Church of the Second Chance

In Anne Tyler’s novel Saint Maybe, nineteen-year-old Ian tells his parents, Doug and Bee Bedloe, of his decision to leave college and become an apprentice cabinetmaker. This will enable Ian to raise the young children of his deceased brother, Danny. Ian has arrived at this decision because of the influence in his life of Rev. Emmett and the Church of the Second Chance, a congregation that believes in actual atonement, that is, that you must do something “real” to be forgiven for your sins. Ian’s sin was that he led his drunken brother to believe that his wife was unfaithful, after which Danny committed suicide.In the crucial scene in which Ian tells his parents of the change in the course of his life, church and faith enter the conversation. Ian explains that he will have help from his church in juggling his new job and the responsibility for the children. This alarms his parents.
"Ian, have you fallen into the hands of some sect?” his fatherasked.“No, I haven’t,” Ian said. “I have merely discovered a churchthat makes sense to me, the same as Dober Street Presbyterian makes sense to youand Mom.”“Dober Street didn’t ask us to abandon our educations,” his mothertold him.“Of course we have nothing against religion; we raised all of youchildren to be Christians. But our church never asked us to abandon ourentire way of life.”“Well, maybe it should have,” Ian saidHis parentslooked at each other.His mother said, “I don’t believe this. I donot believe it. No matter how long I’ve been a mother, it seems my children can still come up with something new and unexpected to do to me.”
Ian’s is a story of two kinds of churches. Dober Street is a church that mainly confirms people’s lives as they are. The Church of the Second Chance disrupts lives in the name of Jesus so that people can change.We have too many Dober Street churches!