Church, it has been and continues to be a wild ride here at St. Luke’s. You would have thought that a global pandemic would be enough, but just as we start to see the light at the end of that tunnel, what we as the staff are referring to now as “The Great Flood” threw us for yet another loop just two short weeks ago.
(In case you missed it … here’s a little footage of what we experienced over a 36+ hour period in the welcome hall, in addition to multiple days the following week as it continued to rain …)
But as so many of you have said, St. Luke’s always finds a way. We are so grateful for all your flexibility as we navigate next steps in assessing the damage and looking toward reconstruction of the Building C Welcome Hall. This week, what we knew was likely to be coming, knowing how much water had pooled in the ceilings, finally reared its ugly head: mold.
For this reason, and the fact that we are still unsure of our timeline in rebuilding that gathering space, we have made the decision to keep all worship in the Sanctuary through the rest of this year with our adapted service times of 9:15 for Contemporary Worship and 11:00 for Traditional Worship.
This will allow us to be the best stewards our staff, volunteer and facility resources until we can further assess a timeline for the Welcome Hall to serve Founder’s Hall for worship services and other events in 2022.
We are continuing to be taken on the journey of recognizing that the church is not a building that we began together in March 2020. And we are continuing that journey to learn that the church is not a worship venue, or worship time, or worship style even. The church is us, a community, who have chosen to LEARN, LIVE, LOVE and LEAD our lives together.
The fact that we make this decision going into this particular week in our worship series is poignant as well. This Sunday, we’re going to talk about what it means to LOVE God in worship. So often we are focused in worship on OUR preferences – like venue, time, or music style. And yet, worship isn’t about any of those things. In fact, it’s not about us at all.
So if you’re in a place where some of the flux we are continuing to live in is challenging you – if you’re finding yourself frustrated because your “cheese” is being moved, whether from venue or time or style – I want to extend a special invitation and encouragement to join us Sunday either in person or online as we dig deep to look at what worship is really about, why we come together as a community in worship, and how God is continuing to call us to be the kind of community that is focused on what’s most important.