One of the organizations that shares our building--Arlington Neighborhood Villages has people who regularly walk through the church sanctuary to get from their office to the church office. One of their delightful volunteers ran into a church member last week and asked "Why do you have a boat in your sanctuary?" Aside from being just a fun thing to have in a sanctuary, the boat and its various appointments, like a "sail" and a "wheel," have helped us visualize the metaphor: the church is like a boat because...we need the wind of the spirit to make it go
everyone has to work together on the crew
sometimes there are funny words we use, that only other 'sailors' know: port, starboard, fore and aft
on a boat, you need to wash (in the baptismal font) and eat (in communion)
sometimes there's stormy seas
Every week until Thanksgiving, we're using the boat in worship to play with the idea of church. We were inspired by Joan Gray's book, Sailboat Church, in which she advocates for a paradigm shift from a "rowboat" church--something that moves on human power--to a "sailboat church" that moves on the power of the wind/Spirit...Nice to remember and it's just fun to see all the kids, big and little playing in the boat on Sunday morning.
