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.
Location, location, location. God taught me a lot through the journey of searching for our second site. We knew that it had to be His place and will for us and we would have to have faith that it would come together. The funny thing is, just as we began to lose faith (after countless hours of rejection and disappointment), He provided a site that has been a dream to work with, a place that wants to be a community with us and is grateful that we have chosen them (well, not us, but to God be the glory).
Anyway, I am sitting here laughing at my cat who typically plants himself on the softest thing in the room. What makes this funny is that he has chosen instead to lie out on the only sunny spot I can see as I look around my house, and it is on the hard floor. It isn’t that it isn’t a sunny day. It’s just that for whatever reason the way the sun is shining and the placement of my windows is such that there is only one sunny spot and he is in it. You might be wondering, so how does this story fit in with our planning for our second site?
It is a reminder that although there were many places that are good and we feel comfortable in, sometimes we have to humble ourselves to be in His light. Being in His light, the place He intended for us, means that we can trust that it will all come together. If I am honest, I am a bit nervous about how everything will come together and how we will get the word out with not much time left. Sometimes I even think I would rather be safe in my comfy place. That isn’t where I was meant to be and I just have to trust and get over myself/my fears. He has shown Himself before and blown my fears away and I know He will do it again. This plan is not of this world, it’s of His.