I’m writing this newsletter article from my lawn chair, sitting along the southern edge of the land we steward on a beautiful sunny fall day, with some of the trees around me displaying their reds and yellows along with remaining greens.
Several people with garden plots have stopped by to check on their plots and stopped by to say hi. What a treat it is to be able to be outside, appreciating God’s creation changing toward fall and winter rest and regeneration after a summer of production. Soon it will look as if nothing is happening, all has been put to bed, yet activity will be happening underground, in the dark, away from sight, but essential to next year’s gardening success. Sometimes God’s work can be seen in strikingly glorious expressions of creation, and sometimes God’s work is hidden nurturing the seeds of growth that won’t be seen for some time.
As we move toward six months since our congregation was forced out of our building by a drenching beyond prior imagination, I wouldn’t wonder if sometimes you feel discouraged or that “nothing” is being done to get us back to our more familiar surroundings and patterns of congregational life. We’ve learned that progress too often involves baby steps, made behind the scenes and more zigzagging than straightforward. We’ve learned that what seems to us to be taking a very long time is only “a short time” to the experts accompanying us.
We, as leaders, can’t always say what we want to. Part of your leaders’ caution is as we’ve been advised by counsel, so that we don’t complicate or slow down processes that must be played out in good order. Please know that there is nothing untoward in not hearing more now, and that often it’s because we’d have to say “we don’t know” at this particular liminal stage of waiting for direction from people exploring options for both restoration and receiving compensation for damages. It just takes time.
By the time of our annual meeting, Nov. 3, we will have a much clearer plan of action before us. I’ve asked the Architect and Structural Engineer if they would present to the congregation, and not just the Council. While they have not yet let me know if that is a possibility, being hard at work mapping out the road ahead, I hope that an informational forum with experts on hand, will happen toward the end of October in advance of our annual meeting. Their Phase One report is expected just past the middle of the month.
An uplifting and hopeful conversation prompted by our council’s youngest member’s observation that yes it was sad knowing our building is unusable now and being relocated to another congregation’s building, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still engage in ministry, connect with the wider community, or engage with one another beyond worship– have fun and, BE church. May the energy that percolated after Jenna shared wisdom we all need to reconnect with, will ripple out and across our congregation.
Now is the time for our collective creative energy to come together with that of the Holy Spirit – it would be a betrayal of all that God continues to provide through our faith community and neighbors who continue to offer support and encouragement (ask me about a visit to Riverview Bank and a couple of other recent conversations I’ve had with folks!) if we were to see ourselves as stalled and limited regarding how we live out the mission and ministry God calls us to, even now. Especially now.
As these Easter lilies surprised me by flowering just now in my garden plot, may our minds, hearts, and eyes be open to seeing signs of life and possibility that we might not expect in a season such as we are in. Remember, God is good! All the time, God is good. And God accompanies us every step we trod.
Pastor Jean
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