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not paved - no bridges, no houses for miles and miles - and you could travel on a moonlight night but you would have to stop and camp if the moon went under.
Church on Sunday - unless you lived here in town - meant preparing picnic food for lunch, feeding the stock and milking, then loading the wagon or buggy with horse feed and picnic fare for the trip to church.
Insects were abundant and there was little or no cover for the wagon or buggy if it rained. The wagons had few or no springs and there were plenty of pot holes.
When you arrived at church, the building was poorly heated and cooled with hand fans and natural breezes.
Clothes, largely home-made, featured for men:	high	collars,
long sleeve shirts, a coat with tie, and Sunday pants. The ladies wore long skirts, petticoats, and high necked dresses. Shoes were rarely comfortable and the corsets worn then were even less so.
There were few hymnals in the earliest churches and often no music except an occasional violin or mouth harp. There were "amen" corners where the church officials sat and every child was on his best behavior or woe betide him when he got home.
The shared picnic dinners were the highlight of the social week as the older people visited, the young people courted, and the children played games.
They loved Sundays, were serious about their religion, and they came to church as a family, creating close bonds and pleasant memories.
We may not be lonely to see and visit with people as we were in the old days, but we may be lonely to be recognized as in individual in a crowd, as part of the game instead of a spectator.
We do not need an invitation to church because WE ARE THE CHURCH. How we respond to God's open door policy, is up to.us. I like the old definition of a church: "A church is a collection of sinners growing in grace". Bear that in mind and come on in.
"What's next?" is the question on the lips of many persons to-day. There is no firm answer as no one really knows what the future may bring. But there is this conforting thought: "I may not know what tomorrow holds - but I know WHO holds tomorrow'.’
Speech on HISTORY OF CHURCH, "Laity Day", 1980; Mrs. David (Lucy) McDonalc