If you build it, they will come

By Chris Hayes

There is a well-known line from the movie, Field of Dreams, that goes, “If you build it, they will come.” While the person who said this line was referring to a baseball field, and not a church, it still fits the situation at St. John’s Church, in the Parish of Richmond, quite well.

As you may recall, the parish voted to build a new church and parish centre. The design is simple yet practical, it provides for congregational worship, three Sunday school classrooms, a nursery, modern washroom facilities, kitchen and storage space. The one and only step in the entire building is the one up into the sancturay. It is warm, comfortable, useful for many kinds of functions and accessible by all.

The parish built it, and the people have come. Occasional attenders have been present for Sunday worship more often; the Sunday school has grown dramatically; the nursery is used each Sunday and the building is used throughout the week — something that was just not possible in the old building. The cold made gatherings impractical, and expensive.

Now we offer Morning Prayer through the week, and many groups use the Parish Centre for Bible Study, vestry, Mothers’ Union, the Prayer Chain, and other gatherings.

From the beginning, the parish understood this project as a physical means to a “missioning” end. The building was neither for our convenience nor comfort. It was to facilitate activities that reached out to the community and invited people be involved in the work of the church for everyone. Toward that end, we do not see this project as finished just because the building is up, and in use. We have only completed step one, and there are many more steps to follow.

While it certainly seemed like a daunting task to even consider a project of such scale, the parish firmly felt God’s hand in this, and trusted that He would see us through. We’ve been in the new place for only four months and the building is already over half paid for. God has already blessed this work; and so we continue with the work at hand.

It is our hope that the story of God’s work in this parish be shared with others. We have already hosted groups from two different parishes, telling them the story of how things have come to be thus far. We welcome others to come, see, listen and perhaps be inspired. There are many opportunities for projects like this throughout our diocese.

None of our success with this project is of our doing. It is only through a willingness to follow the Lord’s lead was anything was accomplished at all, and it will only ever stand if we continue to follow that lead.

For now, we celebrate God’s blessing of these things, and we continue to seek how we’re to use this beautiful facility to his honour and glory.

The Rev. Chris Hayes is rector of the Parish of Richmond.

 

Diocesan Communications
31 March 2009