Into the Land of Slicers!

Eric here. We left the city this past weekend because I had been invited to preach for a week at LaPorte FUMC in Indiana while Pastor Hadley is on sabbatical. I realized that I have now been away from LaPorte longer than I had lived there (15 and 14 years--you do the math to find out which significant birthday is coming up!). It was a great opportunity to see a lot of folks responsible for making me the man I am today. I was really glad that Mira was able to come with She's good company (and handy with the camera!)

On our way out of town I decided to have the Sears Tower for a little snack:

When we arrived in LaPorte Saturday evening, we had some time, so we stopped at the Temple News Agency . I remember riding my bike here a few times to drink chocolate malts and read magazines. They have a collection of yearbooks from LaPorte High School (The Slicers) and the two area middle schools ...

...and while they didn't have any from my year, we found one with a picture of this cool dude in it (a lounging discus star named Scott Conklin):

We were blessed to stay with hospitable friends, Whitey and Jo Thornburg. In addition to letting us stay at their great place, they even organized a dinner gathering including some other dear friends (only slightly delayed because of an infamous NIPSCo power outage). I am always amazed at the kindness of people from my past, and now I know that their presence in my life has had a huge impact on me. Clockwise around the table, starting with me, Whitey Thornburg, Jim Edwards, Rose Philbrook, Syd Philbrook, Lorraine Miller, Jo Thornburg, and Christy Edwards:

Whitey and Jo live right across the street from where I spent those first fourteen years. Here is a picture of ye ol' house from the street:


To me it seemed "normal" to live in a home where the stairs appeared to float, where twenty south-facing four feet by nine feet windows let in sunlight, and where a large source of heat was water circulating through the black concrete floor warmed by sunlight coming through those huge windows--commonly referred to as "passive solar heating." Although we moved away from that beautiful place, my love and appreciation for practical design and quality craftsmanship continue to warm me like sun-bathed concrete.

The last time I was in the neighborhood, my friend Mark and I were traveling through to Ohio during seminary and I had to show him my home town on an impulse. So, here is a picture of Mark in front of the same house from Sept 2003 (four years ago!).


LaPorte FUMC has three distinct church services--all of which are worth a visit. The first is at 8:00 in the small chapel. When I was younger, we only attended "early church" if we had something going on (like Pop Warner football) that would make going to the later service impossible, but there were quite a few folks at this service today--they even have a choir at this service now! The new service is the 9:00 "powertrain" service. It is contemporary and laid back, with donuts and juice offered throughout the service, with the fellowship hall in the basement as the setting. That is the service where I am preaching in this picture:


Sitting in the services as a child, the pulpit in the sanctuary seemed like it was around 600 feet high. I'd say that's about right. The third service features a choir that sounds as great as ever with a beautiful organ. I was glad to see that the sanctuary has been made more accessible for people of all abilities (no more unnecessary awkward walks through strange doors and hallways!). Here I am making an unforgettable point about Jesus or something:


Thank you to LaPorte for helping to raise me and my brothers--and for always welcoming us back with open arms!