IN OUR CONGREGATIONS
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Workshop shares stories of creative facilities stewardship
hurch isn’t about the building Christians gather together in to worship the Lord. In fact, the word church in the Bible was translated from the Greek word ekklesia, which means “assembly”, “congregation” or “meeting.” It is the act of gathering with one another that makes church what it is, not the four walls. But those “four walls” are an important part of many congregations’ identities. In January, the Southern Province Board of Cooperative Ministries sponsored “Facilities Stewardship,” a workshop designed to answer questions like, “How can we better use our church building?” “What do we do with our aging building but shrinking budget?” and “How can we reimagine the use of our church facility?” Held at Calvary Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, the event featured presentations from three Southern Province Moravian churches – Calvary, Union Cross and Peace. Each church shared how they began to look at their buildings differently and use their assets in different ways. In opening the session, Ruth Cole Burcaw, executive director of the Board of Cooperative
January/February 2020
Ministries reminded attendees that, “Churches are tools for facilitating faith. We want to integrate our buildings so that they are not just serving God’s people now, but they can position us for whatever there is to come.” Calvary and the community Calvary Moravian church was the first of the three to present. Bishop Lane Sapp, senior pastor of Calvary, reminded attendees of the workshop that Jesus demonstrates how to be neighborly, that we, as Christians, need to welcome and include our neighbors by our words and actions. Amanda Moody-Schumpert, director of music and congregational ministries at Calvary, spoke about how the church wants to become a shelter for the community without regard as to whether or not the people would join the church. In 2015, a new independent bookstore, Bookmarks, opened up across the street from Calvary. With the size of the building and space for people to meet, Bookmarks partnered with Calvary, where they began to use the church (Continued on next page)
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