New Around the Mission
Creative Parishioners Sketch Ideas for New Church Building
February 27, 2011
Last Sunday night, a community of artists picked up pencils and paper to scribble and sketch their unique ideas for rehabilitating an old warehouse, the future home of Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois. It was the first meeting of the Creativity Campaign, an ongoing effort allowing the artistic parish to help design their new sanctuary and other interior spaces. The church has been portable for more than 20 years and currently meets at Glenbar High School.
“People talk about capital campaigns, but at our church our greatest resource is creativity,” says Trevor McMaken, Communications Manager at Resurrection. “We have a lot of artists, so we asked ourselves, ‘What if we asked members and regular attendees to give ideas, input and suggestions instead of money?’”
Many parishioners responded, downloading blueprints the church made available on their website and filling the initial gathering with enthusiastic chatter. Because asbestos and construction equipment prevented a physical tour, the group took a video tour of the warehouse interior, and the church’s architect showed photos and talked through the building’s features.
“People were doodling and drawing, doing renderings and sketches of concepts while we were meeting,” McMaken says.
After a short presentation from the Rev. Stewart Ruch, Rector, parishioners broke up into 15 groups of five to eight people to throw out ideas and concerns. McMaken and the staff then gathered all the ideas for review. Suggestions included placement for mosaics and stained glass windows, ways to maximize the natural light and high ceilings, and strategic ideas for using the building missionally to serve the community.
“These are fun ideas because our mission statement is ‘Building a sanctuary of transformation,’ and similar to the way God takes us and makes something new out of who we are, is the idea of God giving us this warehouse where we can create something new and beautiful for His kingdom,” McMaken says.
Resurrection hopes to move their offices into the new building later this year, and pending zoning and finances, to move their sanctuary there in the years to come.
“This is an exciting possibility God is leading us into,” McMaken says. “We want the entire congregation to be part of the process and to dig into the gifts of the body we read about in scripture. We will continue to ask the question, ‘How can this space help further equip us to see lives changed through worship and mission?’”
Learn more at Church of the Resurrection.
Posted By: Cynthia P. Brust
Categories: Faith in Action
