When Anna asked if I might reflect on "Stewardship as it relates to buildings and the importance of supporting churches and public buildings" the most difficult task I had was where to start and then, of course, how to gather my thoughts on paper. I reflected on the subject matter for a week or so then a thought came to mind.

By way of background, last fall Carol and I agreed to be sponsors for a young couple in our parish who were taking the confirmation course that Anna and Rev. Ansley Tucker hosted at Christ Church. We were required to join them for the entire event. In the first session Rev. Tucker began the course with an outline of the structure of the liturgy.

The liturgy begins with the "Gathering of the Community". We learned that the gathering was more than just the "Welcome and Announcements" followed by the opening prayer as outlined in the bulletin. It made sense that it actually started the evening before, or sooner in some cases, when everyone who planned to attend the Sunday service went through a process of, setting out the clothes, scouring around getting washed and groomed in the morning, clothed and fed, loaded into the car, arriving at church, being greeted, and meeting other folks from all other walks of life; folks like us who have just gone through the similar activities to prepare and together come before God to share our trials and tribulations of the week and be strengthened by faith for the days and week ahead and to go forth into the community to do it all over again.

So if this is an important element of our liturgy then perhaps it stands to reason that the church would be the "Gathering Place "and as such a public building for all to gather, with no question asked as to who we are and no restriction as to who can or cannot be present.

The church, then in fact, is more than just bricks and mortar. It is the actual embodiment of the countless hours of stewardship through the giving of our time, talent and resources to plan, construct, repair and maintain. The transformation of our time, talent and resources in the building upkeep and maintenance in itself is another way of stewardship or giving to the community.

The thought of our church as a public building is not something to which we give much thought. I would think most of us consider church buildings "ours" or "private" because we built them with our collective resources without the support of the public's money. I believe this thinking is slowly changing for the best as we recognize the importance of our mission and ministry to the community at large.

As good stewards it is our responsibility to ensure that our public building is safe (physically and environmentally), welcoming in its appearance and dignified and respectful to the limitations and frailties of those who we welcome.

As we have witnessed in our day to day lives, public buildings are always going through a need for upgrades and maintenance to keep them physically renewed and socially welcoming. We at St Laurence have been blessed with the opportunity to witness such an event. Through countless hours of commitment of so many to the discernment and planning process and the stewardship to raise the funds, we have achieved this goal. We have a building in which we can continue to gather for many more years, a building that has now just begun to be used more and more by the community.

We are secure in the fact that we are compliant to all building and environmental codes. We have a building that is flexible, pleasant and welcoming and, most importantly, has elevator and washroom accessibility to provide dignified and independent access and support.

I have witnessed a tremendous heightened enthusiasm, invigoration and energy ...both in our gathering for worship on Sunday mornings, the Wisdom Centre and other events we host and the pride we have in opening ourselves up to the public for other uses. I truly believe it is because together at St Laurence we made a tremendous stewardship commitment with a renewed sense of priority to the church and our mission to serve the community.

It is the culmination of years of commitment of time, talent and money of the whole community together that has brought us to this point in time. However, time continues on and we are called to be, not only for today, but always to be good stewards. In doing so our church can continue to function and support our mission in the community for years to come.