If you have been around the church lately, you know there has been a flurry of activity. I’m not just talking about all the typical stuff…the Emmett Cahill concert, Day of Prayer, Youth Sunday, My Fair Lady, and the Children’s Choir concert. That sort of thing goes on around here all the time.

Instead, I am referring to all that has been going on to get us ready for the next few months. Starting Monday, we will move out of the Sanctuary. The Traditional Service will share space with the Contemporary Service in the Fellowship Hall and the Morning Prayer and Holy Communion Service will move to the Chapel. To get ready for that there has been a flurry of activity.

For one thing, to prepare the Sanctuary for moving the choir and organ into the chancel of the church, there needs to be significant construction in the Administrative Area. As a result, most of the staff is relocating to other places for the next several months. Last week, the hallways were filled with boxes and other items as the staff began the process of moving.

In one sense, it is very exciting. We have been talking about the Sanctuary renovation for over eighteen months now. From an initial idea to move the choir and organ to the front of the Sanctuary, people from across the church have weighed in and the plan includes enhancements that will make it possible not only to have both the Traditional and Contemporary Services in the Sanctuary, but other possibilities as well. If you talk to the architects and the builders they will tell you that what DUMC is doing is on the cutting edge and will become an example to other churches all around the country.

At the same time, for many it is not an entirely easy experience. The truth is, their memories are wrapped up with the Sanctuary as it is, and it is not easy to let go of the way things are, even if it promises new possibilities. Some were married at the altar of the Sanctuary. Some were baptized and confirmed at the altar. Some have made life changing decisions and others have offered up their loved ones to eternity in this Sanctuary.

Then too, there is the challenge of having to live through a renovation. If you have ever done a renovation project in your home then you know immediately what I am talking about. In a renovation project you are displaced. In this case, we will be displaced for about five months. That sort of disruption is not easy.

That said, I want to encourage us to remember why we are doing what we are doing. We are doing it to enhance worship for everyone. We are doing it to help unify the church. We are doing it to reach out to the countless people who have not yet stepped through the doors of DUMC, but who will give their lives to Christ and become active in the church.

Thank you for being the kind of church who dares to dream big dreams…and then make those dreams a reality.

Blessings,

Dan