Erling Pages Index

The Rev. Dr. Maria Erling

The Church Basement

            Next to the sanctuary, the church basement is probably the most important setting for many aspects of congregational life. It is my contention that the church basement is where people begin to practice application of the Word they hear upstairs. While liturgy is “the work of the people,” it is guided and normally at least a little bit formal. There is little informal interaction between people. The focus is on the Table and the Word. While people teach, serve, and share with one another in this space, their actions are directed toward God and, for the most part, prescribed. Folks see the backs of heads and concentrate on what is happening in their own sphere during worship. In one sense, for Lutherans anyway, the worship space is where the theoretical aspects of our faith are presented.

The basement, on the other hand, is the laboratory. It is a somewhat controlled environment in which people might practice what they have learned. The basement is a familiar place in which familiar people interact face to face. Actions and outcome are not as predictable as they are upstairs. “The work of the people” takes on another dimension. This is where people teach one another, serve one another, laugh, cry and fight with one another. The focus of the church basement is on the table and words; people sit across from one another and interact. It is here that the faithful practice hospitality, form relationships, make memories, and perform the business of the church. It is here, as we share the space with other groups, that outreach begins.

Hopefully, these activities all happen under the umbrella of the faith that is nurtured more formally on the floor above. Hopefully, the lessons learned in the church basement are positive and faithful. Hopefully, the people take those lessons out the door and into the world as they interact with the greater community.

Underground and Under Appreciated

            The church basement is not always below the sanctuary. Many church buildings have only a crawl space or a small cellar. There is, however, normally a space in every church building that serves the purpose of the church basement. It might be down the hall from the sanctuary. Another building may be a church’s “basement.” In a small parish it might be a back corner of the sanctuary, or even the sanctuary itself when worship is not occurring. I would propose that almost every American church has an area in which people gather for congregational activities other than worship. In other words, every church has a basement.

            Wherever the “basement” is, it is beneath the worship space. The basement is subordinate to the nave; our main purpose for being church is to worship our Lord. At the same time, we are commissioned to go out and serve God’s world. The sanctuary and the church basement each equip us to do just that. The church basement is a necessary part of peoples’ lives. In the church basement, we integrate Word and world. We spend time in the church basement being “visible church” so that we might better spend time in the world as “invisible church.”

We do not always appreciate church basements. We take them for granted and sometimes we do not really like them. Some are dank, smelly places with low ceilings and mildew on the walls. Tiny windows above eye level let in the only natural light. At times they feel crowded. Their kitchens are outdated and inadequate. A picture looms in our minds of “the kitchen ladies” keeping everyone else out as they talk and work. We remember the cacophony of several Sunday School classes in one big room, divided only by movable partitions that were stacked along the wall during fellowship hour.

Though this kind of church basement is the butt of jokes and subject of books, it is where many memories are made. Despite its reputation, the church basement is where church meets world.

Not all church basements are like this, of course. Many are bright and airy, with open windows and several rooms. Modern kitchens make it possible to cheerfully serve one another and work easily together. Well-designed, attractive basements expand the possibilities for outreach, as community groups find them appropriate places to meet.

The basement of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Spencer, NY

            Spencer is located in a valley in south central New York State. The main economic base of this town of 815 is agriculture and agribusiness. Many artisans live in the hills surrounding the village and a few high-tech small businesses dot the area. The village proper has a small grocery, bank, gas station, car dealership, and school. Those who are not self-employed travel to work a few miles south to the hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania. Others commute to Ithaca, NY to work at Cornell University and Ithaca College or to Elmira, NY for blue-collar work.

            The community has a colorful history. Native Americans once camped in the valley. Remains of a permanent settlement exist a few miles to the south. The first major influx of Europeans consisted of Revolutionary War soldiers. They were paid in land for their services, and many were given property in the area that is now Spencer. Throughout the 1800’s, the area had little influx of outsiders. It subsisted on basically an agrarian economy. Finnish settlers arrived from the Midwest during the years on either side of 1900. Their Midwestern homesteads had failed, and they learned of inexpensive land in the Spencer area. The rocky soil of the hills had been depleted by typical farming practices, so the Finns who settled in Spencer began chicken farms. Those who could afford bottomland ran dairy operations.

            The Finnish population grew quickly. People arrived from New York City and directly from Finland to settle here. There was a Finnish Cooperative, where people shopped for food, clothing, farming and building materials. Finnish was the primary language of these settlers; their children were introduced to English when they began school.

            While all Finns came together at the Co-op and for funerals, there were three distinct factions. Simply put, the “Red” Finns were Russian sympathizers regarding what was going on in Europe in the early part of the last century. A second cohort, the Laestadians, was a separatist group who settled in the isolated hills around Spencer. There is still a small group there today.

            The “White” Finns formed the congregation at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. By virtue of the state church in Finland, all the Finnish settlers in Spencer were Lutheran; the Whites were the ones active in “typical” congregational church life. This is the story of their church basement and how it has enhanced the life of the congregation for many years. 

The basement of this tiny church and its furnishings were truly a labor of love. When St. Paul’s was first chartered by the Suomi (Finnish) Synod in 1934, there was no basement. For $1.00, the congregation purchased the vacated Methodist church, which consisted of a 36’X 45’ sanctuary built in 1828. Prior to that, the people of this congregation had been part of The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church, located in the hills several miles from Spencer. With the purchase of this building, those living in Spencer would not have to travel so far to worship and participate in other activities. The two congregations shared pastors and a parsonage. Worship and Sunday School were held in Finnish in both locations.

            At St. Paul’s, enough people worshiped to justify two services. I do not have exact numbers of worshipers. Current fire code limits, however, indicate a capacity of 120 in the nave. My experience is that fifty people make the sanctuary feel comfortably full, seventy-five is cozy. There is room for more if the people like each other.

            While the building was in good condition upon purchase, there were several projects to be done in order to make it feel “Lutheran,” and especially “Finnish Lutheran.” The congregation imported large birch panels from Finland to cover the walls and ceiling of the nave. They built a pulpit, lectern, and baptismal font, as well as two deacons’ chairs, to match the paneling. They also built a new East Wall altar and painted a mural of The Good Shepherd above it. These very musical people made a joyful noise in this space that was so acoustically alive. Room for other activities was needed, however, and they decided to build a basement. 

There was a World War going on; male workers, materials, and money were scarce. Finnish sisu (roughly, “stubborn tenacity”) was in huge supply, however, and they built the basement almost entirely by hand.

            The people first hand dug a tunnel the length of the building. Then they braced the building and widened the tunnel. Eventually, there was enough space to jack up the building and allow small tractors under the sanctuary. When the hole was complete, volunteers laid concrete blocks, which had been purchased over time as money became available. They mixed concrete by hand for mortar and poured concrete outer steps and floor, also by hand. Someone built a wooden inside stairway from the nave.

            Dimensions of the basement are the same as the upstairs sanctuary: 36’X 45’. It is about 10’ high. Out of this was carved space for an indoor bathroom facility, a furnace room, and a narrow kitchen. The rest of the room is open and has served many functions over the years.

            Many of the people currently in the congregation were involved in the purchase and remodeling of St. Paul’s. They tell of hosting one hundred children in the basement for Sunday School. The current fire code capacity is 67. In my wildest imagining, it is difficult to fit one hundred children in that basement, but I believe they did it. While cleaning out the basement during my internship, we found enough teaching materials from the 1950’s and early 1960’s to indicate that the numbers are probably correct. Sunday School records show at least that many children, and the Finns were strict about attendance. This was where they passed the language to their offspring; Sunday School was taught in Finnish until the about the mid-1950’s, perhaps even later.     

An important part of the Sunday School program was music. The congregation puts a high priority on singing and instrumental ability. A piano is the center of attention in the basement. It is here that Sunday School children sang opening songs in Finnish and in English. They also practiced choir pieces here and joined with one another in impromptu sing-alongs. Even the youngest members learned to peck out simple pieces on the church basement piano. To this day, maintenance for this piano has high priority as a budget item.

Several people in this congregation play instruments and/or sing very well; and it is not unusual to find a few folks gathered around the basement piano for a “jam” session. This corner of the basement has always been the setting for pre-worship choir practice and warm-up of voices. At the annual Christmas dinner, which has been held from time immemorial, the piano is crucial, as folks enjoy a carol sing following the meal.

Appreciation for music led the congregation to build an addition to the basement during the 1980’s. The addition is about half the size of the main building, but extends to the peak of the nave. It is more a large, insulated lean-to than a basement, but it is an extension of the basement. The addition was built to house the pipes of an organ the congregation bought from another church. Over the period of about fifteen years, pieces of the organ lived in the large basement room while the people built the addition and reassembled the numbered pieces of the instrument.

At that time, the Sunday School was very small and it was possible to leave delicate organ pieces in the basement without worrying about damage. 

In days of yore, that could not have happened. Ping-pong balls might have damaged the organ pieces as large gatherings of youth met for Bible study, singing, food and ping-pong. A parishioner built the ping-pong table long ago. Another labor of love, the table was resurrected during 2003. For the first time in many years, the congregation held a game night. Several youth and children attended the event. Someone dusted off the ping-pong table and bought a new net, paddles, and balls. It pleased the older members to see “their” ping-pong table being used again. They found great satisfaction in watching youngsters enjoy the church basement and the ping-pong table after a long time with few games or young people in the church.

In the early 1960’s, young adults as well as youth gathered in the basement in great numbers. A dynamic young pastor was called. He was the first to lead worship using only English. The pastor was instrumental in attracting many non-Finnish young adults. These younger people met in the basement for Bible study, music and fellowship.

More simply, they met. Several of the young people who gathered in the basement of St. Paul’s for fellowship became couples during those years. Nervous grooms waited for “the great moment” in that room which had been built with love. Those same people later celebrated wedding receptions in the basement, shared baptismal meals, and brought their own children to Sunday School.

Church basements foster our lives as baptized children of God.

The people of St. Paul’s have continually nurtured one another in the church basement. They have also reached to others in the same space. Scout troops have met there. The ladies of the church have always provided wonderful “spreads” for wedding receptions, funerals, and ecumenical gatherings, as well as for the monthly fellowship hour. It is as if they try to outdo one another with their contributions to the “groaning board.” Fortunately, the tables are sturdy enough to hold all that food.

They, too, are a labor of love. The tables in the St. Paul’s basement are large and heavy; someone made them by hand many years ago from 4’X 8’X 1” plywood. Each table easily sits eight to ten people. While the tables collapse for storage, it takes two people to move one when it is flat. There are seven tables normally out, taking up most of the space in the basement. One is used for counting money and Council meetings. One is officially reserved for Sunday School. The rest are used for fellowship and serving guests at funeral luncheons and other food-oriented activities.

The Ladies’ Guild (yes, they still call it that) has always been in charge of the kitchen. For the most part, men are not welcome in this 8’X 20’ room. Two low pass-through openings allow men “all the access they need.” This women’s enclave, with its elderly commercial-style propane stove, deep double utility sink, unplugged 1950’s era refrigerator, and non-working water heater, becomes rather crowded at times. It, too, is a multi-purpose room. One of the cupboards holds Communion elements and supplies. The counter is where flowers are arranged prior to worship.

Many problems have been solved, hearts mended, and challenges met here over the years. The kitchen is where the women of St. Paul’s have shone. They are known for their Finnish-American cuisine and their attention to the details of hospitality. In the past, when ecumenical Advent and Lenten programs were held at St. Paul’s, people looked forward to the refreshments. Due to the congregation’s aging population, St. Paul’s has not participated in these ecumenical programs in recent years. Easter breakfast for the community, following a Sunrise Service by the pond, is a tradition that the people of St. Paul’s revitalized last year. Folks from the community graced the basement of St. Paul’s for the first time in a decade, and the women felt very much alive. The help of some younger women was welcomed. The traditional ban of men, however, remains strong.

Communion Sundays are busy for the women. Not only do they arrange the flowers before service, they fill Communion glasses and prepare the Table. The water heater has not worked in years, so the women wash Communion glasses in water heated on the stove. There is an unwritten rule that there not be Communion on the monthly fellowship Sunday (even if it is a major festival), as it causes far too much confusion. I may have been the first female clergy at St. Paul’s, but the women have impacted worship life from their place in the basement kitchen for a very long time.

Traditionally, men have worked at the opposite end of the basement. While several women have served on Council over the last few years, the expectation remains that the more formal church business is ultimately the responsibility of the men. One table, near the piano, is where the “business” of the church happens. The offering is counted here and the Council meets at this table. At this table, Council argues and frets, prays, pleads and makes decisions.

Next to the Council table, two portable partitions block off an 8’X 8’ area called “the office.” These partitions also serve as bulletin boards: for Sunday School on the side that faces the main room and for administrative business on the office side. In this space, file cabinets hold important papers and a desk and phone are available to all. The vicar uses another desk. A newly acquired copy machine graces one corner, while a computer sits nearby. The twenty-first century meets the mid-1900’s in this little corner of the church basement.

Kitty-corner from the office, in the northwest corner, is another multi-purpose room. At one time, it was the talk of the town. St. Paul’s was one of the first churches to have indoor facilities. The people built it along with the basement. Indoor facilities were a great innovation in a rural area during the 1940’s. The restroom was recently redecorated and a demand hot water heater was installed.*

The room is large and bright. While it is a single restroom, it also is home to choir robes, cleaning supplies, and a large mirror. This is a busy place on Sunday morning; it is not unusual for a pre-worship line to form on the ramp that leads to it. The ramp was built in the early 1990’s so that elderly parishioners would not have to negotiate the two steps that formerly lead to the restroom.

Access to the restroom is easy. Access to the basement itself is a concern. Because the only access is via steps, some members, who are wheelchair bound, cannot get to the basement. The stairs are too steep to accommodate a ramp. A chair lift was installed on the stairway several years ago, but few folks use it. As long as they can negotiate the steps, they will. Plans are in the works for an elevator; it has become a priority so that no member or visitor will be excluded from the church basement.

The people of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Spencer, New York sense that, to exclude someone from the church basement is to exclude one of God’s children from important aspects of Christian life. The give and take that occurs in the church basement is important in helping Christians learn to live out their faith in the world beyond the building. It is also just plain fun to spend time with others in the church basement.

 
** The heater is connected only to the restroom sink. It does not go to the kitchen.