The Word to Woodstock

From Strasburg I took Tariku to Woodstock.  This seemed like swinging from one end of the congregational spectrum to the other:  from a church whose calling was to rise up from the ashes, to a church that was working to complete a 1.3 million dollar addition to their facility.  The project stretched over three years but pledges to the capital campaign were met in about two and a half years.  Groundbreaking happened in March 2011 and the construction continued for 225 days.

Because it was still under construction, we had to put on hard hats to take our tour, and in each part of the building we could imagine several different uses that would support and resource the congregation's ministry and outreach into the community.

One factor that gave impetus to this building project was the need to have a totally accessible fellowship hall for use by the congregation and also by the community.  Several stories that reveal God at work in Woodstock have arisen throughout the course of this building project.  (Those who are interested can access Pastor Lisa Webb's blog at http://growingandbuilding.blogspot.com)  The presbytery will get to experience this new facility for themselves when Woodstock hosts our Presbytery meeting on November 13, 2012.

Of all the stories that are part of this history in the making, my favorite is this one.  There was a time before the groundbreaking, before any construction bids were received, when some people at Woodstock were beginning to have second thoughts about going ahead with this project.  The capital campaign was well under way, and people had been paying on their pledges and the balance in the building fund was growing steadily.  But as everyone knows, the economy was not in a good place, and except for the architects plans, there was nothing else to show for all their efforts.  Some began to wonder if the project should be scrapped, or at least delayed.  Some did not want to do anything until all of the money that was needed had been collected.  By all accounts that I have heard, this was an uncertain and uneasy time.

At about this same time people were cleaning out closets in the old Sunday school rooms.  Among the things  they discovered was a sealed shoe box that was a "time capsule" project of a Sunday school class twenty five years ago.  Pastor Lisa Webb decided it would be fun to unseal and open the shoe box time capsule at worship one Sunday.  When they opened it they found some Sunday school materials, a photograph of the Sunday school class participants, and an amazing poster that the children had colored.  The poster contained what seemed to be a definite word to Woodstock

Amazing, don't you think?  A direct word (in English and in writing no less) that remains sealed and hidden and forgotten for 25 years in a dusty Sunday school closet, and then finds the light of day and speaks at exactly the time when that word is needed.  (I still get emotional thinking about it.)  Such a clear word to move ahead.  Build the Church!  God was in this and everyone else who was in this felt God's presence and leading.

My observation as one who stood somewhat on the fringes of this unfolding faith journey is that those who had ears to hear did indeed hear this word from God.  From that point on there was no looking back and now the building that God led them to construct is complete.

This is certainly one of the stories that shows God at work in the churches of Shenandoah Presbytery.  This story touched Tariku's heart and through him will touch many other churches in Ethiopia.  I know there are more stories like this in our congregations.  Perhaps some are still sealed in shoe boxes, hidden in forgotten closets.  It's time to dig them out.  Time to remember.  Time to share those stories with each other.  Because in every story we share where God is at work, there is power to Build the Church.