Dear Old South Church,
As we face forward into this weekend, I am honored to steward a church and a ministry with such an abundance of passion, age, and diversity. The conversation in which we are currently engaged began in 1669 and has been 343 years in the making. We picked it up in mid-sentence from our forebears and, soon enough, we will pass it to those who follow. At the heart of this passionate conversation are these core questions: What is a church? What is our purpose? Our mission? How does God call and claim us in our day? The lifeblood of a vital church lies, not in silver, books, pews or any material object, but in our ministries of mercy, justice and beauty, in our lives of Christian discipleship, in God's tender and triumphant Good News to which we give witness day in and day out from the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth Streets. It is the people of Old South who make a home in our hearts for God, for the poor and dispossessed for whom God has a special love, for future generations and for all the communities that we touch.
Maintaining this historic building and platform for ministry is unavoidable, complex, and expensive. We have a responsibility to protect the public, our children and our elders with a safe, secure and functional facility. The good news is that Old South has a chance to self-rescue. It is unfortunate that so many of our friends and neighbors have lost their places of worship due to economic issues and an inability to take the sort of action available to us.
The Board of Trustees, Finance Committee, Church Council and Operations Committee have undergone an arduous congregational process. We have presented, discussed, and worried over these matters for many, many years through a multitude of forums: dialogues, financial teach-ins, listening sessions, Annual Meetings, sermons, in online forums and newsletters. Recently, your Church Council voted without dissent to bring this proposed vote and conversation to the full members for your thoughtful deliberation.
The Trustees, members of Council, and Finance and Operations Committees are comprised of professionals who are among the keenest minds in finance, business, architecture and real estate. Together they have spent years painstakingly exploring every conceivable alternative to avoid the decisions that come before us this Sunday. No church wants to dispose of its valuable material possessions. Such recommendations are not achieved lightly.
It is marvelously evident in this process is that people are passionately committed to this church's ministries. We are all fighting to keep it afloat. Thanks be to God! We continue to hear from a broad representation of members and friends. With so much care and attention, it is not surprising that there is media interest in our deliberations.
On Sunday we will meet yet again in civil, if impassioned, congregational fashion. Everyone's voice will be heard and everyone's opinion respected. Together we will take up the core questions of our life together: What is a church? What is our purpose? Our mission? How does God call and claim us in our day? What does God hope from us for tomorrow?
Together we shall begin a new chapter in this venerable and still unfolding story.