This Sunday (February 9), we’ll have our one full congregational conversation with the architectural firm that is guiding our discernment process around what we need from our building and what it needs from us. Other small groups will also be providing insight over the next few weeks, but this Sunday is for everybody.

Later in the church year, before the annual meeting, we’ll have the opportunity to consider a few more specific well-defined options, based on the conversations we have this month. Then, at the annual meeting, we’ll hopefully have an opportunity to clarify our next steps toward aligning our space with our needs and our values.

This may be the first you’re learning about this conversation. Or you may be someone who’s been diligently initiating this discernment for a while now. Wherever you find yourself in considering our relationship with our space, there are some things you can do to prepare for Sunday morning’s conversation, and none of it involves math or research. 

One thing to remember is to allow complaints to grow into something more. When we complain about anything, it’s a sign that we can envision something different. So, if the first thing that comes to mind when you think about our physical space is a complaint, ask yourself what you would want to see instead. What would you want to be different?

Another thing to keep in mind is that we are a community that hopes to have a future. So, whatever we decide not only affects all of us currently in the community, but the people who will follow after us as well. Reflect on what future generations might need from us today when it comes to our physical space. When we talk about our space, we’re talking about our future.

A piece of our conversation might ask you to imagine that you had a magic wand and could change one thing about our building. It’s absolutely fine to be able to name a personal preference. The stretch goal, though, is to name something that takes the fullness of our community and ministries into consideration.

The biggest thing you can do to prepare for Sunday’s conversation is probably to show up ready for your ideas to share space with other people’s ideas. Ground yourself in the awareness that you have something meaningful to share, and embrace that you don’t have to convince anyone. Arrive prepared to practice open-hearted listening that creates space for ideas and preferences and priorities that aren’t your own. Be intentional about tending the space with other human beings you love and who love you. 

We might all have vastly different dreams about our space. This Sunday is not the time for us to force all of our dreams to coalesce into one common dream. That will come later. For now, our goal is to open space for everyone to share and be heard. 

May your spiritual practices over the next few days help you clarify a vision for what can be, a centered trust in your ability to give voice to that vision, and an open heart to the visions others bring with them.  

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