Join us for Forum between services 9-15-19 – Sanctuary Renewal Proposal Seventy years ago, members of Gloria Dei made a major commitment to the current design of our sanctuary and it has obviously served us very well. Now, it’s our turn to look ahead. Renewing our worship space will help renew us as a congregation. It will help us build on our leadership role in faith, community, and justice long into the future. After a summer of conversations and presentations, we will come together to make decisions on our master plan. Forum on 9/15 (Fellowship Hall, 9:30 a.m.) will prepare us for the congregational meeting on October 13. Your voice and vote are essential for the process. Do you still have questions? Please visit the website to read the full report by clicking here.
On Sunday, May 19, the Sanctuary Renewal Task Force presented the proposed design for congregational study, discussion, and consideration.
Throughout its work to address the needs identified by the congregation, the Sanctuary Renewal Task Force has been guided by the ELCA Principles of Faith, which state, “The renewal of [worship] space is a renewal of the faith community.” Renewing our space will also renew each of us and prepare us to expand Gloria Dei’s historic leadership role in supporting faith, community, and justice into the future.
The Sanctuary Renewal Project arose from the convergence of two challenges:
- It has become increasingly difficult, in a worship space that lacks both the accessibility and the flexibility to enable full participation by all and extend full welcome to our community, to fully support our mission to be a caring, healing, and welcoming
- The organ providing music essential to our worship is not of high quality and has become increasingly difficult and costly to Replacement with an organ of sufficient quality to meet our needs and enable greater community outreach will also require reconfiguration of our worship space.
The Sanctuary Renewal Task Force and the Organ Committee have been working, in collaboration with Foresight Architects, to address these interrelated challenges through a renewal design that is beautiful, welcoming, and flexible. The proposed design includes installation of a high-quality, used Casavant pipe organ, rebuilt by Orgues LeTourneau, which will fully meet our music and worship needs for many years.
SANCTUARY RENEWAL PURPOSE STATEMENT
Renewing our Worship Space to Be Beautiful, Welcoming, and Flexible
The goal of the Sanctuary Renewal Project is to meet Gloria Dei’s current and future ministry needs with a renewed worship space that is beautiful, welcoming, and flexible.
- The space honors, promotes, and supports a sacred worship experience that is faithful to our mission and respects our traditions of inspirational music, empowering preaching, and sacramental community.
- The space is accessible, allowing full participation by all, regardless of physical abilities, and expands our outreach to our community in areas such as social justice, music, art, and neighborhood engagement and celebration.
- The space looks to the future and is flexible enough to enable variety and growth in worship and community events.
These needs were identified from congregational input provided at a “Needs Assessment” workshop in November 2018. The input is summarized in a “Needs Assessment Report and Summary,” available on the GDLC website.
Summer of Conversations – find out how you can learn more about the project and participate in discussions with the task force team and other members of Gloria Dei.
Pastor Bradley’s Opening Remarks prior to the Presentation
Read the Vision Statement from the Organ Committee
Additional information this summer – watch your email and the church website
Presentation materials are available in the church office
Tell us what you think! Send your ideas and questions to office@gloriadeistpaul.org with “Sanctuary Renewal” in the subject line.
