August 3, 2009
The Associated Press reports today: “While
Our congregation, whose name Via de Cristo means “way of Christ,” faces a similar challenge to airport chapels. Last year we purchased three condos in an office park. Like every other occupant, we have our name on the building. However, there is no cross and flame symbol beside the name. Should we have a right to use our symbol specific to our identity as a Christian, United Methodist congregation? Yes, if every other occupant in the office park is allowed to use their symbol specific to their identity and branding. No, if every other occupant is prevented from using their identifier. The latter approach is what the property owners association decided for all of us.
I am reminded of a story still being told twenty years ago in one of my churches after the building had been in use for decades. The congregation had run out of building funds and the Trustees had to remove the steeple from their architectural drawings. One woman in the congregation believed so strongly in the necessity of a tall steeple with a cross on top that she single-handedly raised the funds necessary for the construction. They named the steeple after her.
That congregation was far more blessed by the tall people, the leaders and followers who overcame this challenge, than they ever were by the tall steeple that eventually became lost in the city’s skyline.
As a pastor, I do not need a tall steeple (or any other symbol) near as much as I need stand tall people whose character, integrity, vision and compassion brings to mind the way of Christ.
Copyright 2009 by Kenneth L. Morrison All Rights Reserved
Dr. Ken Morrison
Pastor
Via de Cristo United Methodist Fellowship
480-515-4490
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