Posts tagged ‘church transitions’

It’s Really Happening

This is the view today from my office window.

This was the view from my office window when I posted about this in October. 

This garden area is ‘ground zero’ for our new worship center.  
It was the site of our groundbreaking two weeks ago.
And today, it is the place where demolition/construction is actually starting! Part of the landscaping is being moved to a new garden area, then the whole thing will be leveled to begin building the new structure.

Eventually my window, if it still exists at all, will look out into a new hallway/foyer area.

This is all very good and exciting.  The construction process is going to bring all kinds of adventures every week. It will forever change how we do what we do.  I’m not exaggerating.  

I’m still sad about losing the view. But it’s a great season to be here.

Breaking Ground.

It’s always a little daunting to realize you’re in the middle of a Truly Historic Moment. There’s the excitement and emotion of it. The celebration, or the silence, that might be built around it. There’s the weight of history pushing This Moment toward the future, telling How it Will Change Everything.

Then, the moment passes and you walk away and you fumble to find your keys, or you stub your toe, or you can’t decide what to have for lunch and you realize that everything hasn’t changed. You realize a Moment is still only a moment. What really matters is the collection of people and moments that made this one possible, and the people that are committing to fill this thing, this landmark, with significance in the future. And for you, change comes if you decide to be a part of this new commitment, this new thing that might be done.

On February 22, our church had A Moment:  the groundbreaking for a new worship center. For this church, this is a sizable physical step that represents an even larger journey of spiritual growth and transformation. So it’s a good thing.

We chose to hold a short 10 minute ceremony at the end of each of our three worship services so that the most people possible could participate. It was a simple ceremony, but it was joyful, sincere, and it reminded us that we are God’s church committed to carrying out his mission in our community.

This moment was very very real.  But the commitment is about transforming lives.

all images by Justin Cary Photography

(Read more about our church’s decision to build.)

(View more pictures)

Reflection 09.07.08: the campaign

This weekend, we kicked off our building campaign.  To read about the weekend worship services, click here.

A Review:
Twenty years ago, this congregation took a huge leap of faith, bought a piece of land waaaay out of town in the middle of nowhere, and built the current building with the express goal of reaching out to the community that would be moving in that geographical direction.  The area around the church has now fully developed, and we find ourselves on one of the main streets of our region of Wichita.  The building features a multi-purpose room, which is where we now worship on Sundays… and play basketball during the week… and where pre-school parent orientation is held… and movie nights… and kids ministry games… etc.  I love that our building gets used so completely and so creatively.  

However, for those who were a part of that original building vision, there has always been a promise of building a dedicated worship center.  Our current worship space is nearly full every week, and the addition of a large meeting space would relieve several space issues. We come to this point as a healthy, growing, vibrant church family.  So a 780ish seat worship center has been drawn up, and we are moving toward a ground-breaking in early 2009 (hopefully).

The Harvest Project:
While we are not a rural church, and we do not have a large population of farmers in our church, we ARE still in the middle of Kansas. Wheat harvest IS a part of local news every summer, and many people in our congregation grew up in farm communities.  Thus the branding for the financial campaign for our new worship center: ‘The Harvest Project’.  This project.. this campaign.. the ideas of sacrifice and stewardship and prayer… these things will be what we talk about over the next few weeks.

Given this theme, a team of creative people went to great lengths to let people know that Something New is Happening this past weekend.   Banners ….  German dinner rolls (yummy… from Mennonite Brethren cultural history)… kids planting wheat seeds… a lawn ornament: 

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In the previous post, I wrote about what I’ve learned over the years about God’s opinion of the church.  It bears repeating, as I do not believe we are a church just asking for money, or finding cute themes around which to gather.

One of the most simultaneously confusing and exhilarating things I’ve experienced during my years on a church staff is the resiliency and holiness of God’s church.  The Church, made up of imperfect people doing things imperfectly.  The Church, responsible for some of the most amazing and some of the most horrifying events in history.  Yet, The Church that God continually redeems and chooses to work in and through to bring light in the darkness.  When God’s presence is obvious within a church, it is truly awe-some. With the memory of some rough moments in our history, this church is recognizing God’s activity as a blessing, a miracle, a vision to be followed without hesitation.  This is not about the building.  This is about what God is stirring up in us to be and do.