The Reverend Dawn Lee was aware this week this Sunday's service would be a particularly important one at Grace Church. The congregation looked to her to provide perspective in the midst of a difficult situation. Grace Church is located in an older neighborhood, across the street from the Elizabeth Printing Company's phone-book print facility - so close that parishioners often parked their cars at the Elizabeth plant on Sunday mornings. Local residents in fact called the surrounding neighborhood "Elizabeth" and thus referred to Grace Church as the Elizabeth Church. Although relatively few Grace Church members actually worked at the printing plant anymore, a number of the oldest members were retired Elizabeth employees. Grace Church was thus closely tied to the printing plant in the public mind, even if the church was not really dependent on it.

It had come as a surprise to everyone when the Elizabeth Company announced yesterday that it would close the phone-book print facility and move its operations to the new, computerized plant a few miles away. Everyone in the neighborhood had, of course, known about the new plant; they even took pride in it. The original purpose of the new plant (dubbed by local pundits, Elizabeth the Second) had been to expand the company's work into the specialty newspaper business. The plant would print small-run papers aimed at narrow audiences like soy bean farmers and pipe-fitters. Everyone thus took the company spokesman at his word when he told them late last year that the company had no plans to close the older facility. "Elizabeth the First," he jovially said at the time, "will always be the queen of our operations."

Rev. Lee could look out her window, however, and see the queen was dead. Workers were already surrounding the lifeless plant with chained-link fence to keep vandals out. A number of workers tried initially to protest when they learned that they would be laid off. They were given generous severance packages and kept their pensions, but were also told that they could not master the new skills necessary to run the computer equipment at the new plant. The protest had degenerated eventually into scattered grumbling, however, when it became apparent that no one in the older group had the wherewithal to lead a protest.

On the other hand, a few younger workers - including one prominent church member, Edward Leeds - were promoted as a part of the transfer. It seems that Edward had taken the company up on an offer it made last summer to train anyone who signed up on new equipment and he was being rewarded for his efforts.

As she prepared to address her congregation, Rev. Lee reflected on the swirl of opinion that had erupted after the announcement. Many church members and community leaders complained that the company had lied to them. David Martin took the brunt of this fury. He was the company spokesman who had made the earlier promises - and as it happened, a member of Grace Church. He explained that the company had no original intention of closing the plant, but two things had happened to change their minds. The new specialty newspaper venture was not going well and the new computer equipment was far more productive (although expensive) than they expected. The company had decided it had to close one of the plants and stick to the phone-book business

In private, David had explained to Rev. Lee that he had personally fought for the generous severance packages despite significant opposition. David's reputation for integrity leads her to believe that he is telling the truth.

The larger problem for the congregation is what to do now. The community expects the congregation to take some kind of leadership on the issue. Local residents and shop owners fear that the old building will become a haven for crime and a magnet for vandals. The local newspaper even printed an editorial claiming that this was going to be the beginning of the neighborhood's "long and tragic descent into decay." The headline read, "Time to bury Elizabeth."

Rev. Lee knows that her congregation is frightened and confused. She keeps picturing congregants driving in on Sunday morning and finding the parking lot fenced off. The reality of the situation will hit them hard. She wants to help her people see this situation from God's perspective.