With God's Hope~Our Journey Continues...

I have a confession to make. During these past months, I have watched the construction of our new sanctuary from afar. It’s not that I’m not interested; it’s rather that Pastor Del has skills and understanding to be the “hands-on” person, while I’ve tried to focus my energy on helping maintain some of the other aspects of our life and ministry together. I’ve told myself that it doesn’t make sense for both of us to be consumed by the many demands and details of the building project, and certainly this is true. But when I’m honest with myself, the plain truth is that this whole endeavor overwhelms me a bit. OK, it overwhelms me a lot. And some days, I wonder … is this truly what we’ve been called to do?

At the recent Rocky Mountain Synod summit on Ending Hunger Now, attended by about a dozen Atonement members, I felt further conflicted, asking myself whether our commitment to construct this new worship space might not interfere with the pressing need to be a people engaged in the very real ministry of serving the poor in our community and world.

And then I drove by our new, still arising building once again, and it all came together for me. There, right along Yale Ave, is a building that is clearly sacred space. It is a place for people to gather, to be spiritually fed and nurtured. It is a place for people to share their joys and sorrows as the people of God. Truly it is a place for people to live in God’s love.

Yet equally important, this new space is a center for mission and ministry. This beautiful sacred space is a place where people will be empowered and equipped to more effectively reach out in hope. To me, these two related aspects of our identity come together right there in that construction site. When I look at this new worship space, what I see is a launching pad, sending us back into the world to embody the gospel of grace, love, mercy and hope in our words and in our deeds!

One of the gifts of this time of construction is that is compels us to be under construction, too. As a community of faith, we are forced to wrestle with our priorities and our sense of call. We have no choice but to clarify the understanding of our mission together. It’s not easy to be under construction – but the results can be truly remarkable! Just look at what we are able to do this year through our proposed benevolence gifts to Cristo Rey in El Paso and to the Urban Servants Corps! These are aspects of our outreach that would never have happened if we weren’t under construction!

During this month of October, even as we continue to watch the daily progress of this new space that will soon become our church home, we also turn our eyes outward to a world in need by focusing on the theme of Hunger and Hope. There will be many opportunities for us to engage this theme, and as we do so, it will remind us why we have responded to the challenge to build a new sanctuary to begin with: we are a people eager to invite others into the amazing experience of God’s grace, so that together we might bear the healing and hope of Christ to all.

What a great thing it is to be under construction!

The huge laminated beams weighing 13,000 pounds each are hanging in the ceiling of our new sanctuary! They are beautiful and were hung by a skillful crane operator and several other workers. The walls are up and the brick layers are working hard. The fifth draw of our loan is being applied for, which places us over $800,000 in debt and that is half-way through the building project for expenses. We have had $30,000 in change orders and will have a few more. It is exciting to see all of this happening. Watch for the slide show of our construction in the narthex on Sunday mornings. Eighty percent of “The God’s Hope ~ Our Journey” money that was pledged has been given to date. An accounting of what has been spent was given at the Congregational Meeting on September 24.

One year from this coming Thanksgiving will complete the three year capitol campaign for this vision and we will need to begin planning for another campaign to help reduce our debt payments and possibly finish the basement. Yes, it is scary and challenging at the same time. Please continue to pray for Mr. Robert Saas our Architect, Mr. Tony Miller our Contractor, Mr. John Quade our Superintendent and all the other workers who are helping build our new sanctuary home.