Now, the dust is settling and we have made our fourth move to our fifth home in 12 years. Our new home is not perfect (none of them have been!), and it’s different.

The big issue for us as a community is not whether there is too much or too little lighting, when coffee is available, or what it feels like to have fellowship hour and worship in the same space- the big issue is can we recreate our loving, caring community again in new space. Can we create new sacred space?

Wonderfully, in three gyms we have been able to focus our sacred space inward, as a place to enter. Our hearts, our warmth, our welcoming smiles created a circle of sacred space in the middle of quite unaesthetic space.

Can we create that same sense of welcoming spirit in a tiled cafeteria? Can we recreate our worshipping community in a slightly new way? I believe we can. We can widen our vision to include larger, more echoing acoustics, brighter lighting in front and dimmer lighting in back, we can remember that it is always about each one of us, creating worship with each mind and every heart.

We can be gentle with one another as we negotiate this new space; we can learn to embrace a more porous and spontaneous Fellowship Hour- it’s hard to escape. As one member told me, you must pass through it at the end of worship.

The boundaries between worship and fellowship are definitely more porous when they are in the same space. So, we each must be a bit more intentional about the transitions. I hope that the sound of our worship chime will continue to allow the silence of sacred time and space to descend upon us, as it has so effectively done before.

Each of us creates the space for worship with our intention and appreciation for the need for special space and time to be set aside. Our adults model this transition for our children and youth, too. It’s through subtle acts of respect and care that we create something entirely wonderful as a community wherever we may find ourselves.

The worshiping Prairie community is something to hold dear. We must recreate it for one another not only at Sierra, but when we meet in other spaces for memorial services and weddings. This is how we have learned that our community is not about a building, but about each one of us, heart by heart, creating together sacred space.