Blog:FOREST LAKE TALKS

Next week, our Church Parlor will begin to undergo a refresh!  First the room will be given a fresh coat of paint, and after that the carpet will be replaced.  That Parlor has been the living room of this congregation since it was built.  There was a great deal of division and disagreement over the expense of building it, back in the day.  But with hindsight, we can see how this congregational living room has made our community life so much richer.  That room has beautifully hosted more funerals and funeral receptions than we can count.  Multiple weddings have happened there. Every Easter at Sunrise, we shout “Hallelujah! The Lord is Risen!”, and Confirmation classes and their families have been welcomed into the active adult life of our congregation at breakfasts in the Parlor.  That doesn’t include the faith formation classes and small groups that use that room, or the ways in which FLPC has loaned that room for baby showers and birthday parties.  To say that the Parlor has been well used and loved is probably an understatement.  But all of that “love” comes with a cost.  The carpet has become embarrassingly stained, and some of the furniture broken. The room is in need of some “love” if we want it to continue to welcome people. 

So, the generous gift of a church member (who wants to remain anonymous) allowed us to replace the carpet, and that spurred the Property Ministry and Session to find the money to allow the room to be painted before new carpet is installed.  That member saw a need and stepped in to make this happen.  We are the stewards of this building and property that has been given to our care and use.  And there are some things that we know we need to do to repair, and safeguard the investment that we and generations before us have made in this community.  Many of you know that our elevator is now at the age when some of the parts are obsolete.  It needs to be replaced to make our buildings accessible to all. The Fire Alarm system is near the end of its life, and sensors continue to die one at a time.  And there is more.  The Session has voted to hold a capital campaign in 2026 to address these and other “stewardship” issues.  Our Church is healthy, strong, and growing, and we want and need to make sure that we prepare our facilities to welcome all who come seeking Christ in the future.  

Watch the transformation in the Parlor, and then listen out for news of the Capital Campaign.  I am grateful for the generosity that made the Parlor refresh happen, and I hope that you will prayerfully prepare to contribute to this Capital Campaign to address the other issues.  The folks who have been here for the first seventy years of FLPC’s life gave us quite a gift.  It is our turn to prepare for the second seventy years.  Look up and forward!