There are moments in our lives when we think "wow, I am really blazing the trail here" but I think now more than ever we have that feeling. A few weeks ago it was announced that our ward (the church congregation we meet with each Sunday based on geographic location), The Logan Square Ward, would be split. We were told that where we lived, would be in the boundaries for the new Lake Shore 1st Ward. The purpose of the split is to "Bring more souls unto Christ". You see, before we were split, our ward had approximately 800 members (!!!), with 200+ members actively coming each Sunday. With this many people in our congregation, it left a lot of people to "get lost in the shuffle" and less focus on each individual person. Now, with two smaller wards created from the one, the ward is much more manageable, and we can increase our efforts to focus on the one.
The unique thing about this new ward is that it is the "Downtown Chicago Ward"-- everyone that lives downtown now attends this ward. I think our leaders would like to see a greater LDS presence downtown. Eventually, we will meet in a building right downtown, but while we are in this transition period, we actually meet in a schoolhouse. This is quite different for many of us who have always gone to church in a building like this:
And now we go to church in this building, the Newberry Academy:
I think its exciting to meet in a unique place such as a schoolhouse. I do miss the pictures of the Savior, and the sweet spirit that is found in an LDS Chapel, as well as the soft pews... but this gives us the opportunity to create that spirit ourselves, as ward members and work harder to create that spirit each week as we meet there. It reminds me of all the young wards out there throughout the world that meet in "non-traditional chapels". Sometimes they meet in someones house, or a small tiny building; not everyone is blessed to have their own chapel. Wards around the world are working hard to build up The Kingdom of God, so that their numbers will grow and they might one day have a chapel. We are now a part of that group-- the modern-day pioneers. The church is the same no matter where in the world you are, or what building you meet in. This schoolhouse will become our home for our ward each week as we meet there.
1 comment:
Love this post! You said it right - we are pioneers :) (I do miss the soft seats too, though...;)) Can't wait for the day we see a beautiful LDS chapel in the Loop. Let's go get 'um...bringing souls unto Christ!
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