722 N. 145th St. | Shoreline, WA 98133

Update on Church Offices

This week, I thought the most comforting thing you might want to see is an update on how we are recovering from the vandalism of our offices and how we are preparing for the eventual return to in-person worship. We need our friendship, connections and relationship now more than ever as we navigate the coronavirus pandemic, the racial injustice pandemic, and the political uncertainty of our time. We need the assurance of friends, family, church, and worship. So, I want to let you know that your church is healthy. We are thriving in our worship, ministry, fellowship and spiritual growth now, and preparing for to return to the church campus when that is safe.

Here are the basics on restoring the offices after the vandalism:

  • Our Jr. Warden, Chris Johns, had Bulger locksmiths replace all our exterior locks as soon as the police were done writing up their report. (I love the new locks because I now have one master key that gets me through the front door, garage door, storage shed door, outer office door, and my office door, so I went from five keys to one!)
  • The window in my office is currently screwed closed and will be replaced soon.
  • We gathered to say prayers of cleansing and protection in the offices on Thursday with Mothers Carola and Catharine, along with Tina Polf, Chris Johns, Barb Levy and her partner, Marilyn. We burnt a smudge as incense, said prayers in each area to cleans it from evil, suspicion, and malice, and asked for the healing presence of God’s love.
  • The office was professionally cleaned and sanitized on Friday. The carpets were removed, and all furniture is being stored in the parish hall until new carpet is installed. (My office feels so much larger without the bookshelves!)
  • Barb has assembled photos and is creating a detailed list of damages for our insurance claim. Our Church Insurance Agency rep has been very responsive. We will begin to receive reimbursement for expenses soon, minus a $1250 deductible.
  • Chris, Barb, Bill and Neil have a formed a team to investigate a variety of options for upgraded security cameras/systems. We will have something in place as soon as possible.

As you can see, we have been busy cleaning and restoring our spaces for their sacred purposes. The whole church is quite busy right now.

  • The kitchen crew is still working hard every week to feed the hungry. The new dry storage shed is full!
  • The organ is expected to arrive for installation at the end of this month.
  • We have new, automatic doors on almost all the entrances and all the bathrooms, with just one more door to be installed and some electrical work to power the doors.
  • Our new chairs are on the way. The sample chair in the chosen design and color arrived last week and it is beautiful. The chairs link solidly together to form a row, like pews, when desired, they have a very nice book rack under the seat, and a comfortable kneeler that fits under the chair. These chairs will allow us to maximize our attendance while we are still doing social distancing and they will allow us to take best advantage of our space long into the future.
  • Our pews went to St. George’s Episcopal Church in Maple Valley. They are very excited to have these beautiful pews and we are very happy to see them put to such good use.
  • We have applied for a grant to buy video equipment to allow us to live-stream our services both now and in the future, when we are able to return to in-person worship. (Many thanks to Tom Wear who has been using his personal video equipment to publish our services.)

I miss seeing you all. I hope that you are well, that you are safe, and that we can be together again soon.

With love,
David+