Two Become One

My apologies for being a day late with the Northminster Notes. Yesterday was a busy day and every time I sat down to write you all my weekly letter, something else would pop up and I would need to attend to it.
 
When I get to the Northminster building in the mornings, I typically have a routine of sorts: Unlock and lock the east door, unlock my office, flip on the lights, set my bag of things down, turn on my computer, hang up my coat, make myself a cup of tea, log into the computer, check my email, and lay out in my calendar what I am to accomplish that day. I don’t always do things in exactly this order, but this is more or less how things go most morning. But this morning I took the scenic route to my morning routine. Yes, I unlocked doors, turned lights on, and set my stuff down but I left my computer off. I grabbed my holiday Christmas mugs and dropped my favorite cozy tea in it (Harney and Son’s Hot Cinnamon Spice tea for anyone who was wondering. I sound like an internet influencer right now, but seriously… if you want a cozy hug in a mug, it is amazing.)
 
Mug and tea in hand, I strolled down to the kitchenette to brew the tea. I love the hot water tap, but this tea also needs a little extra heat to brew right. So, I popped it in the microwave for a minute. In that minute, I reflected on all the work that has been done and what is still left to do. And my thoughts came to me last night when Session met and voted to approved the lease agreement with the Congregational Church of Birmingham. While we call it a lease, it is written up as a Revocable Licensing Agreement. This is the same language we have with the Discovery Corner Academy and Troy People Concerned. A Revocable License implies shared use of the space rather that a Lease agreement that implies sole usage of the space.
 
I know that some folks were hoping that this agreement would be a voting matter at our last congregational meeting, but I cross-checked it with the Book of Order and by G-3.0201 (c), managing the physical property of the congregation is explicitly the duty of the Session and by G-1.0504, many topics are listed as being appropriate matters for a congregational meeting, including sale or mortgaging of property or creating a “joint congregational witness,” but finalizing a lease/licensing arrangement was not included. As such, the Session acting in its designated roll and approved this arrangement. If you would like to discuss this and their rational with Session members, they will be listed below.
 
The Hot Cinnamon Spice tea is, in my opinion, best when you completely boil the water before pouring it over the tea bag. The tea is a combination of black tea (but there is an herbal version), cinnamon, clove, and orange peel. While there is no added sugar, if you fully boil the water, the orange peel will release a small amount of sugar to the tea and add a slight sweetness that balances the spicy cinnamon. The downside to this method of brewing is that you also have to wait until it cools down to drink it. So, I began meandering around the building waiting for my tea to cool. I found myself sitting in the Sanctuary.
 
Yesterday, the Congregational Church of Birmingham began their move, bringing their essential items to our building. As I peered around the sanctuary, I was amazed at how some of their things fit in our space. Their Baptismal Font is made from a similar wood as is the wood of our sanctuary. It is a similar mid-century design and fits perfectly on the left side of the chancel. They also brought a driftwood Jesus statue with them that fits perfectly in with the greenery in the corner opposite the choir. Yes, we had to shift a few things around and we had to find a best-of-all-options location for a few items, but I felt like there was a sense of cozy harmony in the room: the things added made sense and it still felt like Northminster’s sanctuary.
 
I sat in the sanctuary for a good long time just looking around. As it turns out, cold rooms are great for cooling off tea and I was able to take a drink and feel the warm tea radiate through me. I spent that time talking to God, praying your you all, the community that uses this space to find community and connection with God. I prayed for our future and for the future of the church. I lifted up the struggles I know about in the community and those that I didn’t.
 
Slowly I found stillness in that room and my eyes and heart came to rest on the woven cross tapestry that hangs in the front of the chancel. Many times, I have been told the story about that tapestry: it was made during a Presbyterian Women’s even at First Presbyterian Church of Warren. Many different types of material in many different colors were carefully woven together to make the piece. If you are up close, all you see it the checkered weaving of the cloth. But when you stand back and look from a distance, you can see the cross appear out of undulating colors and fabric. The tapestry is not ours, but it is permanently in our care.
And like an answered prayer, I felt a small voice inside me say, “this is what we are doing.”
 
I try to be very intentional with my words when I write these letters to you all and when I preach. Since we don’t speak in upper and lower case, when I talk about the local church, I try to use the word congregation to refer to the local community of people. That is because the Church (notice the upper-case C) is the Church Universal, the Church of Jesus Christ, the whole gathering of God’s people. The congregation and its mission is but a piece of the Church and Church’s mission. We are one piece of very-colorful fabric woven into the tapestry of the Church. This one stripe of fabric cannot make the image of the cross by itself, we have to be woven together with the other congregations to make the Church Universal. We are not the Church by ourselves, but tasked with caring for this segment of the Church and our mission gets woven into the wider mission of the Church. We don’t own the Church; we are stewards of this piece of the Church.
 
As we go forward with our relationship with the Congregational Church of Birmingham, we are weaving our stories together. We are two congregations, but we are a part of one Church. Our mission and ministry have brought us together for a time, but we will have to listen and discern where God is leading us as we step out in faith. Practically, we are also weaving together our worship spaces, our offices, our calendars, and our relationships. With any luck, this weaving will make our part of the Church’s tapestry stronger.
 
With gratitude,
Pastor Chris