We’re on the move!

If you came to the blog through the web page you might have seen the new slider page that shows a “For Sale” sign and the message that we’re on the move. The “For Sale” sign showed up in our yard this week and is literally a ‘sign’ that we are planning to move. In my last blog post I wrote about how we have come to this decision and where we were in the process. A couple of weeks ago we acquired the services of a realtor and they are at work finding a buyer for the property.

So what does this mean for Community of Faith? As I have said before, we plan to stay together as a congregation, perhaps renting some space that is very different than the usual church building. In fact, this summer we are holding “alternate space” worship experiences, in which we will be worshiping in different locations in the Covington and Ludlow area.

This week, June 30, will be our first actual offsite service. We’ll be meeting at Second Sight Spirits on Elm Street in Ludlow at our usual time– 10:30 am. If you come to this worship service you’ll notice that it is a familiar Presbyterian worship service with prayers and songs that are probably known to you. The difference is that Second Sight Spirits is not a traditional church building with a sanctuary. Located in an refurbished retail establishment, Second Sight has chairs and tables and a small stage area perfect for our music and message. (Parking is on street, or across the street at the Ronald Jones Funeral Home parking lot, about a block away.)

Then on July 14 we will take our worship on the road once again, holding our worship service at the Center for Great Neighborhoods on Martin Luther King Dr, in Covington. Again we’ll be meeting at our usual time of 10:30 am and have music, prayers, scripture and a message. The Center for Great Neighborhoods is located in the Hellman Building, a space that used to be a lumber company. Once again it is a very unique space for us to worship in. Parking is across Fisk St. which runs perpendicular to MLK or on Fisk Street.

We will have at least one and maybe three more worship experiences in locations away from the COF building. The idea is that we become familiar with the communities around us as well as getting used to worshipping in different kinds of spaces. We would love to have you with us as we go on this adventure together!

COF is an open, inclusive and loving congregation of the PC(USA) , welcoming those we know and those we don’t know with warmth and friendship. We value the chance to go deeper theologically and spiritually, and to connect with each other as human beings.

God is doing a new thing!

Change is nothing new to Community of Faith Presbyterian Church. Over the years it has gone from a downtown church in Covington, to a suburban church on the outskirts of town, to a merger church with a congregation from Ludlow. It has seen ministers and missions come and go and has adapted to meet changes in community and society.

Today God is yet again doing a new thing with COF. The property that God entrusted us with in the 1960s, as beautiful as it is, is not suitable for us anymore. After more than a year of discernment we have decided to sell the building and property and relocate. In March we voted as a congregation to sell, have hired a realtor, and expect to be out of the building within 6 to 9 months.

We don’t yet know what God has in store for us. We envision a move into the urban core of Northern KY, to a space that is walkable and visible, a space that is welcoming and useful to a wide variety of people. We are excited about getting to know a new community and finding out where we might fit in and how we might minister to that community. As we dream about the future we believe that God is already going ahead of us and that when the time is right will show us our new ‘promised land.’

As with any new endeavor there are mixed feelings– a senes of excitement and anxiety, a sense of adventure and a desire to stay in place. Like many who have or are downsizing we have closets to clean out, decisions to make about what to keep and what to get rid of, where we will go and how much space we really need.

But not to worry!  We will continue to meet, we want to continue as a congregation and continue the ministries we currently have. For the rest of the summer we’ll be having a series of off-site worship services to get used to worshiping in different space. This Sunday, June 9, we’ll be worshiping in our Adult Sunday school room in the education wing (yes, that’s still onsite). Look for worship service locations in Covington, Ludlow and other parts of Northern KY as the summer goes along. We also plan to hold a pop-up VBS in late June or early July.

There has never been a better time to visit Community of Faith Presbyterian Church. Come and see what God is up to!