Beyond their financial generosity to area institutions, the founders of our community had a felt need for a gathering space in which to experience the sacred together. Enabled by their investment, we encounter the transcendent with exquisite music in the colored light of the stained glass windows, discover the sacred in classrooms as we bring our scholarly tools to the ancient text, and revel in the Spirit’s presence around tables sharing food and fellowship. In our gathered experience of the sacred we are inspired to work for justice, compassion, and peace.
Investment in our gathering space has been an investment in our outreach. Our space has served as a catalyst for launching new ministries that have now become self-sustaining, ministries like Eden Lab School, Webster Child Care, and StudioSTL. Currently we host Sts. Clare and Francis, an emerging Ecumenical Catholic congregation that shares our inclusive vision. LaLeche League, OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change), and AARP Tax Assistance are ministries now offered in our space. While providing sanctuary for our gathered community our space simultaneously expands our outreach far beyond our seeing.
As we page through the stories of our space, we discover that projects were enabled not by a single generous benefactor but by the combined commitment of the gathered community. We also discover in these rich stories that though shaped by external reality, the timing of each new project was determined by need.
The need today is critical. Both to support our gathered community and to inspire another generation of outreach, our facility needs repair. The first phase of our plan will begin to provide much needed accessibility, replace inefficient roofing and windows, and foster community by revising our community kitchen. This is the first phase in a Master Plan that will transform our space to embody our vision for a space that is accessible, flexible, visible and ‘green’.
It’s our time… to tend the bricks and mortar
in order that this incredible legacy might continue.
