This summer I was invited to preach at the Lee Church Congregational, a congregation of the United Church of Christ in the New Hampshire Conference. That was a very special day, as we met in the church's fellowship hall for worship. We worshipped in that space because something new was happening in Lee: the sanctuary was being renovated. The fellowship hall was a bright, inviting space for the Sunday morning service. A different kind work--a labor of great love and deep devotion--was happening in the regular worship space.
Following worship, I was taken on a tour of the sanctuary. It had been stripped back to the studs. The attic was exposed. It was amazing to perceive the old in the midst of the new that was emerging. Other hearts had sensed the stirring of God's Spirit. Other hands had generously given. Other bodies had labored long to make that sanctuary a reality. And now, in our own time, Pastor Gail Kindberg and the congregation that is Lee Church Congregational are joining that work in a very special, even sacred way. They are building for the future, building in faith, hope, and love on the foundational work of those who have gone before. Theirs is an act of devotion and love. They will leave a beautiful worship space for the generations that will come to call this sanctuary home. A refrain in a recent article by the Pastor rings with joyful gratitude, "We are richly blessed."
As I write today, I note that the congregation will move into the renovated sanctuary for a first service on October 27. If you seek a sanctuary and a community of Christ's people, where God's Spirit stirs hearts and minds, where resurrection hope is real--here's one! The New Hampshire Conference of the United Church of Christ is also "richly blessed" by the loving devotion of our local churches and the courage and compassion with which they serve God in our time.
A text springs to mind in the midst of my gratitude:
Following worship, I was taken on a tour of the sanctuary. It had been stripped back to the studs. The attic was exposed. It was amazing to perceive the old in the midst of the new that was emerging. Other hearts had sensed the stirring of God's Spirit. Other hands had generously given. Other bodies had labored long to make that sanctuary a reality. And now, in our own time, Pastor Gail Kindberg and the congregation that is Lee Church Congregational are joining that work in a very special, even sacred way. They are building for the future, building in faith, hope, and love on the foundational work of those who have gone before. Theirs is an act of devotion and love. They will leave a beautiful worship space for the generations that will come to call this sanctuary home. A refrain in a recent article by the Pastor rings with joyful gratitude, "We are richly blessed."
As I write today, I note that the congregation will move into the renovated sanctuary for a first service on October 27. If you seek a sanctuary and a community of Christ's people, where God's Spirit stirs hearts and minds, where resurrection hope is real--here's one! The New Hampshire Conference of the United Church of Christ is also "richly blessed" by the loving devotion of our local churches and the courage and compassion with which they serve God in our time.
A text springs to mind in the midst of my gratitude:
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him, the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God. (Ephesians 2:219-22, NRSV)
