DECLINE OF A CHURCH (27 april 2004)
In 1942 I was baptized in a church in Amsterdam called Thomas, just like my Christian name.
Later, I became an altar boy, but it was not to be a very successful career. My dreamy nature made me forget to answer to the priest's prayers and bring the thurible (which seems to be the official name of an incense burner).
The things that happened in the church, however, gradually ceased to have much appeal for me.
It seems I was not the only one: fewer and fewer people came to the church. Desperately, the priests tried to lure young people back with things like Masses with beat music. But all in vain.
And just like cinemas are closed when they don't attract enough visitors, the Thomas church was closed.
Last weekend, on my way to my sister's birthday, I saw the church had almost completely been demolished. And all I could do was take a picture of the last sad remnants:
