Dear Friends,
Last week, I watched one of our littles in our PrayGround. She would take a book from the bookshelf, sit and read to herself and then put it back. Then she’d take another book, read to herself and put it back. She kept this pattern up for a fair amount of time (for a toddler) and I was quite impressed with how she was caring for herself and our space. She was living out every parent or care givers dream – one thing is put back in its place before another one comes out…
As you can imagine – tons of thoughts went through my head. First, how cute is that? She was reading to herself even thought she can’t read but knows when we look at books, our mouths move – so darling! Second, oh how I hope the other kids and parishioners are watching her and learning from her witness – clean up after yourself and take care of our precious space. Oh and then... then I remembered all the times I had my own boys in church and at events and wondered if I encouraged them enough to clean up and take care of their church spaces? I also thought about if and how Jeremy and I were encouraged to take care of the churches we attended. How did the different ministers encourage us to be good stewards of our space?
I am sad to say, I remember tons of sermons on the stewardship of giving and tithing but not on caring for the physical space of the building and grounds. It must have been assumed that we would all care for our space. I often served in bigger parishes that had staff support and were persnickety about how things got done and how and where things were put away. We had set aside workdays to clean and organize space. The day-to-day cleaning was done by the rector, the staff, and the custodians. I'm sure the reminders were there... but I don't recall any of our churches welcoming and encouraging us to care for the church space as if it were our very own home.
I can’t help but think there may be a ministry opportunity in empowering each other to clean up and care for our space as if it was your own. Because, well, St. Nick’s is our church - our church home. Ours… us… we… young and old and every age in between - it belongs to all of us. What an incredible gift we can give one another by letting our church space be our church home. A place where we all care for it and cultivate it so it may be a blessed sanctuary where all are welcome.
What a joyous experience as we begin our Lenten journey. This little toddler angel is reminding us that we are all custodians and stewards of our church. And anyone, of any age can care for it.
All ages are welcome to come this Saturday, March 4th to our workday that begins at 8am and ends at noon. We will wash windows, finish picking up tree branches, organize the dry storage room, organize the vault, pick up trash and pull weeds in the yard as we ready our space for Holy Week and Easter. In addition we will begin to work on the offices in the back of the building and begin the clean out of our garage. And if you can’t make it Saturday, you can help anytime you come. You can help move chairs and tables at Dinner Church, pick-up trash, or sweep the floor. You can help our littles put books away in the PrayGround or organize the art supplies at the tables.
Do anything and everything with the knowledge that St. Nick’s is your church. This is your home. Your sanctuary where you join in with one another - the body of Christ - to make the world a little bit lovelier, holy , and sacred.
Eternal God, bless our church, that we may be a home for all in need of Your love, acceptance, and grace. Grant us the wisdom and energy to care for our physical space as we care for our spiritual life in You. Let all of our physical and spiritual devotion and service bless and glorify You. All this we ask in Christ’s Holy Name. Amen.
God’s Peace, Love, and Blessings,
Beth+
