Written by Julie Long, Interim Director of Staff and Congregational Life 

Last Saturday, about 35 members of our church participated in a church-wide cleanout day as we began the process of clearing out the Washington Avenue building.  As you likely remember, we closed this building back in October at the recommendation of our Facilities Master Plan Committee so that we can see what impact its closure has on our operations.  As we consider other possibilities for that space, we are moving needed items to new places, throwing away what’s broken or unusable, and offering up things we no longer need in a yard sale later this spring.

As the group gathered and worked on Saturday, we had a good time together. We shared cinnamon rolls and donuts and good stories and lots of laughter. One of our children delighted in finding old cassette tapes and a tape recorder and learning how to record over forty-year-old worship services with his own voice.  Happy memories were shared about items that were found and how they had been once used.  We had fun!

Yet a wide range of feelings emerged and were voiced along the way: the grief of emptying out and shutting the doors on spaces filled with memories; disappointment that as a church, we are at the place where we no longer need these vast spaces; anger that things had not been cared for properly; joy in finding long-forgotten treasures; excitement around imagining new possibilities; fear about the challenges that sharing space with new partners may bring; hesitation around letting go of too much that we may need or want again someday.

I, too, have felt every one of those feelings, some at the same time. We can and do feel multiple things all at once.  Excitement and fear.  Empathy and anger.  Grief and gratitude.

This Sunday (March 3), the second in our series of congregational conversations will focus on where we presently find ourselves as a congregation.  Together, we will name our current realities, including the challenges we face as well as our assets, opportunities, and hopes. As a congregation, we can feel and are feeling lots of different ways at the same time. That’s okay. We can hold all of that together.

Let’s enter (continue) these conversations with an awareness that others may be coming to the table from a different place than we are. Let’s be intentional about listening to one another with openness and respect, seeking to understand and honoring each other’s experiences and perspectives. There is room here for all the feelings, all the stories, all the ideas, all the unique and beloved people that make this place home.

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