The duty of the Levites was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the temple of the Lord:
to be in charge of the courtyards, the side rooms, the purification of all sacred things
and the performance of other duties at the house of God.
~1 Chronicles 23:28
During our time in the gym, we’ve been reminded of the Levites from the Old Testament scriptures. One of the 12 tribes of Israel, their duties included care for the tabernacle: the portable “tent” used for worship while the Israelites camped in the desert. Every time they moved their camps and traveled throughout the desert, the Levites were to break down and re-set-up the entire tabernacle. Later, the Levites would be in charge of the temple itself: caring for the building, and prepping for worship.
We have many Levites in our midst today. Not that we can trace our lineage back to the tribe of Israel, but people who care for our buildings and take the time to set up and break down our worship space. This week, we ask everyone take a moment to pray, thanking God for our volunteers who have given so much time and energy to care for our worship space here at Bridges. Several people come to mind who will be very glad when our time of wandering is done, and we can move back into our permanent worship space.
But this brings up another question. If we have a flat floor and fabric chairs in place of the current pews (which is all included in Priority 2.3 – Ideal Remodel), we will be able to reconfigure or remove the chairs entirely and use the space for other events in addition to our Sunday services. Not only that, but we could adjust the chairs based on event needs and group size. With this in mind, doesn’t that mean more work for our “local Levites” when those different setups are required? The answer is, not as much as you might think. We have talked about the ability to steward our biggest and best building to our many ministries and our neighboring community, actively using it for more than worship services once a week. Yes, it will take set up and clean up to make these other events happen, but it will be much less work than setting up the gym due in part to the simple fact that the largest pieces (the stage and choir risers) will remain set up all the time. Moving some chairs around to accommodate a different worship setup: that’s a burden we would love to bear, because it would mean ministry is active, alive, and well in our Worship Center!
Continue to pray for Still More to Come. We only have a few more weeks to go with our giving campaign, and we have a long way to go financially.
Related posts: A Reminder of the Priority 2 Details; Sight Line Study; I can’t give now, but I plan to give