Just outside the door at my parsonage, there's an old dogwood tree. When we arrived two years ago, the tree was full of dead and dying branches as the Dogwood Anthracnose (aka the blight) slowly spread throughout the tree. Last year, I rented a power trimmer (aka chainsaw-on-a-stick) and cleared off the dead limbs, even cutting off a main trunk split. I pruned carefully, making sure to make cuts that would not hold water and making sure the whole tree would be balanced. Today, as I left for work, I noticed that the bark on the main truck has started to slough off. The tree is dying, and stopping it now would take fungicide and other dangerous chemical treatments. It might take a few more years while the tree makes vain attempts to send out new shoots and limbs, but it's only a matter of time before the tree dies.
I wonder if my Church is like that tree?
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