Grounds for hope
"We believe that the church exists for the world and not for itself; therefore, its own buildings and programs are to be used for the actual life, service, and witness to the world of God’s grace and love.”
Imagine walking around the church grounds and seeing:
…a picnic pavilion…
...a forest of fruit trees…
...an amphitheater…
...a green burial ground…
…a profitable farm…
...affordable housing…
…a community garden…
...a semi-permeable parking lot…
These are just some of the ideas for grounds use that have been raised over the past few years. During that time, we’ve also built a beautiful new playground, we’ve added, maintained, and replaced picnic tables, added neighborhood composting, a pollinator garden, a bioretention basin, and new tree plantings. With so many wonderful ideas and possibilities, how do we make wise decisions now and in the future?
Research and queries within church networks led us to three possible candidates for this work, all of whom specialize in working with churches. Over the course of multiple conversations, proposals, and revisions, Session conversations with two potential consulting groups, and a called meeting to discern next steps, the Session landed with Proximity Project, Inc to take the lead.
Proximity Project (https://www.proximityprojectinc.com/) works “to empower churches to discover missionally-aligned ways to steward their property to contribute to the common good of their neighborhood.” Sara Joy Proppe is the founder, and in addition to extensive experience, she brings her passion “about equipping churches to be the hands and feet of Jesus in their neighborhoods through faithful
and creative property stewardship.”
Sara Joy’s proposal brings in the expertise of Cite Design
(https://www.cite-design.com/), a landscape architecture firm based in
Richmond. Cite Design has worked with many churches in this kind of
work, and one of their team members is a Harrisonburg native!
Next Steps
As we prepare for the next steps in the development of this project, we need your help. The Congregational meeting on Sunday, January 25th, will include a presentation on the first draft of the proposal from Cite Design, and we want your feedback!
We want to know: Does this align with who we are? Did they hear and understand us, and does this reflect our values and priorities? What do you like? What do you not like? And, any other preliminary feedback or questions.
Email the office your feedback, or participate in one of three Zoom feedback sessions this week:
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Tuesday, January 27th, at 2pm (Zoom Link Here)
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Wednesday, January 28th, at 4pm (Zoom Link Here)
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Thursday, January 29th, at 5:30pm (Zoom Link Here)
