Pastoral note, from Garrett
This Sunday is the last worship service in the sanctuary before the renovation begins. It’s going to be a special time together. A sanctuary is more than walls, floors, a cross, and an organ. A sanctuary is a sacred space tied to the story of God’s people—it’s the place our kids are dedicated and our loved ones memorialized. A sanctuary is the context of worship where our story intersects with God’s work in the world.
On June 1, we will hold a groundbreaking ceremony following each of our worship services at 9 and 11 a.m. At that ceremony, you will be invited to write a scripture verse or blessing on a new piece of drywall that will go in the renovated sanctuary.
After worship this Sunday, we could use your help. We will begin moving the sanctuary chairs and hymnals to Maresh Hall. If you are able to help with any part of this project, we would greatly appreciate your assistance.
First, we will collect all the hymnals in the sanctuary and stack them in sets of 7 to prepare them for the move. Second, we will stack the chairs 6 high. 50 sanctuary chairs will go to the SS classrooms (the Seminar class and the Crossroads class). The choir chairs will go to the Traveler’s class. Third, we will use our 4 chair dollies to move the stacks of chairs where they need to go. We will not set up the chairs in Maresh Hall on Sunday, as there is work that needs to be done in there before the chairs are set up for worship. Fourth, we will move boxes of books containing the Owens/Flynn Library collection to its temporary home in the conference room.
More about the transition: On Monday, the sanctuary piano will be moved to Maresh Hall and tuned. On Tuesday, San Antonio Sound and Light, our A/V company, will begin relocating equipment to Maresh Hall and storing other equipment that will not be used during the renovation. They will work from Tuesday until Friday.
This is such an exciting time for our church. I know it will come with some discomfort as we squeeze into Maresh Hall and accommodate for the time crunch in Sunday School. But this could be an incredible season for us.
The church office will be closed on Monday, May 30, in observance of Memorial Day. Afterward, our office will shift to summer hours, where you can expect someone to greet you from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Summer is a busy time for our church staff, with camps, mission trips, choir trips, and denominational gatherings.
Grace and peace,
Garrett Vickrey