is spiritual or religious (there’s a difference), the end of a church or any institution that falls on hard times diminishes the community and its people. In its nearly 100-year history, much joy and certainly some sorrow marked St. David’s. In that respect, the church represents all places where people come together for one another. With its closing, now there is one less place where there is that opportunity. And, deep down, I know we are all less for it. Fred Lindlaw is a member of the Highland Mills United Methodist church’s Administrative Board.