It is one of the great gifts of stewarding the Trinity Building that we can share it with our wider community. This place is home to the office of an aging in place nonprofit and they regularly host activities for seniors in our memorial room. We also host a Christian counselor, Vietnamese Church, and a preschool. Northwest Children’s Theatre holds camps and classes in our rooms. We have a rest area for first responders and city workers. We also support 12 different anonymous groups, an honor corps, and a coop indoor play park! There are lots of people in and out of the building every day, which we think is exactly what God would want!
Sometime
s sharing space is a challenge though. As with many things in our faith life following God’s desire for us requires some work and adaptation. It would be much easier if church folks were the only ones to use the building. With a shared facility things go missing. Random things turn up. Children scribble with markers on the wall. Doors get left ajar. Trash is left behind. Furniture is moved. All of this is fairly minor and most days things are left perfectly. Lately however we have had some minor issues each week with destruction of church papers like offering envelopes, the newsletter, and bulletin board posters. We don’t expect things to be perfect or for the building to be frozen in time. We do expect that if you spill water all over the pronoun stickers for our name tags that you clean it up, not leave the stickers to adhere to the table in a soupy mess! We sent out a reminder to all building users about sharing the space well and our commitment to continue to share this resource with the wider community.
The response we have gotten back has been beautiful. So many people have called to check in. To say that they would keep on eye on things and to apologize for the messes made by others. It is a good reminder how incredibly valuable safe space is for communities and how important the work of sharing is in this world.
Following God takes work and is inconvenient. It is the only way to a true life of love and spiritual richness. May we always be open to the mess and struggle knowing that something amazing and profound is in our midst.
-Eilidh
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