Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

Earlier this week, the Facility Improvement Team met with architects from Strang, Inc. to review the feedback from the congregation to our building proposals. A revised and slightly reorganized set of options will be presented on Sunday, October 18th after worship. We hope as many as possible can join us for that session in the worship hall after worship.

Why are we talking about the building now anyway? Almost three years ago, we set forth to dream together what ministry here at Orchard Ridge would look like in the ‘next generation’ of our church’s life. Rooted in our wonderful history, we asked members to dream and offer input on directions and ministries we felt God was calling us to as we moved past our 50th year. Over time, with a host of dedicated committees and explorer teams, we fine-tuned and prioritized those hopes and dreams into the Next Generation Initiative report that was presented to the congregation last January. Using that report, we asked the Facility Improvement Team to consider the building needs based on our future sense of call into the future.

In every key area that we feel a sense of God’s direction – our ministry with children and youth, our experience and enjoyment of music and the arts, our hope for deepened spirituality and our desire to become more sustainable and connected to the earth within our faith community – we found it necessary to enhance our current building to achieve the future programmatic ministry and/or growth that we want as a congregation. This building was intentionally and lovingly designed and built over the last 50 years. It has been cared for mostly by a group of dedicated and devoted volunteers. As our ministry and congregation has evolved, so have our needs. Take the Friendship Hall. Built when the building was first erected around 1960, it has served as a multi-purpose room – at time hosting dances, volleyball games, basketball, fencing dinners, sales and Sunday morning conversation time. It is space with limited functionality: acoustically challenging, uninviting, out dated in appearance and unusable for many functions. It sits in the heart of our building, and is a large space that is largely underused. It is time for us to consider how we use it and what it communicates to guests and newcomers, as well as to ourselves.

All three of our building proposals include a major reworking of the lounge and Friendship Hall to improve traffic flow after worship, to create a warm and welcoming place for coffee, conversation, friendship building. They consider removing walls, adding doors and natural light, improving the surfaces of the room, upgrading the lighting for better efficiency and adding up to date AV capabilities. The hope is that such a room would communicate hospitality and support the building of community in ways that it simply does not do currently. While many of us experience community in that room, we do so in spite of that room, not because of it. Guests and new members, however, tell us regularly that the room is very unappealing and not welcoming. It is working against the very values we profess as a church.

To say we need a different kind of Friendship Hall today than we did 50 years ago is a natural evolution in the life of any church. The building proposals seek to consider these same questions for the education wing, our office suite, our worship hall, our classrooms and bathrooms. In the process, we have the opportunity to vastly improve our energy efficiency and our connection to the natural world with new mechanicals and enhanced windows and daylight capturing features.

This opportunity to make a bold and important statement about the future of this church doesn’t come easily or very often. Many of you have given a good deal of time and energy to this process and these discussions. I encourage to look at and study these ideas and to consider what they might mean for our future ministry of progressive and openhearted ministry here. I urge you to consider how a more sustainable and earth connected campus can inspire us as energy consumers. I hope we will be mindful of the importance our renewed focus and sense of ministry in this changing and challenged neighborhood. I hope you will imagine with me and together what ministry for today and tomorrow’s children can mean in a world desperately seeking compassion and grace.

I hope you can join us for the presentation on the 18th at 11:15. Childcare will be provided.

Preached by Winton Boyd, September 27, 2009
Text Acts 8:26-31; 35-40 Continue Reading »

On Sunday, September 20, the Facility Improvement Team presented initial proposals with Strang, Inc. for remodeling or expanding ORUCC’s facility.

This is the Building Options powerpoint presented.

PDF files of the options can also be viewed.

Remodel Plan 1and 2A

Remodel Plan 2B and 3

Welcome Area picture

Friendship Hall picture

Worship Hall picture

The FIT will revise the proposals based on input received and offer another presentation on Sunday, October 18th.  As revised proposals are developed, they will also be posted here.

September 22, 2009

It was a wonderful experience to have Dr. Cal DeWitt in worship yesterday. I was very inspired by his message and his joyful presence. I was deeply engaged with what he shared and am very grateful for his perspective/interpretation of the different Bible passages he offered in regards to our care of creation. His message led to a thought provoking conversation later with my husband. Rob and I have watched a number of documentaries on climate change and have read many articles on this topic (Rob has read way more than I have on this topic actually). There have been times when our 8 year old son has watched these shows as well and when he has he is deeply troubled by the news. Of course the information that is shared about climate change is deeply disturbing for all ages and it’s very hard not to feel overwhelmed by the evidence. Often there is nothing hopeful presented in these documentaries; nothing is shared about what can be done about climate change.

What my husband and I realized yesterday after Dr. DeWitt’s message was helpful for us to name. We sort of described it differently but I think the underlying thought is similar. I shared with Rob that what is often missing in the documentaries on climate change is some explanation of our unique human identity as caretakers of the earth. Rob’s take on it was that nothing is provided in these documentaries to motivate us or empower us. We both felt that Dr. DeWitt’s message yesterday was the helpful, missing ingredient.
Dr. DeWitt helped to explain who we are as children of God—not in some kind of sentimental or abstract way. But he joyfully explained our role and how we are to live on this earth and how this role is full of meaning and purpose. His sharing was fused with the good news that Christ connects all things and reconciles all things and because of this we can be filled with joy.

I find it helpful but also extremely necessary to have these kinds of teachings/discussions about our unique identity as caretakers and gardeners not only with adults but with children and youth. As a church we need to help children process the very distressing news of climate change and also share and experience with them the Christian understanding of our role as children of God and our part in serving and keeping the earth. This role is wrapped up in the good news that Christ holds all things together (Colossians 1:17). This is where hope and joy can be found.

Perhaps this is the start of an ongoing discussion we can have as a church. How can our identity as children of God empower or motivate us to help with environmental concerns? Do we ourselves claim this identity as caretakers and gardeners? How do our children process the news of climate change? And what are we sharing and/or experiencing in our faith that helps them figure out their role as caretakers? These are just a few of the questions I have…

See our new 2009 Fall Brochure for Children and Youth Ministry at ORUCC

WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO
We offer a number of ways for our children to be together, build community and grow in their faith.

One opportunity is through our 9:00 Sunday School program. In each one of the classes we strive to offer experiences that are developmentally appropriate for each age group. Children spend lots of time in hands on activities. We create a space for them with the hope that they will make a connection with God and feel loved and accepted. Children travel with the same two teachers for the whole year. This helps the children develop strong and healthy relationships with adults from our congregation. With parents and children coming regularly to the 9:00 hour (parents enjoying Adult Spiritual Formation programming and/or time connecting with other parents or church folk), friendships are being built, support and care is being given and received, and faith is being deepened. Having Sunday School at 9:00 allows everyone the opportunity to be able to worship at 10:00 and move into that time of worship feeling more prepared and hopefully more attuned to God’s Spirit.