Windom, Minnesota
2022
To create a unique opportunity for worshipers to recognize the beauty, majesty, mystery, and holiness of God by developing a dedicated worship space in a barn, and facilitating worship experiences that foster a sense of holy vocation with and among all of God's creation as participants, rather than observers.
Summarize your grant project and how it will address a need in your worshiping community.
Shalom Hill Farm will create a worship space in a historic red barn which was originally built in the 1930s and is still used for animal care today. Half of the barn will still be used for animal care, the other half will become a worship area. As a part of hosting worships in the barn, we will feed and interact with the animals as well. The primary goal is to open up the possibilities of how all of God's creation can be participants in worship and share vocation as beloved God's creations.
What two questions might you ask about worship in the coming year that will generate theological reflection and shape your project?
How will worship interact with the animals and the natural setting to point to the sacred in the ordinary?
What will be the theology communicated through the smells, sights, and sounds of worship here?
How will your project impact the worship life and habits of the congregation?
The proposed project will give us a consistent and designated space for mission-based groups to gather and reflect on their learnings and experiences. Having a worship space in the red barn onsite will also provide an opportunity for spiritual engagement with all other groups as well, hopefully opening up conversations about where God may be encountered and what God may be calling us into in our hobbies, gatherings, and studies beyond Shalom Hill Farm. Having this worship space will add a physical spiritually designated element to the programming we currently host and provide.
What might be your greatest challenges (or challenging opportunities)?
Our challenges will include:
Coordinating all of the cleanout that needs to happen.
Getting people from significant distances to meet.
Advertising differently than a regularly meeting community for sharing progress and seeking volunteers.
Scheduling consistently around rhythms of a farming community.
What do you hope to learn from the Grants Event and other grant recipients?
We hope to learn more about what subjects draw people together, how others use space to communicate theologically, and if there are ways to exchange support in our recipient cohort.