Visually challenged churches

Usually I reserve my complaints, sighs and weeping over visually cluttered church spaces for my own church (4,000 members). It has 3 campuses in a variety of architectural styles spaning 70 years, with landscaping, parking lots, narthexes, restrooms and halls loaded with clutter, to say nothing of sanctuaries and fellowship halls with peculiar concessions to ministries, pop culture, worship styles, lighting and HVAC. Walls, restroom mirrors, doors and yards are used like bulletin boards by careless people although there is a bulletin board "ministry." In 1993 when my daughter was married at Lytham Rd., I had to throw a "mother of the bride" hissy fit to get the dangling movie screen and huge Peavey speakers removed from the sanctuary for the wedding ceremony. Mission posters have been hanging for years at Mill Run and have become wall paper instead of a vibrant call to action for members. There's a trash container in the front yard. Oh well, apparently very few people see this. But they will travel to Europe to see beautiful cathedrals.

Today I passed Advent Lutheran on Kenny Road. It really is a lovely small church (300 members). It began with a modest multipurpose space as many congregations do, and then added a few years back a beautiful sanctuary. There are few churches in Columbus with a more pleasant and restful appearing worship space. Unfortunately, someone has decided to advertise the enrollment period for their preschool by hanging a banner on the outside wall of the sanctuary facing Kenny Road. Back in the not too distant past the congregation of Advent Lutheran (ELCA) voted to commit funds, time and effort to expanding and beautifying--to putting on a lovely face for the thousands of cars that pass their way each week. And they succeeded. I thank them everyday for their sacrifice. And when Hurricane Ike went through in the fall of 2008 and ripped off their roof, it was repaired immediately. They didn't leave it a blue tarp eyesore. They don't put their "save the environment" trash container in plain view the way UALC does--they keep it as far from sight as possible. They landscape their drive way and parking lot. They are good neighbors in Upper Arlington.

And then someone spoiled it by hanging a banner on the outside of a very attractive wall. And by the way, if I didn't know what it was advertising, the sign is probably not readable at 35 mph.

What's in your kitchen?

This was written in April 2006 when I was commenting at another blog, that kitchens encourage us to over eat, by design. I noted all the stuff that wasn't food in my kitchen, but which keeps you in there--eating.

What is in your kitchen and kitchen cabinets that has nothing to do with your eating or food preparation and storage? Here's my list:

small TV (never on during meal time)
radio/cd player
car keys
stash for charge card receipts
basket for mail
cat's food and water bowl
junk drawer for candles, pencils, addresses, stamps, calendar etc.
telephone
notepad
reminders of appointments
artwork
magazines
cleaning supplies
kleenex
flower vases
several games
seasonal decor as needed
medications
flashlight

Looking around today, I could add

prayer job jar
cell phone
calendar
recent letter
grocery circular
candles and matches on the counter (storm warnings)
hand lotion and alcohol wash
bag of garbage (too cold to take it out last night)
greeting card to be sent
invitation to a party
church newsletter
husband's sunglasses
cat's medication

Looks like it is time to tidy. The only thing from the first list moved out is the cd player.

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No, it's not a good idea!

I was browsing a library blog today reading about all the things he'd seen at a conference. He said he could hardly wait to apply some of the new ideas to his library's web page. Thank goodness, I thought-- library web pages are often awkward and hard to navigate. Not the most exemplary sources of information I've seen on the web, especially for clarity and readability. So what was his brilliant idea? To jazz up his 404 page. That's the error page. No, a thousand times No. Get to work on correcting the four columns, the things that wiggle, and the no-way-to-contact-the staff-by-name problem.