Transition Sunday
Today my church went from the building we've occupied for 24 years to our new meeting space. Getting there was a process that has taken about a year and a half, with lots of planning and lots of work by lots of people, so I thought I might describe it for you.
We are a small Mennonite congregation that has been in existence for 37 years. Our group has numbered 50 at times, now we have about 30 at Sunday worship.
The building we were in was a built in 1915. It had housed an Evangelical United Brethren church, which had merged with the United Methodist church in the 50's (I think). But there is a bigger United Methodist church just a block away, so the former EUBs sold us their building. But in the last couple years, the congregation decided this large, old building was too expensive and too time consuming to maintain. Also a local developer offered us quite a decent price for the building.
So we looked for a suitable space. We found out that a Presbyterian church a couple blocks from our building had a large space they had used for youth functions that they were hoping to rent. So, many meetings ensued, many, many details arranged, and today we started worship in our old building and midway through the service walked to the Presbyterian church.
Several people from their congregation were at the door to welcome us. The sign out front said "Welcome Mennonites and all". They sent a lovely bouquet which graced our new pulpit.
Life as a congregation is always about people learning to be church together. We Mennos and the Presbyterians who have so graciously welcomed us know we will learn together how to be the Church in the world together. It probably won't be a 100 percent smooth road, but there are a great many positives for both congregations. It seems like a good solution for us.
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