By The Reverend Manisha Dostert, Senior Associate Rector
Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
– Joel 2.28
There are times when God gives us a glimpse into the future through dreams, visions and plans. The reason God gives us these visions is because we can never fully know what will happen in the future nor are we called to know everything about the future, but, sometimes, just sometimes, God shares a small part of God’s dream for us and whispers, “I will show you a little about tomorrow so you will know what it is like to trust in me today.”
When I saw the vision for our church as laid out in the Background Statement for Christ Church Cranbrook, I felt as if this was a moment when the Spirit was peeling back the cover to the future and providing that rare glimpse into God’s plan for our congregational community. It is a robust and beautiful vision for creating new spaces for ministry in and around our church building, providing more space outside on our campus for prayer and gathering, creating more gifts for music in our worship life and supporting new missions and outreach. It will require our faith and trust that God is caring for us, supporting us and providing us, for sure. However, it actually asks a little more– this dream of campus and ministry renewal encourages us to believe and trust God will use our gifts, our sacrifices, our offerings not just for our generation’s sake but for the sake of those who will follow us. It is the same faith the Booth family had, and all the families after them had who gave generously and liberally to a church so you and I can have a spiritual home to do the work and ministry of God today.
This weekend, we will share at worship the Background Statement For Christ Church Cranbrook with you. Take it home, pray over it and see if matches the visions and dreams you have for your church home. The following week you will be invited to take a survey to share whether you, too, have had a glimpse of the future for our church. Until then, keep dreaming those dreams, for the Spirit is being poured out onto us.