One More Time, With Feeling!

Back in January, we had some big changes in our Ward. We were combined with another Ward and moved into a different building. These changes basically had the feel of being in a new congregation in a whole new place, with a lot of familiar faces for comfort. I wrote a little about all this in February; you can read all the details here if you don't remember the details.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, the building into which we were moved was not very well suited for a congregation as large as ours had become. The chapel, for example, was a problem. It seats 188, if my calculations are correct. Our attendance is more typically in the 250-275 range. There is an overflow area, of course. All LDS chapels have one. Ours is unusual, though. Instead of the cultural hall (the overflow area) being at the rear of the chapel, where it's traditionally located, ours is off to the side. It's awkward. People in the overflow are sitting at right angles to those sitting in the chapel, and if you're addressing the congregation, half your audience is in front of you and half is off to your left. It's not an ideal situation.

Sharing the same parking lot as our current Ward building is part of a Stake center. Really it's just a larger cultural hall, the Stake offices, and a few classrooms. When the change was made earlier this year, some of us wondered if the Church was going to go ahead and finish the Stake center and replace the current building. We were told that would not happen, and that the current building would be renovated instead. The main reason for the decision, we were told, was financial. The unofficial reason, according to some who were more familiar with the particulars, was that President Hinckley was fond of our building. As long as he was alive, I was told, nothing would ever happen to our building.

You can see where this is going, can't you?

At our Testimony service this month, the Stake Presidency announced that the Church had decided to build us a Stake Center, based around the existing core. Construction would begin early in 2009 and take 15-18 months. Unfortunately, that meant that our building would have to be demolished, and the Wards meeting therein relocated. Again, in our case. Our ward is moving to the other remaining building in our Stake effective October 19th.

So tonight our Ward Council is going over to the new building to get a tour from the other Ward that will be housed there. They're going to show us the facilities, tell us which rooms they use for what, that sort of thing. I'll get to see where our Sunday School classes will be meeting.

I went over to the new building on my own to check it out after the announcement was made, and I have to tell you, I am psyched about this move! The new building was renovated about three years ago, and it's gorgeous. The chapel seats between 320 and 350, and the overflow, if necessary, is straight back from the chapel. And the rooms in which I'm hoping to hold Gospel Doctrine classes are an order of magnitude better than what we're using now. One, a classroom just off the cultural hall, seats around 60. The other, the Relief Society room, seats 85. And they're both large enough to accommodate large classes (unlike one of the rooms we're using in the current building) but small enough to allow for effective interaction between the students and the teacher (unlike the other room we're currently using). There are several smaller classrooms that will work very well for our youth classes, too. I just have to coordinate with the other organization (e.g., Primary) to see which rooms they'll need and which I can have for my teachers.

Some people might be annoyed (or even dismayed) at the idea of moving for the second time in a year, but it doesn't bother me. The only difficult part for me is the logistical end, figuring out what's going to go where in the new facilities. Most of that will be taken care of tonight. I'm leaving in about 15 minutes for the tour.

That's all for now. More details are forthcoming!