Saint James-Kingstowne
Folks have asked about the journey that brought us to the place where we are, a place where we become a community of two places. How did we get here? If I say because of God that is way too simple even if it is true. So I thought I’d say a bit more about it.
For years we have wondered about our location at Saint James-Alexandria, wondered that it is at the end of a cul-de-sac, that the building doesn’t always provide us with the tools we need to share the good news in our context with this community and others. We talked about selling and moving which ended up not working out- it was worth exploring but not what God wanted for us evidently, at least not then. Still we (I) had a yearning to go beyond where we are and reach for people who are wanting an experience of the Jesus who accepts us and loves us right where we are, a place where people are free to be who they are, to be authentic (authenticity is one of our core values). We feel we are unique in what we offer at Saint James (every church community is unique in its own ways as well); we feel our uniqueness is attractive to people who might otherwise find church not for them.
How do we get out there? Maybe, I began to think as I prayed, God’s was calling us out but not to move from the Saint James-Alexandria site but to multiply the people we were reaching by multiplying the locations in which we offered the message. I began to feel so strongly that I put it before the leadership team and they were drawn to it as well. That is the abbreviated version of how we got here. Since we were drawn in that direction, God has seemed to confirm the vision in other ways, ways that I will write about in the near future here in the SJ blog.
