Church News – July 2021

When I was very young, I learned a little poem, with hand gestures. It went like this:

Here is the church – hands folded, fingers interlocked, thumbs side by side

Here is the steeple – index fingers point straight up

Open the doors – separate thumbs, to open hands

Where are the people? – empty hands, empty church

Here is the church – fold hands, fingers interlocked inward to be hidden from view

Here is the steeple – Index fingers pointed straight up, thumbs side by side

Open the doors – separate thumbs to open hands

Here are the people! – wiggle the fingers: happy church people!

I have observed, in trying to teach this to children (grandchildren, actually), that filling a church with fingers is not as easy as it once was, or as painless. It seems an apt metaphor for our current situation at Trinity. 

Late last summer, a routine gutter cleaning and repair revealed significant damage to the southwest corner of the sanctuary building. Consultations with engineers and builders through the winter have presented us with an estimate: in order to save the building and reinforce the structure to survive another 100 years, we will need to invest around $200,000. 

The sanctuary space is no longer safe to be occupied. When it is considered safe to gather for worship, we will move into our social hall, we will adjust and all will be fine. The greater impact will be on programs offered to the community: the Trinity Concert series, Community Choir concerts, weddings, funerals and memorials. Yet even more significant, leaving the building as is would surely be to watch it deteriorate beyond repair, and a precious part of our community – and its heritage – would be permanently lost.

Fortunately, Point Roberts is a community that understands what it means to live on the edge of everything. Our unique situation breeds a ‘survivalist’ social ethic that is courageous, creative and not a little quirky. We know what it takes to survive. It takes a village – and a lot of connections to other places.

In our unique geographic situation, we have raised and nurtured generations of Icelandic descendants, and provided unique lifestyle opportunities to many ‘immigrants’ from the mainland U.S. and Canada. Generations still spend summers here in family cabins built early in the last century. People have retired here from many different parts of the U.S.

Yes, Point Roberts is a unique and irreplaceable hometown. And every hometown needs a church. A sacred space. A place to gather as a community in love with its unique and precious self.

Over the next few months we will be sharing more information, and strategizing for fundraising. This very newspaper supports getting the word out as we move through this process. The Point Roberts Historical Society plans to re-release the recipe book that supported our last capital project. And Auntie Pam, as usual, will be in the thick of things, (she’s had our back for years – bless you, girlfriend!)

If you would like to be part of a future blessed with joy, compassion, music (Lots of it!), healing and unquenchable spirit, you can head on over to our website at bit.ly/2TYLez4 where, with a simple click on a button, you can make a donation in either U.S. or Canadian funds.

We are ready to take on a historic challenge. We have unstoppable faith, and the will to move mountains. Or rebuild a beloved piece of history and a hopeful, joyful future!