Pastor Albertin is not able to speak to you this morning since he is recovering from vocal cord surgery, an occupational hazard for preachers.
On behalf of Christ Church he welcomes you to this place and this worship space. It is a privilege to host an event which promises to enrich the worship of all our congregations.
The space in which we are sitting was dedicated three years ago. It was the result of a long and deliberate process that began in earnest back in 2005. From the very beginning of that process we realized that we not only would have to make decisions about what this space would be, but also that our decisions would shape this congregation’s understanding of its identity and mission for years to come. In other words, we not only shape our worship space, our worship space shapes us. Therefore, what shape this space would take would need to reflect our convictions of how this space should function. Form must follow function.
Let me make a few observations of how this space reflects those convictions.
From the very beginning we said that we wanted a space that would be sacred and “look like a church.” (The Sacred Space Grant Initiative sponsored by the Indianapolis Center for Congregations greatly assisted us through the planning process.) This sacred space must reflect to our community that what goes on in this place is very different from what might go on in an office park or community center. It ought to be an unusual looking place because here people gathered to do unusual things . . . like worshiping an unusual God who does an unusual thing like forgiving your usual sinners. A high tower topped with the symbol of a first century criminal execution is the first sign of the unusual things going on inside this unusual space.
This space reflects our Lutheran convictions about who this God is and how this God ought to be worshipped. (A very helpful partner in this process was the Center For Liturgical arts at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. I highly recommend them.) The cross is the focal point of this worship space. The assembly gathers around Word and sacrament reflected in the prominence of table, bath and book. The portable font and flexible seating enables different configurations of the assembly to reflect a variety of ritual settings. The changing mosaics on the front of the altar mark changes in the seasons of the church year. (You can observe them to my left.) The large round stained glass windows reflect the witness of might acts of God in Scripture. The north window reflects promises of the Old Testament, the rainbow to Noah and the stars in a blue sky marking the promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. The south window portrays the flames of the New Testament’s Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. An unplanned but fortunate consequence of that window is a large brightly colored circle of light that moves across this space on sunny Sunday mornings. Images can be projected on the walls on either side of the chancel to supplement (not replace or compete with) the liturgy of the assembly.
We gave a great deal of attention to the acoustics of this space. Hard surfaces and great height created a space where music would not need electronic amplification. The result has been a space that magnificently magnifies the song and music of the gathered assembly. It signals that worship in this place focuses on what God is doing among us in Word and Sacrament rather than on an audience that seeks to be entertained.
Not every congregation has the opportunity to create a space from the ground up. However, this experience has reminded us that shaping worship space, regardless of how small or large it might me, is one of the most enduring legacies a congregation can leave to its future. Do it carefully and deliberately so that the Gospel can be proclaimed, the gathered assembly nurtured in its faith and the church strengthened for mission.
It is our humble hope that this gathering would help all the congregations represented here today better able to make their worship assemblies be places where the ONE WORD of the Gospel is joyously proclaimed in MANY VOICES.
