The Windows Continued

So this past Sunday morning (January 8) we did make a decision about the sanctuary windows at Christ Lutheran Church.  The current windows are standard military issue windows, circa World War II, reflecting our building's history as a chapel at nearby Otis Air Force Base.  In the early 1960s, the founding members of the congregation disassembled the chapel after it was decommissioned by the military and moved it to its current location on Brick Kiln Road.

We gathered in the sanctuary, with its pebbled glass, multi-paned windows.  We gathered around technology that the founding members probably couldn't imagine being in the church fifty years ago: a PowerPoint presentation projected onto a portable screen.  This alone was somewhat momentous as it is the first time we have used our projection equipment in the worship space itself.  We have always reserved it for special meetings in the fellowship hall.  The suggestion that the projector might somehow be used in the worship setting has been greeted with general suspicion, as though technology might cheapen the worship experience.  After all, if there is no bulletin, where will the sermon-inspired doodles go?

Our decision came down to a simple vote between two options: a style similar to what we have currently:

And a more contemporary style:

We picked the more contemporary style, I think with the hopes that it will represent a new way of being for the congregation; a sense of greater openness toward the community.

For me as pastor, the best part was that, even though it was not a unanimous decision, the vote was peaceful.  I came into the meeting fearing that there would be passionate displays of emotion (yes, even from Lutherans)  I thought I would have to function as a moderator between two sides, traditional versus contemporary.  I feared I would have to put the lessons of my webinar on conflict management to good use. 

Instead, we voted, we accepted the results and we moved on.  Perhaps there will be some parking lot grumbling.  Perhaps there will be some buyer's regret.  Yet overall, it was a fine moment for Cape Cod Lutherans.