On Building Cathedrals

One day, I hope to visit a grand European cathedral—one of those that take one’s breath away upon entering. Those architects and church leaders had vision, to say the least! From what I understand, those leaders wished to build structures that somehow reflected God’s majesty, communicated God’s central story, and shaped the people within, as well as the communities in which the cathedrals played central roles.

Those visionary leaders thought that good cathedrals must be huge, awe-inspiring edifices; and that building anything less would be dishonoring to God. Most often, they made the floor plan to follow the shape of the cross, since the cross is the symbol of the Bible’s central story. Emphasizing that story in the building overrode questions of acoustics and overall functionality. Those leaders knew instinctively what Winston Churchill said hundreds of years later: “We shape our buildings, and thereafter they shape us.”

Once those leaders decided upon a plan, they faced a reality that hardly any architect or church leader faces today: almost none ever saw the finished building! The average length of time to build a great cathedral? Eighty years! Incredibly, The Cologne Cathedral in Germany took 640 years to complete!

I cannot imagine beginning a church building project that I knew I would see to completing, or that my children or even grandchildren might not see finished! Yet, those architects, priests, church people and craftsmen, knew that such a grand vision of what a church building could be would take time. All had a sense that they were not building a church structure for themselves, but for God and for others that they may never meet.

In some ways, those leaders and their cathedrals were very successful: many are still standing and communicating the awesomeness of God hundreds of years later. And yet . . . most of those cathedrals are no longer thriving communities of worship, but are considered novelties of a day long past, drawing many more tourists than worshippers.

Many of you know the irony that I left my former church thinking that I was starting a ministry that would not even have a building (I had led that church in a successful, but stressful, building project). And here I am, leading a congregation that has been in some phase of a building project for almost all of its existence--over 7 years if one counts two years of study and fundraising before we made the purchase!

From the beginning, none of us had illusions about building a cathedral-like church; we wanted any place under our stewarded to be one that was multi-functional, well-used, and most importantly, communicated the compassion of Christ. While the cathedral builders wanted to communicate the compassion of Christ by shaping the cathedral like a cross, we wanted to shape our building and campus to very tangibly communicate Christ’s love: by being a place that blessed that the community, one that somehow addressed the real hurts of this world.

Yes, the process has taken more time, money, sweat and tears than we ever imagined. However, we are near the end. By God’s grace, the main building renovations will be complete by summer. Thankfully, and with great praise due to God, our building has been communicating the compassion of Christ to the community for several years, with each year bring more depth, breadth, and detail of how that compassion is being shown to the community by the way we have shaped our building. As a result, I believe we are becoming more compassionate and sensitive to the needs around us—and more effective at meeting those needs in wise ways.

In our “must-have-it-all-now” culture, it’s been easy for us to have moments of frustration. I know I have had many such moments (periods, actually!) However, God has been faithful and I anticipate some very exciting and inspiring developments in 2012. 

The Continuing Experiment

As a young church we have experienced a lot of firsts, such as our first baptism, our first series of Advent dinners, our first worship service in our new facility—to name a few. This annual report is one of those firsts, as all Presbyterian churches are expected to report to their members what went on in the life of their churches the previous year. The challenges are how one sorts through all the happenings, how one then decides what should be mentioned, and then how one makes sense of it all.

From the beginning, Common Ground was meant to be unique—almost experimental. When the leaders of our Presbytery started thinking about a new ministry effort over a decade ago, they recognized that churches in America, as a whole, were dwindling both in numbers and impact, and that to continue doing church the same old way would not faithfully address the profound cultural shifts taking place. So, they called Nancy and me to start a new community of faith that would be very mission oriented.

Early on, we sought to explore new and relevant ways to share our faith and experience worship. We would do this through having a “casual” worship atmosphere, being child friendly, using contemporary worship music, and by using imagery and video in worship to enhance the messages. All the while, however, we were searching for our own particular mission focus, knowing that God has called his people to bless others. “How are we supposed to be a blessing to others in this community?” is a question with which we wrestled.

When we found out about the Mellingers Greenhouse and Nursery Center property being for sale, we weighed the benefits and drawbacks of pursuing such a big purchase and renovation project so early on in the life in our new church. Our leadership decided that if we were to have a building that it should somehow expand our ability to bless the community. In other words, our building and property, besides serving us, should be a mission outpost.

We knew that short term sacrifices would have to be made in order to have a long-term platform for mission and ministry. 2010 was the year that we most definitively began to see the “missional” return on our investment. As is detailed in the Goodness Grows report, our site has become a place that serves not only us, but is indeed a blessing to the community. Young men from Youngstown, at critical crossroads in their lives, found our place to be one that would nurture their better dreams and make educational and vocational progress. Special needs students from the Columbiana school system experienced full acceptance and meaningful work as they helped in the gardens from planting time to harvest.

Yet, a lot more was going on that what most of us could see. People were watching us, watching to see how a small church might creatively use what they have to influence its community in new ways. Not only were they watching, they were talking. From having a newscaster say that the story done about our work with the young men from Youngstown was the most inspiring story they had ever done, to having the national publication, Presbyterians Today, feature our mission-oriented use of our facilities, people have been inspired to reconsider what it means for churches to steward their properties and engage their communities. And some of those communities are a long ways away, as we have also had visitors from Spain, Iraq, and Eastern Europe over the past year.

In some ways our efforts may seem small, but they are having a large ripple effect. The original “experiment”, I believe, is succeeding.  The presbytery, too, thinks it is succeeding and is continuing to show support and encouragement. During its January 2011 meeting, it has invited us to share our story.

To speak more personally, I am grateful to God that I am ministering in this unique situation among so many good and committed people. Not only am I blessed with the friendship of those in the congregation, but also with the friendship of our staff, who work diligently in seeking to serve the congregation and further the purposes of God.

In 2011, I look forward to our leadership giving more attention to what’s going on within Common Ground, seeking more ways for all of us to grow more deeply in love with our Savior, for us to strengthen our bonds with one another, and for us to reach out to those unconnected with a community of faith.