If you were in church this past Sunday you noticed an addition to our space: the scaffolding has moved inside. These additions proved to bring their own unique challenges to the worship -- some parishioners' favorite pews, mine included, were made inaccessible. Standing in the Narthex before the opening procession I observed the choir amusingly and somewhat chaotically clumping together outside the sanctuary, unsure of where to stand with their normal space behind the last row of pews no longer accessible. Our usher team engaged in last minute discussions about how routes to take up the collection would have to be altered. 

 

As Trinity's Minister of Welcome and Growth I approach each Sunday through the lens of making our worship and community welcoming to newcomers. Part of that is the work that so many of you do effortlessly --approaching people you don't recognize at coffee hour, introducing yourself, listening to their stories, and offering ways that they might feel at home at Trinity. Yet the physical space also plays a role in welcome, and it must be said that the proliferation of scaffolding, both outside and inside, can make Trinity seem a less welcoming environment than it otherwise might be. 

 

But the scaffolding covering the pews is there to facilitate the restoration of two La Farge murals: Jesus and Nicodemus at Night and Jesus and the Woman of Samaria at the Well. If you enter the sanctuary from the central doors in the Narthex the first thing you see is our magnificent cross -- one of the central images of our faith. But turn to the right or left and the first thing you see would be these murals. Or you could see them; since they have been so faded I have never really been able to take them in during my four years at Trinity, though I have tried on several occasions. I imagine many of you have had the same experience. 

 

Yet these murals depict two of the most wonderful stories of welcome in the Gospels. Jesus stays up late to speak with Nicodemus in the middle of the night because he is afraid to be seen with Jesus. And Jesus sits with the Samaritan woman by the well in the middle of the blazing sun, carrying on one of the lengthiest conversations in the Gospels with a woman any other Jew would be hesitant to exchange even a few words with.

 

I look forward to seeing these murals in all their splendor come the end of August. I imagine that someone walking into Trinity the first time will turn their heads, see these images, marvel at their beauty, and be drawn further inside. But in the meantime, don't stop your good work at coffee hour!  The beautiful art of our Sanctuary may draw people in, but it's a welcoming community that will make them come back.

Holy Eucharist 

7:45 a.m., 10 a.m., 6 p.m.