Many Threads: One Place of Welcome

Why are we building a building?

The safe, left-brain answer: to house our Kerikeri congregation.

The not-so-safe, right-brain answer: to pursue our mission. Not so safe because it is different from what's been the case. But it is what we feel called to do as a distinctive way to serve, to be Christ-shaped people for the well-being of this place, Kerikeri, and its people.

Our building will in fact house our congregation. Home for us and open home for others. As our home we will be at the heart of the building as kaitiaki, tending the “home fires” keeping it warm and welcoming.

As a church (that's us the people) and as a body with charitable status, we are here for the sake of others. To maintain our identity as such (with God) and our status as such (with the government) we have to keep the focus beyond ourselves. Our new building is to be one way of doing that, and the decision to involve the community in the planning right from the beginning is a reflection of that. We continue that process asking this question:

What would enable our building to be a place of welcome for all kinds of people? A spiritual space. A place where God's Spirit speaks to all who may enter. In particular, what visual possibilities.

We will be church within this space, not shying away from who we are. One user group among the others, we will have the responsibility of provide the distinctive values and the spirit that can make sure that the building is a safe place, a nurturing place even, for all who come. We want it to embody the unconditional love that is our core belief as Christians.

Almost like an alternative realm to the prevailing world that we are all caught up in: a realm of welcome and belonging in the midst of the realm of consumerism and expendability. A place for seeking spiritual sight in a culture of the blind pursuit of more. A place of imagination and of spiritual growth.