A Volley from the Cannon, #46

CLUTTER

Is your congregation a pack-rat church? If so, you are not alone in our diocese.

Is it a place where no one has the courage to throw anything away, or pass it along to someone who can use it, no matter how long it has laid underfoot or clogged the closets?

Do people in your congregation believe they have to hang—forever—every gift of art or achmaltz ever given, even the ecclesiastical equivalent of poker-playing dogs on velvet, whether or not it adds anything to the devotional use of the space?

This will take some chutzpah, but it could also be much appreciated by many: first, gather some allies; then, pick a room (how about one that was last decorated by the ECW in the 1970’s?), or even the worship space of the church itself, and remove everything from its walls. Leave them bare for six months to a year, until you’ve had time for what was there before to fade from memory. Repaint or refinish the walls. Then prayerfully consider what piece of art or decorative object “cries out” to be there. What fits the period, the style, the purpose, the location? Even consult a professional about color, shape, and scale, if you lack those skills. The object is to place ONLY those pieces of decorative art that advance the spiritual life of the congregation, and place them where they have the greatest impact—all the while keeping the focus on the point of reference for the entire church, the altar.

There needs to be some place in the church that is the “refrigerator door” of congregational life. It need not be the whole building, though. The church can be a place to be freed from the clutter of our lives, both aesthetic and spiritual.