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Dear Ones of Christ Church,
Evening primrose grows abundantly in our gardens at home—above is a photo of one of these plants with a local bee neighbor enjoying a blossom. Bees and hummingbirds come early in the morning to browse and drink the primrose nectar. Each afternoon, on each stalk of each plant, a cluster of flowers fades away, making way for the next row of buds to open overnight, so that the following morning its fresh yellow blooms are once again available to pollinators. Evening primrose is a plant that practices the art of dying and blooming everyday, one group of flowers making space for the next.
In our gospel reading this weekend we will hear Jesus say: “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” The practice of watching the daily pattern of the fading and re-blooming primrose, and other patterns of death and life in the natural world, helps me to pay attention in new ways to Jesus’s teachings about death and life, Cross and Resurrection, losing and seeking and finding. Like the primrose makes space each day for new life and nourishment, Jesus makes space for us to find new life in him and to be nourished by him. And we, in turn, are called to make space to meet Jesus.
You will see, below in the July vestry meeting notes, that we will be creating more space in our sanctuary by removing one row of pews (one pew bench on each side). The front half-pews on each side will then be moved back by one row, maintaining our seating for folks with walkers and wheelchairs. As we continue to all worship at the floor level, this change will improve accessibility, flow, and visibility, bringing us closer together with the presence of Jesus in Word, Sacrament, and one another. For high feast days and other services like Baptisms and large funerals, we will celebrate Communion from the high altar and add chairs to the sanctuary to regain the seating from the removed pews.
Leadership aims to remove the row of pews in mid-to-late September, to allow time for appropriate planning from our buildings and grounds and worship teams. We will share those plans with you here in KC and in our worship announcements in the weeks ahead. Please contact me or our wardens Robb Pflock and Alex Manchester with any questions or comments about the pew removal. You will find our contact information posted on the vestry bulletin board at church, or you can call or email David in the office, and he will connect you with us.
Like the blessings of the primrose, may we be blessed together in our own daily ministry of dying and rising and blooming, as we co-create sacred space with God for all to receive Jesus’s presence, in Scripture, in prayer, in song, in bread and wine.
Yours in Christ,
Melissa+
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