Thank you to everyone who’s efforts yielded such a successful and meaningful Stewardship Season! Special thanks to our Stewardship Committee: Ellen Schmeding, Richard Doering, Richard Nielsen, Elaine Lauger and John Smart. Thanks also to Gail Bennet, Sandie Boelter and Betty Wells who told wonderful, heartfelt stories of times when they have encountered God. Lastly, thank you to Pat Hendrickson, Scott Walls, Solveig Fuentes and Carol Schultz (our outside facilitator) who worked to ensure a successful congregational forum to kickstart a congregational conversation about remodeling the Sanctuary. I hope that this time has left you inspired to live your lives in response to the goodness of God in your lives!
I want to spend the rest of my letter focused on the Sanctuary Remodel Forum that we had on October 13th.
When I was in the interview process with St. Peter’s in 2020, it was in the paperwork that I received from the congregation that the congregational had discerned the need to remodel the sanctuary as phase 2 of the remodel that was completed on the fellowship hall in 2014. This past year, the council has considered picking up the baton left by our predecessors at St. Peter’s.
This is not simply a time for upgrades. It is a time for vision. To remodel the sanctuary is to remodel the place where we do our most fundamental work - worshipping together the God we know in Christ through inspiration of the Holy Spirit. To do this remodel well, we need to be crystal clear about our non-negotiable values and what we want our space to DO for us and for all who encounter it!
At our congregational forum on Oct. 13th, Carol Schultz, an organizational coach and ELCA Lutheran, who worships at Christ Lutheran in Pacific Beach, gathered us around two questions which got at our values as a congregation:
- Think of a place where you have had an encounter with God or felt connected to God. What were the characteristics of that place?
People responded with the following: Nature! NATURE! NATURE! Light! LIGHT! LIGHT! Natural Light! Space that had particular sensitivity to human senses - good acoustics, beautiful color, and the chance to see one another. Music! Peacefulness and fresh air.
These are some of the things that have led our members to feel that they are in the presence of God. How do they square with the sanctuary that we presently have?
2. What part of worship, if it were missing, would leave you feeling like worship wasn’t worship?
People responded resoundingly COMMUNION!! MUSIC!! WELCOMING COMMUNITY! Sharing the Peace, Streaming, the Sermon, a chance to hear one another’s prayers, silence, scripture, tradition, the sending blessing, and being together with God.
What would it look like to create a space that tells the wider world that this is what we’re doing inside our walls?
So what’s next?
The council and I will appoint a Remodel Steering Committee who will continue this work, creating more opportunities for conversation and input. We are just at the beginning of this work. Be on the lookout for future opportunities to share your wisdom and dreams for this space!
Lastly, it was such a JOYFUL thing to gather with you all to begin this work. I was struck by how well the group worked together and how much consensus and excitement there was in the room. Thank you for the way you showed up!
Peace,
Pastor Bekki