November 3, 2024
Dear Church,
We had a Call to Community in our worship services today and I’m writing to make sure you hear about what we talked about today in case you weren’t able to make it to church.
At our congregational meeting in April, I mentioned that we had put a pause on the Accessibility Project we’ve been working on for the last two years in order to address some questions that arose from seeing some water damage to our Sanctuary. We hired a structural engineering firm to give us a better sense of how our building is holding up. I’m very happy to report that there was nothing in their report to indicate that there are any structural reasons to put the Accessibility Project on hold any longer. There are things we need to care for. The building is showing some wear in the places you’d expect a building as old as ours to show wear. But at this point, a great deal of that work can be added to the normal maintenance we’re already doing. This is really great news, and I’m very grateful to God for it.
We’re moving forward with our Accessibility Project, and now it has a name: Accessibility at Covenant: Making Space for Many Members of One Body. It’s a plan to make both of our buildings easily accessible for people with and without disabilities to experience welcome, find spaces of belonging, and to worship, serve and fellowship alongside each other as Christ intended. You can see what those physical changes will look like on our website. I hope you’ll take a look.
I want to tell you why. That’s the real heartbeat and this project and the reason it matters so much for us. We’re doing this so that together we can, as best as we’re able, honor what God says about his church. This is from 1 Corinthians 12:
For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
Our building is like just about every other building in our city that was built when it was. This means many parts of the body of Christ, and many people who might want to just get to know and hear a little more about Jesus, find it daunting and difficult, if not impossible, to get inside. It doesn’t have to be that way! We can change that. And it will be a great day when we do, and I look forward to it. I look forward to us providing some welcome and some honor; with no division, having the same care for one another.
That will be a very good day for us. And I think the thing I look forward to most is how God might change us in really beautiful and important ways as we offer this welcome. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. How might God make that rejoicing happen here at Covenant? How might God grow us in love, and in service? How might he grow us to know him better and see more clearly what he’s really like as we meet and serve and worship with members of his body who aren’t here now? I don’t know exactly what God might do, but I really want us to find out together!
So I hope you’ll pray about your part in this, and I hope you’ll support it financially, too. We’re estimating this project will cost about 2.4 million dollars. We’ll have informational meetings on November 10 and December 8 during Common Ground at 10:15 am. You’ll have a chance to hear more about this project and ask members of the Accessibility Committee whatever questions you have. On November 10, we’ll meet in the Sanctuary. Our adult classes won’t meet, but nurseries and Sunday School classes for kids will be running as normal. I’d love for you to hear and learn more, so I hope you’ll plan to come.
With hope and love,
Aaron