Comments for Jim

Sunday, July 12, 1998

Jim Todhunter

"A Building for a Mission or an Edifice Complex?"

Amos 7:7-17 Matthew 7:24-27

I want to begin by laying all my cards on the table. I believe that it is crucial for the mission of Christ Congregational Church, now and for the future, that we embark as soon as possible on a major building plan to upgrade our facilities. It can't be put off for the next generation, for the dynamics of change are fast upon us. In the words of the old hymn, I believe we should "stretch every nerve, And press with vigor on," mobilizing every resource, spiritual and financial, to do this. There it is: the issue is the building.

Now, I suppose some might argue that the senior minister has fallen prey to that clergy occupational hazard - the edifice complex. The edifice complex, simply stated is this: The pouring of money into the creation of a big fancy building as a means of avoiding human needs at home and afar off, and providing for the builders a false sense of righteous security, like those arrogant folks Jesus speaks of who build big barns to store their wealth, only to have their souls promptly required of them.

My answer is that I really don't believe CCC has ever suffered from this problem and I do not believe we risk edifice complex by undertaking a major building campaign. I have searched my own heart on this, and that is my conclusion. Now let me explain why.

Why do churches have buildings at all? Why not meet in private homes? Why not get together ten or a dozen people and call yourselves a church? You could even tithe and get a minister. There are indeed faithful Christians throughout the world who live in community this way. On the other hand, there are Christians who choose to say that a building is a valuable tool, an opportunity to enhance mission. A building provides at least three things: 1. A space designated as sacred, set aside to worship God. 2. A p lace to be in community to love and support one another, teaching and learning and training in the faith. 3. A place to which people who are called by Jesus Christ are welcomed and in turn sent forth. The mission of the Church of Jesus Christ and of a local congregation can be defined in various ways, but it always must be based on the great commission of Jesus that we go forth calling people into community, seeking to save the lost, and baptizing in the name of God.

Understood this way, a church building is simply a means for achieving this mission. To advance this mission, a building should be two things: functional and attractive. Form follows function, as architects tell us. Therefore, when a building is constructed or renovated, those doing so must understand the tasks that the building should facilitate. A community can't undertake major changes, without being as clear as possible about what those changes will achieve. This is the process that we are engaged with now, as we look forward to October 4th - this priority setting process for our CCC "Top Forty Facilities Needs." Second, a building should be attractive. Notice, I did not use the words "beautiful" or "elegant" or "inspiring." If possible, those are desirable qualities. But we all know that there are plenty of cathedrals throughout the world which are awesome in their beauty, but bereft of any living religious community. No, the word for me is attractive - that is, a building should attract people who are questing, curious, searching. Beauty as well as function should co-exist, especially in a sanctuary. Another old hymn says, after all, "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." What is edifice complex? For me it is the obsession with a building that combines dysfunction with a fixation on beauty, so as to render it useless for the purpose of Christian community.

One might then say, "Well, Rev., I could more or less agree with you on that, but I believe that what CCC has now is good enough, always has been, and besides it would be too expensive to fix. Why not direct money elsewhere, to mission, for example?" My response to that would be that I believe that what we have now is not good enough, that changing circumstances are rendering our facilities even less functional (I am thinking of accessibility and parking in particular) and yes, we can afford the necessary changes. To explain this further, I am reminded of the advice my great grand-daddy had when he said, "Jimmy, there are sech things as facts." As opposed to facts, there are assumptions. Our facilities discussion has surfaced for me a number of views that I believe are false assumptions.

ASSUMPTION: CCC is on a comfortable membership plateau (around 700 members). This is a just right size congregation and we have every reason to expect to remain there.

FACT: CCC has for some time been in a steady membership decline. The number of pledge units, average worship attendance and membership has decreased each year from the early eighties to the present.* The fact is that we have now reached the point where we cannot support the current level of staff, program and mission, let alone expand them.

ASSUMPTION: Well, if that is so, there really isn't much that can be done about it . This decline is occurring because of factors outside our control.

FACT: Church growth experts testify that inadequate buildings and parking availability are a major factor in stifling growth. And the fact is that CCC has less parking available than ever before. We no longer park on Colesville Road; there are more "no parking" signs on our side streets, and zoned parking in our neighborhood is inevitable. The fact is that buildings with accessibility problems keep people of all ages away. I know there are people who simply don't come to church because it is too hard. I know w this because they have told me so. It is a fact that we turn away many worthy community groups desiring to use our space, not because we don't have room in the building for them, but because we don't have parking for them. Fairly or unfairly, we are known throughout the UCC Central Atlantic Conference as the church with no parking and the uncomfortable sanctuary. That is a fact.

FACT: Not true! Major changes are affordable as well as desirable. The success of a major capital campaign depends on two things: a congregation's capacity to give and the degree of enthusiasm for the plan. Mike Downs, our UCC consultant, tells us that most churches regularly underestimate their capacity to give. He says that a well-run capital campaign can be expected to raise, over a three-year period, at least three to four times the amount raised in one pledge year. For 1998-99, our current pledges have now exceeded $400,000. We have the capacity and I believe that by October 4th we will have the vision for our building to put a plan in place.

I believe that the time to act is now and the energy and resources are available now. And I am convinced the building is the issue before us. Church growth experts tell us that a number of things must be in place if a church is to grow. It is like a church growth report card or check list. These things include: quality programs for all ages, a welcoming spirit, a strong church staff, a governance structure that facilitates mission, and an adequate financial base. I believe we have high marks in all these a areas. But there are also two related areas that are of concern. One is that we are intentional about making the changes necessary to survive and grow and prosper. It is one thing to "wish" for good things to happen. It is an entirely different thing to set goals, make plans, and put those plans into action. Resistance to this is an attitudinal barrier. The second obstacle to growth, say the experts, is a building that makes it hard to accommodate and serve people, including a shortage of safe and convenient parking. In my opinion, there it is. At CCC we are doing everything we need to be doing to survive, grow and prosper in ministry - except, except building and parking. And I believe we need to overcome our resistance to making the changes we need to make. Those are my cards. That's my hand.

Now let me hasten to say that this is not a bad-news sermon in any sense of the word. The good news is that we can enthusiastically affirm the many changes that the self-study process has called for CCC to put into effect, and the changes that have already happened. The final and pivotal issue is now the facilities. So let's just do it!

Let me close by saying that a building is always spiritually problematic. Amos, the eighth century prophet, ran afoul of the King of Israel and his high priest when he preached a word of justice in the Temple. They were more worried about the Temple and what they thought it stood for than the actual Word of God. Jeremiah had the same problem 150 years later.

A few years back I took a sabbatical and devoted my energies to working on the problem of homelessness in Silver Spring. Before long, it became clear that the solution to the problem depended on finding a place to meet the needs of these folks, a place that would include an expanded Shepherd's Table and space for a variety of other programs. All along the way there was resistance and criticism. People said, "The building costs too much. It is too big. It is too nice for people who won't appreciate it anyway. There must be less costly ways of solving the problem. If the government or the communities or the churches were only doing their jobs." Midstream in the process, it became clear to me that 95% of my time and energy was devoted to the building: acquisition, funding, planning, managing a building. But it also became clear that without the building, now called Progress Place, nothing would change, and the situation would only get worse. Progress Place is a great success for one reason only. And that is that t the homeless are being cared for and empowered in greater numbers than ever before. That is a fact. And it is a fact that the building makes this possible. Yes, complaints in some quarters have not ceased entirely. That goes with the territory. But there is another point I want to make. Resistance to this process came not only from people who didn't want to see anything ever happen in their backyards. There was also resistance from good-hearted people who were clearly dedicated to helping the homeless. They resisted the changes that had to come if the homeless were to be better served. Even now, I will hear people say, "I sure miss the days of the old Shepherd's Table. In that old cramped and inadequate building, we had a special kind of spirit. Our volunteers were all happily involved. Progress Place is too big, doing too much, with too many people." Perhaps one can sympathize with the spirit of nostalgia and times of the past. Are these uncomfortable changes really necessary? What about us, the volunteer s. What about our feelings? The Prophet Amos said the Word of God is like a plumb line in our midst, a word of unequivocal truth. And the truth is that Shepherd's Table and Progress Place do not exist to take care of the needs of the volunteers, but to meet the needs of the homeless. The satisfaction of helping those in need is very real, of course. But personal satisfaction is not the end. The end is service.

So, I believe, it is with our congregation. Our mission is to glorify God, to proclaim Jesus, as Christ and Lord, and to equip the saints for ministry in our time and place - with all the resources we can muster. I began by referring to the words of the old hymn, because, in a way, they bring energy and focus to what I think is a defining moment in our congregation's history. So let me close with them.

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