“When are you going to build the church pastor?” I hear that question almost weekly. Not too often from Rejoicers, but very often from people from our mother churches or from people within our community. My usual answer is, “Well, we started building the church a year and a half ago with a small Bible study and some day we will grow large enough to need a building.” The responses are usually puzzled stares. Let me explain.What is a church? Some use the word "church" as a synonym for a building…as in, “Where is Pastor Jones…Oh, he is in the church.” Others use the word “church” as a synonym for worship…like, “Hey kids, let’s get ready to go to church.”
In the original Bible, written in Greek, there were two words for our one English word “church.” Trouble is neither of the two words refers to “going to a worship service” or a “church building.” The first Greek word the early Christ followers used for “church” was “koinonia.” The English word “economy” has its roots in koinonia. This word can be translated, “the gathering, the fellowship, and the community.”
The other Greek word for “church” was “ecclesia.” We get our English word “ecclesiastical” which refers to matters of church ministry. “Ecclesia” can best be translated, “the congregation, the assembly, the gathered ones.”
1 Corinthians 3:16, says, “Do you not know that you (God’s people) are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?” (NRSV) So you see, Rejoice! Lutheran Church is the people and we are church not only when we worship, pray and read the Bible together, but we are church in our homes, in our schools, in our neighborhoods and wherever we live life.
As for a church building and location, thanks to God, the South Dakota Synod and the ELCA, 20 acres have been purchased for us to someday use for ministry and build a building upon. You can find where the land is off our website
As you can see we will be right next to St. Katherine Drexel Catholic Church. Please note St. Katherine’s new worship building is a beautiful, cathedralesque type building. How could Rejoice! ever build a beautiful enough building to compete with St. Katherine’s? Why w
ould we want to try competing? They are our brothers and sisters. They have their mission, to bless and grow a church for loving Roman Catholics…and…we have ours, “Daily renewing and serving our community until all join us in rejoicing in Jesus’ love.” As St. Katherine’s will do an awesome job of reaching the churched people of our community. We hope to do an equally awesome job of reaching the unchurched and dechurched seekers of our community. Two different strategies require two different types of buildings.
Please look at the pictures of two church buildings that our leadership visited this summer. These buildings are used and owned by Community of Hope on the southside of the Twin Cities and Kauw Prairie in suburban Kansas City. Notice that their buildings are not cathedrals, but they are more of a tool for ministry.
ould we want to try competing? They are our brothers and sisters. They have their mission, to bless and grow a church for loving Roman Catholics…and…we have ours, “Daily renewing and serving our community until all join us in rejoicing in Jesus’ love.” As St. Katherine’s will do an awesome job of reaching the churched people of our community. We hope to do an equally awesome job of reaching the unchurched and dechurched seekers of our community. Two different strategies require two different types of buildings.Please look at the pictures of two church buildings that our leadership visited this summer. These buildings are used and owned by Community of Hope on the southside of the Twin Cities and Kauw Prairie in suburban Kansas City. Notice that their buildings are not cathedrals, but they are more of a tool for ministry. 
What do you think? Dream with us about what sort of building we will someday build on the 20 acres of land God provided for us. Please share your comments.
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Just yesterday, I was journaling my dreams for our “someday” building. I dream of a place that is in constant use…not just for worship on Sunday morning and meetings a few times a month…but used every day of the week. I dream of a place where everyone feels comfortable…a place for parents with small children to network…a place for teens to “hang out” and connect…a place for the hurting to find a friend who will listen and offer support.
Of course, we don’t need a building to connect with people…we connect by serving at the Banquet, by building a Habitat house, by joining small group Bible studies, and LOTS of other ways.
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