Auld Lang Syne and New Things

The classic song we sing each New Year’s Eve is from the Scottish Poet Robert Burns. Auld Lang Syne translated directly means “Old Long Since”, but we might better understand the phrase as “times gone by”.  The poem asks “should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne?” Should we forget our past friends and times gone by? By no means. We are invited to remember the past and value it, to not forget even as a new future inevitably unfolds. But this isn’t always easy or simple.

When I was in seminary I was invited to my home church to give a sermon. Since my family had moved from that town I hadn’t been to my home church in a handful of years. When I got to the church, the pastor gave me a tour. It felt good seeing the place where my faith was first shaped. Being in the sanctuary evoked many fond memories of times gone by. Then we walked through the new education wing where he proudly showed me the new classrooms with multimedia and white boards.  I wasn’t so interested in the new classrooms. I was distracted by the fact that the old education building, the one where I attended Sunday school and confirmation, had been torn down. At a certain level I was glad for my home church. They had made a significant improvement to their ministry. Future generations of Christians will be taught the faith in a loving setting like I was. But on another level, closer to my heart, I was saddened by the change. That which I knew and loved had been lost to time, now restricted to auld ang syne, times gone by.

In the second week of this month we are installing new carpeting and seating in our sanctuary.  This is the end result of a lot of planning and discussion. We will be installing new carpeting and seating. It is exciting to have these new things in our worship space, enhancing our time together being fed by God’s Word.  The first Sunday with the new items will be January 13^th.

The carpeting color is a burgundy. It is classic color which happens to be the color of the carpeting when the church was first built. It is also the color of our outdoor sign, tying together our “brand”. The Sanctuary Seating and Flooring Task Force’s* first preference was a lighter color, a shade of green. But when considering stains, and given the choice of carpets best suited for us, burgundy eventually won the day.  Burgundy is a traditional color. We hope the new carpeting will give the room a little bit of weightiness and tradition.

Chairs were selected instead of pews for their affordability and flexibility. When surveyed, the congregation was evenly divided on the question of pew or chair, but pews were almost twice the cost of these chairs. This factored heavily in the decision to go with chairs.

The new chairs are covered in gold fabric with a pattern on it. The designer we consulted with and the task force agreed that the pattern adds a richness to each chair as well as the entire room. It will match nicely with the carpeting.

The golden chairs connect to a verse in First Peter,  ..so that the genuineness of your faith— being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire– may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.(I Peter 1:7) In other words, our faith is more precious than gold, writes St. Peter. Though tested, our faith is displayed in praise and glory and honor. This is a suitable image and color for the place we gather to worship God.

This remodeling of the sanctuary marks the end of our “Workin’ On Our Building” capital appeal campaign, which launched in January of 2009.  We’re not done workin’ on our building, far from it. But we can rejoice in what has been accomplished in these last years due to you, the congregation’s, generosity and commitment.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that in the midst of this celebration of progress there are some among us who are fondly, even sadly remembering the past that has been given up for our future.

We have been richly blessed, blessed with this church building, but more importantly, with the people of faith who gather in this building united by the love we share in Christ Jesus.  I am excited for the year to come.

Happy New Year,
Pastor Jason Talsness

*Thank-you to the sanctuary seating and flooring task force. If you have any questions, any of these people would be good to talk to: they are: David Rager, Chair, Nanette Stariha, Vern Rink, Elaine Schwartz, Bill McKenny, Tracie Crowe, David and Deb Linke, Mimi Layton, and myself. The entire congregation owes a debt of gratitude to this dedicated and hardworking team. Also a special thanks to Matthew Beck, industrial designer, who consulted with us on this project.