Bearing the Weight Together

This Sunday, on Spring Parish Day, we’ll take markers in hand and sign a steel beam. It will become the lintel above the entrance to our new building.

That beam will bear weight. It will carry the load of walls and roof and weather. But it will also carry something more: our names, our prayers, our hopes. We mark it not just for history, but as a witness — that we are here, building something together.

In Deuteronomy, in words known as the Shema, the people of Israel are told to remember and love God with heart, soul, and might — and to “write these words on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). The Shema is a call to mark sacred spaces with visible reminders of God’s presence and promises. On Sunday, when we write our names on this beam, we are echoing that action — to make love visible, to pass on faith, and to frame our life together in God.

We aren’t just signing steel; we are setting intentions. We are blessing the coming and going of all who will walk through this entrance — with questions or gratitude, in sorrow or in joy. And we are trusting, as Psalm 121:8 promises, that “the Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.”

That’s what makes this moment so powerful. When we sign that beam, we aren't just commemorating a building project. We are bearing witness to the life we’re building together at Christ Church, our spiritual home.

A final note: even if your signature isn’t on that steel, your presence is. Whether you are here every Sunday, tuning in from your chair at home, or joining online from another city, your prayers and faith are part of this place. You help carry the weight of this community — its love, its history, and its future.

Thank you for being part of this holy work.