Autumn 2018
Dear Neighbors,
Our Side By Side capital campaign is really done. Over. Finished! Charlie Donnell said as much at our recent Semiannual Meeting – he said he was presenting his “final” financial report for the campaign. In his report our outgoing President Rob Varney thanked everyone who contributed calling the campaign “wildly successful.” People around town – some I know and some I don't – still stop me to tell me how beautiful our new patio is. (I always say, “I know! It really is! Thanks for noticing!”) So, while we wouldn't necessarily turn away additional gifts, and we'll still be installing new pavers from time to time, our Side By Side Campaign is complete. Mostly. (Remember how I said that sometimes when you think you are done you're not?)
You see, the new patio is meant to encourage community. It is intended to create a space where people can sit and rest. Where someone might stop to read a book, check her email, have a chat with a friend – or with maybe even with someone they had never met before. It was intentionally designed to slow down people walking past the church, to invite them to look and rest and linger. To read the inscriptions on the stones, enjoy the day. It was designed for hospitality – to welcome our neighbors and to make new ones. Our our community and our nation is in desperate need of that common space these days...
Another sign that the campaign is over is that we changed out the bulletin board in the vestry. What bulletin board, you say? It had been up for 3 + years, and sometimes when something's been there forever you stop noticing it. But I invite you to notice the new one. At the top it says “Love of Neighbor” – and we can all agree that we should love our neighbor, right? But then at the bottom it reminds us of Jesus' (hard) question to us all: “...then who is my neighbor?” Who indeed.
Over the next few weeks I challenge you to add something to that bulletin board. Let's see who our neighbor is. It could be the person who lives next door to you. It could be someone you see along Government St. It could be someone in Washington that drives you mad, or someone you never met who lives half way around the world. Put up a picture, a name, a symbol. Let's be creative and fill up the bulletin board, and the world with Love of Neighbor. I think it's the only way out of this mess we're in.
See you in in the 'hood,
Brad
Dear Neighbors,
Our Side By Side capital campaign is really done. Over. Finished! Charlie Donnell said as much at our recent Semiannual Meeting – he said he was presenting his “final” financial report for the campaign. In his report our outgoing President Rob Varney thanked everyone who contributed calling the campaign “wildly successful.” People around town – some I know and some I don't – still stop me to tell me how beautiful our new patio is. (I always say, “I know! It really is! Thanks for noticing!”) So, while we wouldn't necessarily turn away additional gifts, and we'll still be installing new pavers from time to time, our Side By Side Campaign is complete. Mostly. (Remember how I said that sometimes when you think you are done you're not?)
You see, the new patio is meant to encourage community. It is intended to create a space where people can sit and rest. Where someone might stop to read a book, check her email, have a chat with a friend – or with maybe even with someone they had never met before. It was intentionally designed to slow down people walking past the church, to invite them to look and rest and linger. To read the inscriptions on the stones, enjoy the day. It was designed for hospitality – to welcome our neighbors and to make new ones. Our our community and our nation is in desperate need of that common space these days...
Another sign that the campaign is over is that we changed out the bulletin board in the vestry. What bulletin board, you say? It had been up for 3 + years, and sometimes when something's been there forever you stop noticing it. But I invite you to notice the new one. At the top it says “Love of Neighbor” – and we can all agree that we should love our neighbor, right? But then at the bottom it reminds us of Jesus' (hard) question to us all: “...then who is my neighbor?” Who indeed.
Over the next few weeks I challenge you to add something to that bulletin board. Let's see who our neighbor is. It could be the person who lives next door to you. It could be someone you see along Government St. It could be someone in Washington that drives you mad, or someone you never met who lives half way around the world. Put up a picture, a name, a symbol. Let's be creative and fill up the bulletin board, and the world with Love of Neighbor. I think it's the only way out of this mess we're in.
See you in in the 'hood,
Brad