ELCA pastor Clint Schnekloth has been doing some interesting thinking and writing about housing and the Church's responsibility in this time of housing lack; this piece about the vacant (not abandoned so much as underused and underutilized) church space is his latest, and this piece has some specific examples of responses by individual churches.
My church is much smaller, both in terms of space and members, than Schnekloth's church in Arkansas. We have had members who needed temporary housing, which has led me to ponder our own use of space. We don't have an educational wing/building with unused space. It would take some radical rethinking to transform any of the rooms below the sanctuary. It's a country church, with the sanctuary and restrooms on the first floor, and in the basement, a kitchen, a small fellowship hall, two bathrooms (one with a walk-in shower), three classrooms, one storage area, and a pastor's office.
As a very part-time minister who is only at the church on Sunday, I would be happy to give up my office to be a one room sleeping area for someone in crisis, even if the crisis lasts weeks. But would the person who comes after me be happy with that decision?
And let me also remember that the Church Council has more say in this than I do. My church in Bristol is amazing in terms of the members being responsible for the vision and the mission. They've had very temporary pastors for over a decade now. I don't want to undercut them.
No comments:
Post a Comment