Summer & Being Under Construction
Under construction. If you are driving in almost any direction around our city, there’s a good chance you’ll encounter these words disrupting your well-planned route. Recently I saw them warning cars not to venture down a neighborhood street where a long-awaited drainage problem was being addressed.
Everything was such a mess. The entire street had been torn up to make room for the new, necessary pipes.
This kind of work is so inconvenient, and yet it seems like any real repair, any lasting change requires digging beneath the surface. Not only is this kind of project disruptive, but it almost always takes longer than anticipated.
Under construction describes the way many people arrive to our community. Having deconsctructed a black & white faith, many are looking for a place to heal. Others simply come curious, open to having their lives shaped by the scriptures, stories and Spirit they encounter within this hodgepodge of humans.
Together, we are making church - we are making the road - by walking it together.
This feels especially true right now.
Throughout this summer, we are leaning into being under construction. We’ll continue to create space to nurture community, to host meaningful conversations (like this one), to share our “under construction” stories, to explore scripture & to be in prayer together. During our Sunday gatherings, we’ll be using Barbara Brown Taylor’s An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith as a springboard for reflection. If you want to read along, we have a few extra copies to share or you can order your own here. Recounting how her own spiritual journey has blurred the lines between the “sacred” and “secular”, her words encourage us toward practicing a faith that is integrated into daily life.
As we prepare for this next phase in The Well’s story, we are also continuing to dive deeper into relationships with community partners. Details are still unfolding, but we know we’ll be weaving in some work projects with the Sanctuary on 8th Street and Overalls Farm 3. A group from The Well and Neighborhood Commons are also taking a field trip (June 21-25) to visit our friends at Community Happens Here and Tikkun Farm in Cincinnati, Ohio to learn from the good work happening there.
Like almost every construction project I’ve witnessed, this season is bound to include some surprises. My prayer is that we will trust the Spirit, stay rooted in Love and keep widening our welcome of the necessary New.