God Sighting: Outdoor Worship Area Refurbishment
Outdoor Worship Area Refurbishment
Worship and prayer are essential to our faith life and to be sure, Sheridan’s Outdoor Prayer and Reflection Center has served as a sacred place on our church campus for many years. Annually, this space hosts the Easter sunrise service, along with weddings, high school youth group summer worship, and many special events. Several benches, an altar, fire pit, and a large white cross at the center that was preserved from the original Sheridan Lutheran Church, complete the space. It is a beautiful place set apart in God’s creation to reflect, celebrate, meditate, worship and pray.
Recently, this space received a much needed refurbishment thanks to one of our high school youth and Girl Scout, Kaitlyn Blum. Kaitlyn and her family are active members of Sheridan and she felt called to dedicate her Girl Scout Gold Award to our congregation in this special way. This is the highest award a Girl Scout can achieve. It requires that they identify an issue in their community that they care about, research it, form a team who could help them, make a plan of how they can tackle it, lead a team to carry out their plan, and finally share their story, which will hopefully inspire others to make a difference, too.
Kaitlyn shared, “I’ve been out to the Prayer and Reflection Center many times for high school youth group, but recently noticed that the benches needed some repairs. The project grew out of that need.”
With the help of Jim Simeck, Sheridan member and carpenter by trade, and some of our church staff, Kaitlyn decided that the project would entail repairing and reinforcing all of the benches and the altar, installing a wooden border around the entire space, relaying the bricks surrounding the fire pit area, and adding some retaining stones around the fire pit ring.
At our first Sheridan Community Night in September, a team of volunteers made up of Kaitlyn’s family, Jim Simeck, members of our middle and high school youth group and several parents, as well as adults in our congregation joined together to work on this project. Over 50 volunteers turned out and stayed past dark to see that all the work was done. Jim Simeck spent many hours beforehand prepping materials and made several trips afterward to finish things up. “I’m so glad we were able to refresh this space so that it can last for years to come,” Kaitlyn said.
Jim shared, “The biggest enjoyment came for me when I saw everyone walking and running down the hill to the [Outdoor Prayer and Reflection Center]. The enthusiasm and energy made the renovation work a fun-fest. It was so rewarding to see the cheerful cooperation of youth helping youth, parents and other volunteers. It was a very special, God-filled experience for me.”
Soon, a post with brochures on how to use the space that Kaitlyn is developing in partnership with our Faith Formation team, will greet people who come to use the space at the entrance. A Thrivent Action Team of $250, some material donations from Jim Simeck, and generous contributions from the Blum family made this project possible financially.
God is present in this beautiful space and was at work in the hands and feet of all those who helped make this project a reality! Thank you to Kaitlyn Blum and her family, Jim Simeck, and all those who volunteered their time to renew this space for our church family and the wider community. You are a blessing!
by Ian Hartfield