The Little Church That Could

Almost two years ago (actually, the last Sunday of October) Norm and I became members of Compton Heights Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the South City area of St. Louis. After he retired from ministry in November 2003, we spent an entire year visiting other congregations of various denominations to get a sense of the various styles of worship out there, and how the Spirit is moving in various places. And we needed to take our own spiritual pulse as well, after 18 years in one place. We appreciated being invited to share communion with the Lutheran and Methodist worshippers in our own neighborhood--literally within walking distance. We renewed long-ago friendships with people in several Disciples congregations in the St. Louis area, and we visited the UCC congregations in Illinois where our friend Mike Dixon was serving as an interim pastor. But we kept coming back to Compton, although it's a 12-mile, 30-minute drive from where we live. This is a small but incredibly alive spiritual community with a strong sense of local mission and outreach and a welcome to everyone, regardless of station in life. I took this picture this morning, before worship, on a warm and sunny World Communion Sunday.

Compton is an Open and Affirming congregation, one of only two in Missouri. Recently we did a church-wide study of the topic of hospitality, how to extend God's gracious welcome to all who come to our doors, and we realized that our building presents many barriers for anyone with limited mobility. [Certainly my brief experience this summer with the aftermath of arthroscopic knee surgery illustrated the difficulty that faces a lot of people who don't use wheelchairs or crutches, but still have problems getting around.] So, a couple of weeks ago the congregation voted unanimously to start an accessibility project. The brickwork and the steps at the front of the church are cracked and crumbling enough to be hazardous, and they will be replaced with an attractive ramp that will get people from street level into the front doors with much less effort than is required now. Sometime in the future we hope to be able to provide full access to the lower and upper levels as well. Inside the church, we will have two new accessible restrooms to replace two cramped water closets now in use. We'll also get an updated kitchenette, important because almost every Compton gathering in our library/parlor on the sanctuary level seems to call for coffee and munchies to go with it!

All of this has a price, and we are all taking a big leap of faith and going on a wing and a prayer, as the old saying goes. Next month, we'll formally start a campaign to underwrite the approximate $124,000 cost for this project. Given the enthusiasm everyone has shown, there's every reason to believe we will succeed, but for this tiny congregation, about 50 worshipping on any given Sunday out of some 80 active members, it is a challenge nevertheless. Norm was a co-chair of the committee that selected the architect and recommended the plans, and he is also co-chair of the campaign committee. So we will welcome your thoughts and your prayers. And I'll post updates on the project as it goes along.