By now a good number of you have heard various presentations or been a part of conversations about Phase II.  Many have been involved with taking our master plan from years back and checking it’s relevance for today, learning from our Phase I successes and mishaps, assessing our growth and present needs and imagining what is ahead, and working with a builder and architect to get an accurate picture of the scope of the project and cost, and making presentations to various groups in the church. 

All this has given me joy, but not as much as simply knowing we are at a place of dynamic consideration.  You do not get to a place like this, where you start considering making a large investment, expanding the facility, and dedicating time, energy and cash, without a fair measure of restlessness. 

Something compels us to look at our present ministry and recognize we are not all that we could be.  There is much here that is good.  There is a healthy amount of energy in the areas of worship, education, care giving, and outreach.  But by the Spirit’s prompting we’re sensing there is more in store for us.  We have not hit our stride and it’s time to go deeper, push ourselves a bit more, and see what God has in store.  In other words, Phase II is not the answer to our problems.  Phase II is not our attempt to build a fortress or further an institution.  Phase II is not a product simply offered to consumers without requiring much from us.  Phase II is also not a done deal. 

The congregation on June 28 will need to vote whether or not to move forward with this project.  If you are in agreement, then more detailed drawings will be drafted all within the cost agreed upon by Session.  The scope will not increase, nor will the cost.  We have learned from the past.  But, if we move forward, we move forward with commitment.  That commitment will take various forms.  Financial gifts will be requested in September, but most importantly, your spiritual investment will be needed. 

It does not do any good to build a facility if we’re not prepared to put it to use for the Kingdom of God.  Therefore, if we move ahead, we do so with gratitude for our firm foundation and with vision that God will inspire us toward greater devotion and engagement with each other and the world.  We build classes so more people can grow in their knowledge and love of God and be equipped for ministry.  We create fellowship space knowing that the Spirit is alive in the people assembled.  In that assembly we are challenged, cared for, encouraged and infused with the joy of knowing that we belong.  We also build so that the community groups might continue to move in and out of our facility experiencing our hospitality.

We are in the season of Pentecost.  My prayer for us follows the ancient prayer of the church:

O Lord, uphold us by your Holy Spirit.

Give us the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might,

the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord,

the spirit of joy in your presence,

both now and forever.  Amen.

Tom