Tending to Sacred Space
In pursuit of good theology, we clergy can be dismissive of a church building, knowing that the church is the people, not the building. We want to worship not the building, but the Triune God, to whose glory the building was created. Yet, the buildings and grounds of your church are not insignificant as these are places set aside for a holy purpose and so our reverence for them is not misplaced. As the church where you worship is a much prayed in space where Word and Sacrament offer a means of finding forgiveness, repentence and a new way of life lived in communion with God and with others, your space matters. How does the upkeep of those facilities speak of the faith proclaimed within the walls? (Holy Trinity, Blakely is pictured above with oak trees planted by the church planter, The Rev. Dr. Jimmy Lawrence, now shading the lawn.)
Gain New Eyes to See Your Church
To gain new eyes for your beloved church by visiting another church or two. Notice their signage, their upkeep, the details that reveal the care to which Reggie McNeal points in the quotation above. This visit is best accomplished in attending a Sunday service, but could take place at other times as well. Ask a fellow minister of another denomination if y’all can look around one another’s church building and grounds. I found my brother and sister pastors are as nosy as I am and enjoy the invitation. The same can be done by lay ministers as well as the ordained. Having seen another congregations use of its space can be inspirational when you return to your familiar building and ground with new eyes to see how visitors might encounter your church. Notice the level of care and see what needs freshening up. Then look to your reserve funds to discover how well you are setting aside money for future needs. The baptismal font at left is bathed in natural light in this photo of Christ Church, Cordele.
A Sense of Purpose Infuses Everything
This care for the building and grounds goes further to touch on the care in creating bulletins, greeting newcomers, offering Christian formation. These details flow from a central sense of purpose. See that these details matter to the Kingdom of God and you will attend to them differently.
It is said that a traveler came upon a site in England where swarms of workers were building a grand church. The traveler asked one of the men exactly what he was doing and he replied, “Hey! I’m just doing what they tell me to do. All I care about it making a living to support my family.” The traveler then asked a second man, who repliedreplied, “Me? I’m digging a ditch from here to that stake over there.” But the third worker he questioned stopped, leaned against his shovel, and with a gleam in his eye, said, “I’m helping Christopher Wren build a great cathedral.”
He might be a bit of a dreamer, but the third man would take the greatest care to follow the plans and get his work right. This is because the worker understood what he was doing in a larger context and that transformed the purpose of his work. A sense vision about the mission of the church infuses everything about a congregation. Reggie McNeal, who authored The Future Church, which has been instrumental in the process Good Shepherd, Augusta is going through (see an earlier Loose Canon below) writes this about that sense of purpose:
“I can tell you within minutes of arriving on a church campus whether or not a guiding vision is operative, Does the landscaping look like it’s been left up to God to take care of? Does anyone greet me when I enter? Are staff members begging for volunteers? (I don’t mean recruiting-that goes on in organizations with vision. I mean begging, badgering, cajoling, guilting people into service.) Are lackluster or mediocre efforts expended on ushering, singing, custodial services, teaching, signage, and so on?”
How do your greeters, your signage and you singing speak to the vision of your parish? How you answer speaks to the level to which the folks in the pew chare a common sense of purpose.
Look again above at the photo above of the oak trees in Blakely. Imagine The Rev. Dr. Jimmy Lawrence carrying the seedlings on the train from Americus, where he served as the Rector of Calvary Church. He had to know that he would never sit under the massive limbs of the mature trees. Yet, he would have also known that the care he took with the trees and more importantly with the congregation would benefit generations yet unborn and would be of eternal significance.
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries
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