Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Lighting. How do you see God speaking with all of those interactions happening? And did it change for you, the text, to see it all integrated in the front?
[00:00:15] Speaker B: Okay.
The first thing I thought of when you said that, Kim, was the lighting.
I think the lighting has so dramatically changed that whole space that I can't walk. Every Sunday when I walk in, I say, oh, my gosh, it's so bright.
And how it's been for weeks now, but every week it's still new to me that it's so bright and that I can see all of the architectural features that are there. I can read the words. Most of them were where I sit.
It. I don't. I don't know how to explain it. It's almost like it gives a glow to the whole room that sets me aglow.
That's why I'm wearing orange. No, it's not.
[00:01:12] Speaker C: Yeah. It's one of those things where you don't realize it felt bright before, but then you're like, oh, that's what bright is like.
I think it's that experience of. But I wonder, too, about people who have will, you know, will not have known the old sanctuary. And this is just their normal for them, that this is what it looks like. I think it's striking to think about that. The other piece is that I really like how the texts, they look like they've been there for a while. The styling of it. So you could have one. We could have done this in a more contemporary font or type style.
But I think it reminds us that these texts are been around for a long time. Lots of people have been reading them, and lots of people have been finding deep meaning in them for a long time. And I like that about that, too. It's a reminder that we are not the first to step into that sanctuary. We won't be the last.
And we're part of this long chain of tradition, interpretation, and faithfulness.
[00:02:12] Speaker D: I've been thinking about the differences in the color and the sense that the gold is brilliant and it shines, but I find the blue very cool and soothing. Cool is in temperature.
It's a very cool color and soothing. And I think that's a really special balance along with these sort of organic arabesques or flourishes.
And the idea that.
I think about the. I've been thinking about the parable of the sower and the way that God's word is something that grows up and takes time and unfolds and bears fruit. And I think about those flourishes alongside the brilliance and the soothing aspect of the color scheme, that this is something that can be inviting to whatever people are bringing to worship as their full selves. People are coming with different experiences and different attitudes every Sunday, and there is something across a range of experiences, even aesthetically, that people can engage with and think about.
[00:03:16] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:03:19] Speaker A: So I'm going to have one more question then. I'm sure there's questions out there and we'll open it up. But what I'd like to hear. So you've put together the four, four of you, a beautiful devotional for the text and to invite people to explore those more deeply on their own. So do you have any thoughts for the use of the devotional or how people might enter into, with or without the guide, some meditative or contemplative time with the text?
[00:03:55] Speaker D: I think, for me, I am so glad that each portion of the devotional is tied to a mission partner and that that's one suggestion of how you can imagine this scripture connecting with the world outside of our sanctuary walls. And I would ask, as somebody who teaches preaching, don't just take the first idea, but the second or the third, and so you know you have a mission partner that's provided for you. But imagine further where you see this text playing out in our world, in our connections as a member or a part of the Nassau community, but also in your lives. How do these texts spread out or get out into your lived experience? Where can you imagine God at work in the life that you live?
[00:04:46] Speaker C: Back to where we started. If these texts are sparks of imagination for us, then one of the ways I would encourage you is just to hang out with one of these texts, one of these stories for a week or two, and just check in every once in a while and see if there's an unexpected way, an unexpected encounter, an unexpected thing that you read, where you find this text kind of coming back to you in the back of your mind just to pay attention to that.
I think part of what I hope these texts can do is again, that help name for us those unexpected and surprising ways that God shows up.
So keep those texts in the back of your mind. Don't think about them as instructions, as mere instructions, but as a little spark to look for signs of life wherever you walk and whenever you go.
I wonder, too, if you might go into the imaginative experience of thinking, you know, if I'm. You know, if it's. If you are yourself 10 years ago, 20 years ago, and you think about how you would have read those texts differently than you do now, that. That I think is A good way to think about them as living words. It's a little harder to imagine what they might look like for us five, ten years down the road. But I think looking to the past and thinking, what did I think love meant? What did it mean to clothe the naked when I was 20 or 10 years ago? 20 years ago. That imaginative exercise can also bring us into a really vibrant space.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: Well, you won't be surprised, but I wish I had thought to suggest that we included some questions for families, because I see this as a real possibility for some family time together.
Not that you do it every week at the same time, but on those occasions when you have a chance. We used to call them car in the car conversations, because that's when kids would ask the question that you have time to prepare for, but you could prepare for these a little bit and read a story from the children's Bible story book or a children's story that would match what's in these texts.
I think those conversations are so important for children to understand what it means to be Christian in today's world.
Unless we say that specifically to them, they assume we do good, just like the Y does and the Rotary does and everybody else does.
[00:07:17] Speaker A: So I would say, Carol, I know.
I hope we have to print more copies.
So I would add those questions in for the next printing. Yeah, the second edition.
[00:07:31] Speaker E: Right.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: So let me open it up for questions or your reflections to this group.
[00:07:39] Speaker F: I got the mic, so thank you for the beautiful reflections in this text. It's wonderful. And for sharing your time this morning.
I just wanted to say something from the committee's perspective to. To all of you here in the audience, all of you, please don't think about these texts as something that six committee members decided belong.
What every single committee member did was talk to you. You have influenced these texts by conversation with some of the committee members, by just conversation with friends of committee members. However that was done, I want you to know that the committee looked and sought, in Eric's words, to reflect what our congregation is today and how we think about God. And so I just want you to know that many of you influenced this directly. Many of you influenced it indirectly. But we were challenged at one point to committee, how many people did you talk to? Well, that wasn't a number. It wasn't a thing that we did in a studious, statistical way. It was a matter of conversation with you and a sense of being able to bring something that we thought the congregation would recognize as a part of their faith. So that's My comment.
[00:09:16] Speaker G: Come right through you guys here.
[00:09:20] Speaker E: This gold leaf seems to have a mind of its own, or if you prefer, marching to its own set of divine guidance.
No matter what the season of the year, the outside lighting, the time of day, the artificial lighting, or where you are, something jumps out at you. And it's always different today. Look at this picture. Love, kindness. And it just seems to be like instead of the whole gestalt, there are different things that are the message for.
[00:09:48] Speaker H: The day right next to you there.
[00:09:52] Speaker E: In the Micah passage, do justice.
What dawned on me is there's a world of difference between doing justice and getting justice.
I think it's interesting that we used a gold, a precious, a high value metal to carry a message that is precious and high value.
[00:10:34] Speaker I: Hi. So this isn't so much a question as much as it is an affirmation. So I know Carol, you would kind of mention the power or the potential power of these verses for families and children.
And for those of you who don't know me, my name is Chris and my family has been attending Nassau Presbyterian, I want to say, for four or five months right now.
And one of the things that we instantly found appealing was a very clear emphasis on doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God.
My wife's not here, but I think one of the things that we have really wrestled with in recent years is a lot of feelings of angst and pain just concerning our own faith traditions and how we feel like they've been co opted by political and cultural forces that frankly are just completely at odds with the gospel. And I think one of the things we've just really been wrestling with honestly the last couple of years is, you know, where can we find a faith community that will do a good job in helping our daughter be a faithful, healthy follower of Jesus?
And we just instantly found that to be attractive. And you know, that's who we want to be as disciples, but that's also who we want our daughter to be as well. So, you know, thank you for the work and just know at least in our family, you know, it's making a positive difference. So thank you.
[00:12:06] Speaker C: I had one quick story about this when we were in we moved to St. Paul, Minnesota. Elena was like just short of one and I remember visiting a lot of churches and no one said anything but you knew right away if the one year old was supposed to be there or not.
There was no sign, there was no deacon shushing, but you just felt it right away. And I think one, in light of this conversation in Light of your comments, I think one thing for us to keep at the forefront of our work together is that welcome is not extended because we print it in the bulletin or because we've got bags in the back that kids can use, but in how all of us embody that act of welcome.
And it's not just the people who are doing Sunday school or the youth group.
It's a feeling that we create among ourselves.
And I think just. I think this community has done a really, really good job with that. And just to say it only keeps happening if we keep doing it. So just an encouragement for us that. That we can't let slip because you know right away if you're supposed to be there with your child or not, and there's no sign telling you that. So I think it's important that we keep embodying that.
[00:13:23] Speaker B: Thank you, Eric.
[00:13:26] Speaker H: I was just going to continue the conversation about our children.
I worked this summer with Ingrid on the chancel drama. We had only 37 children from third grade to 12th grade. So anyone that was there on Sunday saw that Ingrid and. And I had written a little prequel to the show of the children looking in awe at the scripture. And I just kind of want to tell you how that went through the week, because when, as the director, I want all of my actors to project out to the front, but if they're all turned around reading the scripture, that's not going to work. So the challenge day one was, can you. You've got a lot to memorize this week, but if you can memorize the scriptures and that again, to some of the kids, the challenge was well accepted.
When we first brought them into the sanctuary, we took them on a walk around to see the light, to see the way the words reflected and things like that. So I want you to know how Ingrid, I think, was sort of the forefront doing this, but just how much she wanted to show them. And of course, the. Don't touch the gold paint throughout the week as well, although the kids. Kids showed tremendous respect.
But I wanted you to know that we also, in the writing of the script, had us turn out the lights so we could see them without. Well, don't you think any rehearsal would go without us actually turning off the lights? They would not let us. Not just like, okay, move on. Nobody has to be back there turning off the lights. We're moving on.
[00:14:58] Speaker G: No, no, no.
[00:14:59] Speaker H: Turn off the lights. We want to see.
[00:15:00] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:15:00] Speaker H: Shine without the lights.
So thank you. It brought joy to us that week, and I wanted you to hear the joy that it brought the kids.
[00:15:08] Speaker B: Thank you. Because I had that in my head last night, remembering that you had done that at the beginning and how important that was not only for the kids, but for the rest of us, too.
[00:15:22] Speaker C: I just want to make a comment.
[00:15:23] Speaker E: About 1 year olds being welcomed in the sanctuary. It wasn't always like that in this church.
[00:15:28] Speaker C: So I think we've definitely.
We've definitely improved ourselves else.
[00:15:36] Speaker E: So I also had a question.
[00:15:37] Speaker C: You indicated that you spoke about this.
[00:15:40] Speaker E: John passage at your sister's wedding.
[00:15:43] Speaker C: Is this concept universal enough to include romantic love or is it just agabi love or.
Yeah, I think that's a great question. So there's a couple of these texts that you hear a lot in weddings. So there's the Corinthians passage about love that is not really thinking about a wedding. But I think it's still helpful to think about love in those contexts. So I think some.
There's a homiletics expert over here who might contradict me, which is fine. But I think it works in those spaces when we have our eyes set on one particular kind of love to invite us to think about how that love both embodies, but also points to something more than romantic love.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: Right.
[00:16:26] Speaker C: That this is vital and important.
And it's also this great opportunity to say it's not just about swooning, as awesome as that is, as great as that feels. And this thing that this couple's feeling and other couples are experiencing as they see someone else get married and remind themselves of that day, but it's both. Yes, and there's more to that. So I don't know. I don't think that John here is thinking particularly. And plus, in the first century, people are thinking about romantic love in a very different way than we do now.
But nonetheless, there's the pathway to think more broadly about love in those contexts. But, yeah, go through that particularity. Am I right? Did I get some wrong?
[00:17:08] Speaker D: I think so. Absolutely. I think I was thinking you made me think of my friends Anna and cj Anna as a minister in Charlotte. And a few years ago, John Legend came out with a song that goes, all of me loves all of you. And when she and CJ aren't having a great day, they sing, most of me loves most of you.
And I think that, you know, this passage is about romantic love, but it's also about love that makes promises and God makes promises to love us. And when we get married, we are also making covenant promises to each other on. Especially on the days when most of us loves most of the other person, you know? And like, if you're going to be married for a long time, you need a love that can. That can work through that. Yeah. And not just feeling in love, but a love that is much deeper and committed.
[00:18:06] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:18:11] Speaker G: I thought there was somebody over here, but. Come in, Larry.
[00:18:20] Speaker E: I'm not sure that this is fundamentally different, but it's sort of what I hear also is how this speaks to the visitor, to the church. We have a lot of different visitors, and I think it becomes a witness. I think, as Chris has spoken, a witness of who Christians are through the ages, but also to us in the congregation to remind us how we are to treat the visitors in the church. And that's been spoken to here. I think the other thing that touched me, I mean, welcoming everyone, including the one year olds, but also the mentally ill. I must say that Danny means an awful lot to me because he is special and I do think we welcome him. And I think that's a witness as well.
[00:19:18] Speaker G: I just wanted to add to something you were saying. Larry, too, is. I know in the last few weeks, as Linda Gilmore has shown outside groups the sanctuary for when they're using the building, I think in a new way, people have been like, oh, tell me about your church, like, what's going on here? You know, and just having more questions about not just the text, but the text, reading them and seeing them on the wall have prompted questions about who you are, who we are together in the world.
[00:19:56] Speaker A: Great. Well, thank you all. I'm sure we could continue this conversation, but as you can see, they're bringing out a lovely reception which is in celebration of today's dedication. So it's a little bit better than wafer cookies.
I know. I do, too. So I'm with you.
[00:20:17] Speaker G: Carol, could you all join me in giving the panel a round of applause?
And Kim, thank you so much for facilitating.
I would be remiss if I didn't invite you to join us next week. Emma Marshall is going to be talking about thinking environmentally with Presbyterian young adults.
I think that if you came out for our conversations, led by Nate Stuckey earlier this year, around the Farm, I think you have a really strong sense of how connecting to creation can be so deeply impactful to your faith. And I think specifically hearing how that might be a way to continue to stay connected to young adults and young people would be well worth your time. So I hope you join us and thank you so much for your time this morning.
