Lately, at Church of the Holy Comforter, we’ve been exploring possibilites for improvements to our main sanctuary built in the early 1960′s. Three central goals have emerged:
- To Unify the Assembly (to emphasize a community gathered rather than audience observing participants)
- To Illuminate our Sacred Space (more natural as well as digital light to uncover the beauty of holiness)
- To Install a New Digital Organ (more fully enhance congregational singing and the ministry of music)
It has been encouraging to see between 35 and 40 people attend each of our recent “Listening Sessions” to consider possibilities for further improvements to our liturgical space at Holy Comforter. There have been a lot of informal conversations in the Narthex between liturgies, and at various committee and ministry meetings over the last several weeks. The process of “listening together” continues, and I believe from this process, a unifying sense of direction will emerge as the Vestry seeks to provide needed leadership in the coming year.
One of the important questions to ask when we consider investing in our physical plant is how such investments relate to achieving God’s mission in the here and now. The Gospel calls us to be passionate about a very few core values and flexible on everything else. What are those things that truly matter, and what are those things that don’t? It is clear that love of God, of neighbor, and of our deepest selves held priority for Jesus and his disciples. Compassion, forgiveness, speaking for those who have no voice, and being generous with our resources were also among the core values Jesus illuminated with his unique life and teaching. This Gospel challenge resonates strongly with our own Baptismal Covenant in The Book of Common Prayer (page 304-305).
In a world where everything is changing so rapidly, core values such as the ones outlined in the Baptismal Covenant might serve as helpful benchmarks for us in all areas of Christian life. This is particularly true when we are called to be good stewards of God’s money as we renovate or build church structures flexible enough to adapt to the needs of today’s world and beyond. In the final analysis they remind us that the church’s “customers” are not singularly our parishioners, the clergy, or even the diocese . . . our “customers” include those who are seeking a way of life that helps make sense of the challenging world we live in–those who need to hear and see the Good News of Jesus Christ lived out in a welcoming and inspiring way.
How can our sanctuary space communicate the transforming message of Jesus in this welcoming and inspiring way? What architectural or liturgical improvements will be the most inviting to those potentially interested in our community, yet also preserve a sense of mystery that lifts up the centrality of Baptism, Eucharist, God’s voice speaking through Scripture, and the Community gathered as partners in God’s mission? What will I sacrifice for those who are not yet here?
That last question might be one to add to our listening process as we discern the good steps God may be calling us to pursue in the months ahead. If there is a “wideness in God’s mercy,” perhaps our sacred space can help make that truth become more visible and experiential to all who enter.
We give you thanks, O God, for the gifts of your people, and for the work of many hands, which have beautified this place and furnished it for the celebration of your holy mysteries. Accept and bless all we have done, and grant that in these earthly things we may behold the order and beauty of things heavenly; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 573)
