Everybody Welcome 2 - the buildings

Tonight the church IS the buildings. We looked at all aspects - how the buildings work for those with disabilities of various kinds to people with not enough hair. We looked at the outside (even in the dark) and the inside, the front and the back. So what came out of it?

Everyone recognised that we have a superbly flexible campus. Most agreed that the utility nature of thebuilding means that it does not easily stand out and represent the Glory of God. Our discussion group seemed to agree that it was a good trade-off. That in itself underlines the fact that we can never be evrything to everybody. If you want to worship in a 'glorious' building you won't be happy at Christ Church.

We seemed to agree that the outside and the foyer leave something to be desired, that the worship space looks cluttered and could do with a makeover.

There were a few more insightful comments:

• Jane pointed out that we are neither one thing nor the other - the building is 1960's, some of the trappings are much older and look out of place.
• Rita thought the church looked unfinished with its bare brick walls and cable runs here, there and everywhere. She even had some pictures that indicated how it might look.

Both these people are seeing the church as relatively (to me) new members. They have not seen the years of small changes that I have lived through. They have noticed that the net effect is not positive, although each was done for a good reason. I just haven't stood back and looked at our building like that before.

Just this one change of view made the evening worthwhile for me, so thank you to those with a fresher view of the buildings. There is MUCH more that that to be had from the conversations that took place.

One major talking point was the length of the coffee queue. Various ideas were offered aimed at getting people away from the hatch, and generally serving faster. None of us like to wait for our tea and coffee after an exhausting worship session.

The first DVD section was called 'Worrying about Anxiety', the presenters are sitting in a kitchen. My main anxiety at this point was for the person who designed the tiling behind them! That's what my mind does when I loose concentration for a minute or so.