RENOVATIONS, REFLECTION & PRAYER – 1
Earlier this month, something momentous happened. It wasn’t a birthday or anniversary. It didn’t have anything to do with the Pens, Pirates, or Steelers. On November 5, the East End Cooperative Ministries men’s shelter moved from our lower level to their new home further up Highland Avenue. For the first time in over three decades, full access to the Wayfarers Chapel, small dining room and kitchen, and several lower level offices has been returned to our church. We knew this day was coming. We’ve known this for quite some time, and as staff and officers of this church, we’ve been praying for months, “Lord, how should we respond to this momentous change?”
Today’s service is another step toward seeking to discern God’s will together. Throughout this time of worship, I will share some of the ideas and concepts that the Session has been discussing for quite some time, so that we can pray for wisdom, vision, and guidance as we seek to serve God as stewards of this building and this Presbyterian ministry. But first, some history.
This cathedral is the latest in a series of church buildings erected on this property, going back to 1819. The architect, Ralph Adams Cram, intentionally created a Gothic masterpiece that is similar to European cathedrals with worship spaces built around a central courtyard and functional hallways used to funnel people to classrooms and offices. The building was completed in 1935, but church ministry today is quite different from what church ministry was almost 80 years ago.
Three years ago, this congregation and Session went through a long process of strategic thinking, naming ministry goals of radical hospitality, pursuing social justice, spiritual growth for all ages, and mission service here and around the world. Two years ago, we asked an architectural firm to help us re-vision our main floor, but we didn’t like any of the answers they gave us. So one year ago, three architects in our congregation were part of a taskforce that looked at our entire building in light of these ministry goals. They began sketching out concepts for how we might renovate our space for present and future needs. I want to share some of their thoughts today and invite your input.
Think about the doors of our church. There are entries into ELPC from all four sides, but routinely we ask people to come into the church through one set of doors – the Highland Avenue entrance. Yet, as you all know, parking in East Liberty has changed in the past few years. For the foreseeable future, available parking won’t be on Highland, but rather behind us – on Whitfield, Baum and Center streets. One idea is to create a new entrance off Whitfield Street – a second place where we can open our doors to guests, to worshipers, to friends. It will need a new lobby and be accessible for all to enter. That, plus new lighting outside our doors, could help us honor our goal of radical hospitality.
I invite you to now pause and pray for the hundreds of people who enter our building every week – and consider how God may be leading us to do a better job of welcoming them into this, the Lord’s house. (Silent prayer – Litany)
RENOVATIONS, REFLECTION AND PRAYER – PART 2
The scripture we just heard lifts up two important ideas. The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God knows our needs before we ask. Isaiah 65:24 says, “Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” We trust that God is anxious to lead us forward as a church. And the reading from Luke 22 tells us, “The greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves; for [Christ, our model] is among us as one who serves.”
Now that the men’s shelter, food bank, and soup kitchen have left our premises, whom is God leading us to serve now? This grand building doesn’t allow for some types of ministry programs. For example, we don’t have the right space to house a program in car repair or horticulture or glass blowing. But to do nothing would be bad stewardship of the gifts God has given us. Furniture gets old and needs to be replaced; over time, ventilation, lighting, and sound systems need to be upgraded. God has given us this opportunity to look at our lower level and, honestly, our whole building with fresh eyes.
The architectural taskforce suggests two guiding principles for us. First, whatever is considered should ideally involve minimal intervention and flexible space usage. There are too many programs and groups who use our church for us to have lots of rooms designated for only one use. We need spaces for that can be set up for a church bible study, a committee meeting, and a community planning session, sometimes all in the same day. We have lots of places that can hold 10 to 15 people, but we have relatively few places for groups of 20 to 40 people, and only a couple spots for groups of 50 to 100 people. One example: The small dining room on the lower level can be renovated with new lighting, chairs and A/V equipment so that it could be used for Session and Deacon meetings, for Journey worship, for youth groups who stay here on retreats, and for Hope Academy recitals or dramas. Flexible space use is important, so we can be responsive to the changing ministry needs in and around our church.
Second, we shouldn’t try to reinvent the wheel or duplicate what is already being done well by someone else. We should concentrate on our particular strengths. I’m proud to say that we do a good job with our youth programs. Through the excellent work of Heather, Sarah, Wil, Anthony and our Youth and Young Adult team, we reach out to kids of our church and the neighborhood through our Sunday School, Club 116, and overall youth program. We do a good job with intergenerational events, such as our family retreats and our Rally Days. And we do an exceptional job through our Hope Academy for Music and the Arts. Over 300 children take part in what our church hosts here, with a target goal of 50% being from underserved populations. Not every kid can be a scholar or a star athlete, but many will shine as singers or dancers or actors if they are loved and mentored while young.
Our hope is to renovate spaces so that all these programs can thrive in our building. We are also planning to establish an ELPC after-school tutoring program, which will link the resources of our church, the families in Hope Academy, and people in our neighborhood so that the love of Christ, the educational ministry of this church, and the goal of service to all in need can become better integrated and fully realized in this place.
I invite Heather to come forward now and lead us in prayer for our children, youth, and families.
RENOVATIONS, REFLECTION & PRAYER – Part 3
In conversations about this building, do you know what detail people keep mentioning? The restrooms. We have a lot of them, but frankly they are not very good, nor are they accessible enough. Deciding to fix the bathrooms raises other questions about sustainability and being environmental-friendly. If we are looking to renovate parts of our building, shouldn’t we look at ways to reduce our electricity, gas and water usage? It is true that those goals were not priorities when this church was built in the 1930s, but a lot of new technologies have come along since then. Surprising as it may seem, it is possible for us to explore having ELPC become LEED certified, more environmentally friendly overall. It would affect what products we purchase, what water fixtures we use, and what type of lighting we have around the building.
But accessibility means more than just special stalls in the restrooms. It means being sensitive to how all people use our building – whether they can see and hear, whether they are comfortable and always safe. We can do better with our lighting and sound systems. And it may be possible to consider air-conditioning for this space and for the chapel, since both rely on a forced air heating system, whose ductwork is already in place. That would help us ensure we have a welcoming space when the seminary holds their graduation in June, when couples want to be married in July, or when a funeral needs to occur during a Pittsburgh summer heat wave.
Another important word, along with accessibility, is the word aesthetics. This is a beautiful building. But sometimes we have covered up the real beauty of this Gothic masterpiece. Many of you remember how we used to have a large security desk by the Highland entrance. It served a purpose related to public safety, but it wasn’t very welcoming and it hid the beauty of that foyer. Once we removed it, we again saw the arches and pillars in that space, and we were able to create a nice waiting area by the windows. Minor changes, but with an overall positive, beautiful result.
The chapel is a wonderful, spiritual space, but it is only used now for Taizé worship and occasional small funeral services. The lighting and sound need to be upgraded, and the flooring is showing sign of age. One idea is to help more people enjoy that space by re-doing the floor and insetting a labyrinth in it. This would require different seating, but it would keep the room as a spiritual space and allow it to be used for Taizé worship, classes, prayer services, and labyrinth walks seven days a week.
Lastly, the front-yard project has given us the opportunity to replace energy-inefficient flood lights with new, energy-efficient exterior lighting. But with LED technology, we need not stop with low-level lights shining only 20 feet off the ground. We can illuminate the exterior walls and steeple and use half as much electricity as we’ve currently been doing. This is another idea that blends faith goals of good stewardship and good aesthetics.
Let us have a time of prayer considering how we might be ensure our beautiful church is accessible and welcoming to all.
RENOVATIONS, REFLECTIONS & PRAYER – Part 4
How does God’s Holy Spirit change lives? Sometimes the Spirit moves us during important times of our life: when there’s a job change, a new relationship, or dealing with a serious medical condition or personal loss. But often, the Holy Spirit moves us when we least expect it – through serendipity, a chance conversation with a friend, bumping into someone in a hallway. One of the greatest strengths of our ministry at ELPC is how people are able to connect here with others whom they might never have known or met if it were not for this church and its programs. We have people here of different neighborhoods, ethnicities, economic and marital status, orientation, and age. We need a building that allows for chance encounters and informal, faithful conversations.
When you enter by Highland Avenue and head either to the sanctuary or chapel, you travel down narrow hallways with closed doors. The nursery is hidden away, accessible only by two side hallways. What if the Harambe Room, the big room on your left once you enter, was turned back into a nursery (which is what it was 75 years ago)? What if the offices on the right side of the hallway were turned into a large, bright meeting room for community groups and Adult Education? What if the library and office on the left side of the hallway were also made into a larger reading and conversation space? Both places could provide hospitality after worship on Sunday morning. Both places could better accommodate committee meetings and educational classes, instead of always sending people upstairs to the second and third floors.
More importantly, moving the nursery now opens up two or three big rooms back in that section for flexible usage. And shifting some of the education classes down from the Second to the First Floor frees up space on the upper floors for potential new mission programs. How about an office for job mentoring work? How about a place for homeless men and women to meet with mental health care professionals and social workers? Both those ideas are being explored now through our Mission Board. How about expanding our Latino outreach – or offering more mission retreats, spiritual retreats, youth retreats in our building? All those ideas are being considered.
People need to see the work God is doing in this place as soon as they come in the doors. Putting more programs and less administration on the First Floor will allow everyone to see ministry in action – and more importantly, encourage them to join in with what’s going on. To open themselves up to how the Holy Spirit is leading diverse people of faith to put what they believe into action.
I invite Patrice to now lead us in a time of prayer for our ongoing mission work and for the joys and concerns of this congregation.
RENOVATIONS, REFLECTIONS & PRAYER – Part 5
Yes, something momentous happened earlier this month when the Mens’ Shelter, Food Bank, and Soup Kitchen moved out of our building. But change is happening all the time and as Christians we are called to follow where God is leading through these changes. More than three years have already been invested in a prayerful, deliberate process to discern what God is calling us to be and do here in our cathedral home. Two large presentations have been made to Session already, outlining concepts and suggestions, largely contained in the comments I’ve shared with you today.
So what comes next? Four things: feasibility (determine whether the conceptual ideas are workable), finances (get cost estimates for what is being suggested), fine-tuning (have architects prepares sketches and simple plans so we can truly visualize what is being proposed) and feedback (beginning in the New Year, congregational sessions will invite your creative input and ideas). To assist with these four “F’s”, a renovations committee was just named at November’s Session meeting. I’d like to invite them to come forward if they’re present: Jan Irvin, Stefani Danes, Patrick Dowd, Diana Armstrong, Jason Ferrante, Emma Johnson, Treshea Wade, and Dave Eggleston. Their responsibility is to continue the conversation begun by the Architectural Taskforce and prepare a proposal for Session to consider sometime in the first half of 2014.
If what is proposed can be done in small chunks using annual capital project budgets, so be it. If work is approved but it needs to be done in one big project, we’d obviously need to come back to you to consider a capital campaign. And the funds we would raise, plus any grants we might receive for lighting, environmental improvements, Hope Academy and tutoring programs, will determine how much we can afford to do. Believe me, this is something that will unfold slowly, methodically, and prayerfully over the next twelve months. But what do you expect? We’re Presbyterians!
In your worship bulletins are blank cards. Please note the new church logo and website address printed on them. Our new church website is up and running. Do go and check it out and show it to your friends! You are also invited to write your comments on the cards about all the things I’ve said today. Your input will be shared with the Renovations Committee and Session. Be sure and sign your name if you’d like more personal feedback.
I am excited about the ways I’ve seen God at work in this congregation and its ministries. I ask for your patience, your prayers, your flexibility, your generosity, but above all for God’s grace as we walk forward by faith toward our church’s 200th anniversary in 2019, knowing that the good work Christ has begun in us he will see through to its completion.