Dear Grace Covenant Community,
|
|
The Psalmist sung of trust in God’s steadfast love “forever and ever.” (Psalm 52) And we are invited with each breath we take to trust God’s grounding, all encompassing, unfailing love. God love defines us as people of faith. Our entire approach to life flows out of our experience of being loved with such unfathomable generosity.
This trust defines our lives. And this trust defines our deaths. “In life and in death we belong to God.” (
Brief Statement of Faith,
PCUSA)
In 1994, a few faithful members of Grace Covenant came together in a common yearning for a sacred space to experience God’s unfailing and mysterious love and trust. These faithful few believed that in the liminality of life and death, believers are invited to give ourselves to God. Trusting in God’s providential care in life and in death, these members of our community caught a vision of what would become our beautiful Memorial Garden.
|
|
Attentiveness and trust went into every detail of the Garden. The warmth of the bricks, the rounded and enclosed feeling of being held in God’s embrace, the seasonal colors of the plantings, the soothing sound of gentle, flowing water, and ethereal chimes. The Garden was envisioned as a place to inter the remains of loved ones and to be still in God’s presence as we remember, as we mourn, as we give thanks, and as we rest in God’s mysterious presence.
All these years later, the Memorial Garden has only deepened and expanded its capacity to give us a space to feel God’s presence. The remains of many great saints of this church and the larger community rest in the Garden’s peacefulness. The loving hands of Grace Covenant members tend to the Garden’s plantings. And any given moment you can enter the Garden and immediately feel a deep peace and comfort wash over you. You may find a rabbit napping under the Red Maple tree. You may watch song birds move from branch to branch, and forage in the brush. You may encounter an unfamiliar face who is experiencing the grace of a space where they can cry and remember or just be still.
|
|
In the last two years, the Memorial Garden has undergone some considerable changes. Drainage issues and the renovations to the Fellowship Hall meant that there was extensive excavation in the Garden. The beautiful original metal fountain transitioned into a sculpture, and the Garden welcomed a new stone fountain given a more central location. New plantings, new stones, and new signage welcome you there to just be for a while.
All of these changes were made possible by generous donations from many who call Grace Covenant home. In addition to the changes in the Memorial Garden, generous donations also made it possible for the upstairs overlook to be transformed into an indoor meditation space looking out over the Memorial Garden. And the generosity of this congregation also enabled renovation of the Administrative Building, allowing the room looking out into the Memorial Garden on the first floor to become “The Garden Room,” a meeting space for Bible Study, bereaved families, eager bridal parties, church meetings, and pastoral conversations.
|
|
I hope you will join me and the Memorial Garden Committee (Penny Ponder, Anne Callison Stokely, Denise Snodgrass, Cecil Jividen, Kelley Griffith, Roger Meade, and John Legerton) for a brief time of remembering, rededicating, and celebrating the gift of God’s unending, unfailing steadfast love. This Sunday, September 29, after the 10:45am worship service, we will come together to bless this sacred space in our midst once again. Members of the Committee will be in the Memorial Garden, the Overlook, and in the Garden Room to answer any questions you might have about the Garden immediately following the rededication.
I look forward to celebrating God’s steadfast love with you on Sunday!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
