By Father Casey
By my reckoning, it’s been nine months since we moved out of the Nave and into Roper Hall. And while that’s two months longer than we originally expected, there is something fitting about a nine month wait. It’s a good long while, long enough for something wonderful to take shape, but not so long that you give up thinking it will ever arrive. This weekend, we will finally celebrate the “baby” we’ve been patiently anticipating, the one so many of us have generously provided for, and we’ll move back into our lovingly renovated church.
In case you somehow missed it, the service this Sunday is at 10:00am, in addition to our regular Saturday service at 5:30pm. If you’re planning to attend on Sunday, you might consider arriving a bit early. I have a hunch it’s going to feel like Easter Day, with lots of energy, people, and cars – at least, I hope it feels that way! That’s up to all of you.
We don’t get opportunities like this very often; in fact, we’ve only celebrated such an occasion a handful of times in our church’s 69 year history: when the original A-frame church was dedicated in 1961; when our current church was dedicated in 1970; and when the Gathering Space and Tower Cloister were added in 1997. Moments like this weekend are rare, so savor it. Bring all your love, hope, and prayers and help us sanctify our church for the generations to come.
I don’t know about you, but I can feel the difference between a place that is hallowed by prayer, and one that is simply pretty. I still remember the first time Melody and I stepped inside our Nave (from the gallery!), and the palpable sense of holiness. There was a serenity, and also an energy, that helped me know God was near. In the last year, we’ve done a great thing in caring for this place, preserving its beauty and enhancing its functionality, but the spirit of our building depends on the hearts of the people inside it. So I hope, when you arrive this weekend, you’ll take time to pray with all your might that the veil between our church and the kingdom of God will be thin, and the light that radiated from the transfigured Christ will shine on all who enter.
And lest we lose track of time in the midst of all this hubbub, don’t forget the season that arrives next week. After the joy of this Sunday, after the herculean effort to get things ready, after all the Alleluias we can muster have been sung, we’ll turn the page on the church calendar, veil the triptych, and begin another Lent. There will be some whiplash between Sunday and Wednesday, but it’s the good kind, for the season we will soon begin is a precious gift to followers of Christ. So get your ash to church this Wednesday!
I am filled with gratitude for all of you, and I can’t wait to see you this weekend. Glory to God whose power, working in us, has done infinitely more than we could ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen!
Fr. Casey