Pastoral Letter (Feb 16)
Dear COAH,
Space will always be an issue for any church. Larger churches tend to not have enough space as the congregation grows. We know this issue all too well in Young Nak as the needs of different ministries, ethnic churches, and various groups arise. Yet, we should be grateful in this challenge. There are many small churches that have trouble filling their space on a Sunday morning. I visited a small church in Kingston last Spring facing this issue. There are also medium-sized churches that cannot find suitable spaces to rent because of the real estate prices or a lack of amenities. I know of one EM church that’s planning to move soon but had trouble finding a new space to rent until recently while another EM church is thinking about renovating their current space because they’ve reached capacity. By God’s grace, these are good problems to have as challenging as they may be.
Recently, with the electrical power problems, we had again come face-to-face with the church building being closed. Although the pandemic taught us to be ready with online worship, there was a feeling of emptiness that surpassed even that of the lockdowns. We had a taste of what many smaller North American churches are going through with declining numbers and empty pews. Please don’t get me wrong. It’s not about the numbers and how many people walk into the building on a given Sunday morning. It’s more about how God has given us a space and place of worship, “his house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isa 56:7), and that many people call Young Nak/COAH their home church.
Like any home, the church building requires maintenance and care. Thankfully, we have paid maintenance staff who maintain, clean, and make sure the building is safe and secure. But I think this is also an area where, not just the staff or the leaders, but every member of COAH can be stewards of the church building. Small gestures like cleaning/sweeping the gym floor after use, helping to clean up after Sunday fellowship, making sure to set up/clean up after using chapel space, picking up any loose trash even if it’s not yours, making sure a room is set up/cleaned up for the next user, these can all add up over time. It's also a good time to start praying that the repairs and renovations to the church's electrical systems will go smoothly and any potential building shutdown during the construction will be minimized. Just like it would be difficult to obtain a mortgage without good credit history, it would be difficult to be entrusted with the church building without signs of faithfulness. The initiative each of us takes helps with building good relations with the parent congregation so that we can continue to share in the church space. We may not own it, but let us be good stewards of God’s house.
Blessings!
Pastor Ron Kwon