Worship
About worship in the fellowship hall
There were a few concerns raised about the decision to worship in the fellowship hall during the months of July, August and September. Here's an attempt to address some of them:
- Making fuller (not less) use of the sanctuary is the goal.
The reason we are worshiping in the fellowship hall for three months boils down to this: seating arrangement.
That's it.
Granted, when we think about worship, we think about singing, praying, preaching, reading Scripture. And we should! The seating arrangement matters only in its ability to enhance our experience of those things. We worship in a sanctuary whose seating arrangement was designed for a congregation five times our size. It's a bit like a little leaguer playing baseball in a major league player's uniform. Can she play in that uniform? Sure. Can she play her best in it?
The fellowship hall provides us with an opportunity to arrange the space according to our size and needs. It may be that we find that this really has little impact on our experience of worship. It may also be that the impact is significant. If it's the latter, then we might want to consider making changes so that we can experience the benefits of tailor-fit seating arrangement in the sanctuary.
How we might do that is another question-- one that will take time to answer. Certainly longer than three months. But those three months do offer a shared experience to draw on as we continue the conversation. Again, it is not about whether we love our sanctuary. We do. It is about how to make the most out of the sanctuary we love.
- Livestreaming
Rick is confident that we will be able to continue offering a livestream of our services while we're in the fellowship hall. (It's so good to have you, Rick!)
- Communion
It, of course, makes sense that we want to have communion in the sanctuary! It is a lovely setting for that sacrament! However, we want to learn as much from our time in the fellowship hall as we can. What's the impact of the fellowship hall's seating arrangement on our celebration of communion? Let's find out!
- Availability of the Sanctuary
We will make the sanctuary available on Sundays for those who are interested in it for prayer and meditation after the service.