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Pastor · Sunday Schedule · FBC
News
2001
From the Pastor
A SACRED SPACE
For the first time this summer I visited the old First Baptist building on Collingwood Blvd. Its stone arches and stained glass continues to call people to prayer. I entered the sanctuary and was immediately struck with a sense of awe and wonder. The building is now home to the First Church of God, a leading congregation in Toledo, and they expressed both gratitude and praise for the vision of First Baptist in building the Collingwood Church.
Seeing the building, particularly the sanctuary, I understand more fully the impetus of our current congregation to complete our present sanctuary. It is a part of who we are, a people who seek the creation of a beautiful space for worship.
I think it is a very important aspect of both our heritage and our mission.
We need spaces that uplift our spirits, that call us to prayer, that in their beauty awake a certain sense of wonder. So many modern buildings, even churches, are just there, they are flat, they are uninteresting, they do nothing to wake the spirit side of us. We need buildings where when you enter you are inspired, otherwise you begin to think that is all there is, a flat, uninteresting world.
Going into a church building should begin to cause you to think deeper thoughts. It should place you in a world where God is real. It should cause you to begin thinking about mystery and wonder.
Dava Sobel in his book Galileo's Daughter summarizes Galileo's philosophy with these words, "As earnestly as men may seek to understand the workings of the universe, they must remember that God is not hampered by their limited logic - that all observed effects may have been wrought by Him in anyone of an infinite number of omnipotent ways," (p. 109). Spaces that create such thoughts lead both toward a religious quest and better science, it inspires us onward and deeper, and makes our lives holier and more grateful.
The overwhelming feeling I had when I left the old First Baptist was one of gratitude. I was grateful for the people who had built the building. I was grateful for the hospitality of the people who invited us back and welcomed us. And, most especially I was grateful to God for his infinite mercy revealed in the stained glass and stone arches.
This leads me to our new sanctuary. There will be nothing like it in all of Springfield Township. I am not aware of any other building in all of Springfield Township that will be as beautiful. I do not say this arrogantly but with a certain humility, because in fact it is not our building. It belongs to God. We have given it to God to be an instrument of His mercy and grace.
We want it to be a special place but most of all we want it to be God's place, a sacred place. We want to bathe it with prayer and bless it with our stewardship so God might be at the center of it and praise may be in it, even when we are absent from it.
My hope would also be that some of our own members will use the occasion of our move back to the sanctuary as an opportunity to return and once more make worship a central part of their lives. I invite your presence and devotion so in prayer and praise we might exclaim the goodness of the lord and our trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Dr. David W. Andersen
          
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