Christ Church has an inviting, welcoming, comfortable building in almost every respect. Over the past five years, we have made a concerted, reasoned effort to make it so. Where we have fallen a little short is in the most important room in the building, the worship space itself. It is time to put that same effort into modifying that space to be one that invites us to know God more deeply and participate more fully in the communal worship and praise of God through the word and sacraments.
While the materials and furnishings of our worship space are beautiful and inspiring, at some point we began to realize how the arrangement of our worship space hinders or contributes to our knowledge and worship of God. Where holy things happen and our proximity to what happens has an enormous impact on our full participation in worship and liturgy.
For some, this notion of redesign in the nave and chancel may seem to have come out of nowhere. That is far from the case. As early as 1994 this parish began rethinking and revisioning itself in crafting a new mission statement calling us to openness, acceptance, welcome and to being a more vital center of Christianity in action. Those conversations are the foundation of our continuing growth and discernment in mission and ministry.
In 1998, the parish began a lengthy series of conversations and forums to imagine ways in which our facilities could become more accessible to persons with disabilities and how we could make Christ Church more inviting and welcoming as a church building. Committees processed and analyzed what we learned and what we longed for, presented these findings to the Vestry, and we engaged an architect to put on paper what we envisioned in our imaginations.
Station 19 Architects of Minneapolis developed a wide-ranging, comprehensive plan, not only for a new entrance, gathering space and elevator, but for a redesigned worship space as well. After Fr. Ressler’s resignation in 2002, the Access Project continued to move forward but, as Christ Church was without a priest, we did not move forward with the chancel redesign at that time.
We are fortunate to still have those plans, prepared with an understanding of liturgical theology by one of the leading church design firms in the United States that include the valuable input of our parishioners and parish leaders. Those plans, with a few modifications to save money and preserve more of our church building’s fine architectural elements, comprise what was presented again to the Vestry at our May 1st meeting and to the congregation following worship on May 4th.
The principal element of these redesign plans is to bring the people and the priest into closer relationship with God and each other during the celebration of Holy Eucharist. To do so we would bring the Altar nearer to the assembled congregation, removing obstacles to seeing and fully participating in the sacramental celebration.
With our current placement of the Altar, distance from the assembled congregation hinders full and complete participation in the Eucharistic prayers and actions. Moreover, it sets up a distinction that the priest and other liturgical ministers are doing something “for” the people, and that the people are spectators of an action, rather than “with” the people as concelebrants of the prayers and actions as the Prayer Book intends.
When Leroy Gaarder designed our church building in the 1940s, the Episcopal Church’s understanding of sacramental liturgy was very different. Our principal form of worship, the Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer, were centered on the liturgy of the word. The sacraments, particularly Holy Communion, were infrequently celebrated (often only monthly or quarterly), and were considered something the priest did for us in a place apart from us.
When the Episcopal Church adopted the liturgies of the current Book of Common Prayer in 1979, our forms of worship changed radically. The Holy Eucharist was to be the principal act of corporate worship for Episcopalians every Sunday and, indeed, even more frequently. We also regained the practice and understanding of the early Church that the people and priest together celebrated and consecrated the Holy Eucharist. We are a priesthood of all believers (I Peter 2:4,5).
All that being said, what are we going to do about this at Christ Church?
First, as we have been doing as a Vestry and congregation, we are going to continue to have conversations about these proposed changes. No final decisions have been made or will be made for some time. Second, we are fortunate to have a wooden Altar that can be moved without much difficulty. At the request of members of the congregation present at our May 4th discussion, we will temporarily move the Altar forward to the proposed location for several weeks to see and experience what such a move might be like. Although it will not be a true experience of the proposed redesign, it will give a general sense of what may happen.
We know that there are many opinions about relocating the Altar. During the May 4th conversation a few were opposed to moving the Altar, a few were enthusiastic about the proposed move, and many were uncertain. That is why we are taking time to experiment, experience, learn, pray and, above all, continue to talk about it.
If you have questions about the proposed redesign of the chancel, please ask me. I will make a point of making myself available for questions immediately following worship for the next several weeks. You are also welcome to telephone or send me an email. The Wardens and Vestry members are also available to listen and talk with you about the proposal and the process. Do not fall into the trap of listening to rumors or uninformed speculation. If you have questions, please ask your parish leaders—both lay and ordained.
We welcome your participation in this journey of discernment.
Scott+
