Children's Chapel Mural Carpet--done!

I can hardly describe how pleased I am to have this carpet finally done (and paid for at that)! Thanks to the Baker Fund people for giving us most of the money to do this. The new carpet is composed of carpet "tiles" by InterfaceFLOR. They are made here right here in Canada with 100% Recycled content. They stick to the floor with an adhesive and can be removed if damaged/stained and replaced. The design is basically a field of green with a few purple-ish tiles thrown around semi-randomly to create a little visual interest and dynamism. The colours are designed to compliment the murals, of course!

My experience with these carpet tiles is good so far. Installation was far easier than I expected. It only took one full day for one guy to remove the old carpet, patch the floor, put down the adhesive, and then put the new tiles in place. Sweet.

The next project in that room is a little bit of painting of some trim, just just to freshen it up. As for downstairs.... That's a different story! We need new chairs, new carpet in the lounge, new furniture in the lounge, and a paint job for the whole place. If someone would like to give us a few thousand dollars to make that happen, I'd be pleased to accept! Otherwise, it's probably going to take a few years.

You see, right now the budget priority is mainly around funding mission, and the building, alas, only does that in a secondary way. We'd rather have staff (Kerrie and Eric) than pretty new chairs!

Still... it was and is important to me that we have some bricks-and-mortar renewal around here, too! Hence the mural!

-t

Children's Mural Article

The Anglican ran a short article about the mural in the Children's Chapel. The text isn't very readable, for some reason, in the image above. So here's the copy:

Mural brightens children’s space

Sunday School at Church of the Messiah in Toronto got more colourful in October, as mural artist Susannah Bleasby finished her transformation of the walls of the children’s chapel into a whimsical vision of God’s kingdoms in heaven and on earth. The painting includes animals, children, people, angels, saints, landscapes and
an expanse of blue sky and puffy clouds, with colours and style
chosen to appeal to young eyes.

“From the moment you walk into the children’s chapel, you can feel the excitement, youthful happiness and the power of Jesus Christ to make a difference in the
lives of children,” says church warden Brendan Caldwell.

The mural is part of the church’s investment in its ministry to children and families, along with the hiring earlier this year of Kerrie Fulton, director of Children’s and Youth Ministry. “Increasingly we find that churches have to invest
the effort to have some extraordinary ministry that defines them,” says the Rev. Tay Moss, incumbent.

“One of the things we believe God is calling us to is extraordinary mission to children and families.” The church will hold a dedication service for the children’s chapel on Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. (source)

Indeed, the dedication service with the bishop went very well and I'm pleased. I think the parish feels good about having accomplished such a thing, as well.

-t

PhotoSynth of Children's Chapel

The folks at Microsoft just recently released a very, very cool web-application into Beta: PhotoSynth. It's an incredible way of stitching photographs into a 3-D universe that allows you to jump from photo-to-photo. Right now it's only available for PC (sorry Mac friends) and you need a high-bandwidth Internet connection to enjoy it. You'll also need to download a free browser plug-in. I know--that's a hassle, but the results are worth it! This is probably the coolest piece of software ever to come out of Microsoft.



-t

The Mural is FINISHED!

Susy finished the Mural in the Children's Chapel. It look's awesome. Here's a few shots...
The "Heaven" Wall
Left side of "Heaven" with John the Baptist, Theresa of Calcutta, and Barbara
Peter, Mary Magdalene, Cherubs, and others on the right side of Heaven
The Kingdom of God on Earth
Many of the animals were modeled on those of actual parishioner's and staff
Mary and Joseph looking on the scene, proud of their son

And yes, that is me in the "Earth" side of the mural wearing a gray Utilikilt. I'm thankful that Susy gave me hair in the Kingdom of God! (I was a cute kid)

-t

Art from Articles

I had trouble getting to sleep last night. It was a little warm in our bedroom, I suppose. But since the weather is only going to get cooler from now on it doesn't make much sense to try to put the A/C in. Interestingly, our new bedroom is much "warmer" feeling than the old one: probably because of the wall-to-wall carpet and the smaller size.

I finished that article for the Anglican. They are going to pay me this time, which is extra cool and definitely may motivate me to do another. I'm saving up to buy a piece of art for the new house. I have my eye on a gorgeous long Japanese Zen Bodhidharma scroll. I really like these type of scroll paintings. Here's a very nice version of the Heart Sutra:

And there are lots of beautiful landscapes and still-lifes, too. So that's something to look forward to.

The Mural is finished! Yipee! Now we just have to plan for the official unveiling.

The sound system at the church broke last Sunday. Luckily I believe I can get it repaired tomorrow. What it is it with church sound systems? So rarely are they done well. This one is in terrible shape and I'm surprised it lasted this long!

-t

Back in the Saddle

I officially started back to work yesterday. Lots and lots of phone calls and e-mails to return, but the most important thing to do yesterday was have a monster staff meeting: 5 1/2 hours worth! But in that time we were able to accomplish a huge amount of planning. Most of the calendar through Christmas is now drafted as far as church program go. We also made a lot of other decisions about various projects. The neat thing for me, as the leader, was how everyone came to the table with great new ideas. The summer break gave time for stuff to ferment and the results are just great. I'm especially thrilled about some of the stuff we have lined up for kids and youth!

This morning was Clive Foster's funeral. It went extremely well and I'm sure that the family were pleased with the turnout (nearly a hundred even though it was the middle of a work day). The reflections that the family gave were excellent and I thought my sermon was strong. The liturgy was smooth and powerful in the right ways. The staff at Humphrey Funeral Home were excellent--I would recommend them to others. They know exactly what clergy need and provide it before you can even ask. I think it was a really great way to send off a former COTM Warden.

The mural looks fantastic--there is only about a week of work left on the mural itself. Today we made some critical decisions about what to do with the lighting. The only other substantial piece (so far as actual renovation goes) is selecting the new carpet. In terms of promotional work, our current thinking is to make a big push in October with local press and perhaps a dedication/consecration service of some kind. Stay tuned!

-t

A Sneak Peak at the Mural

Here is a close-up of God the Father in the Mural underway at COTM...


Notice that He's wearing a cross. Susy (the artist) and I are discussing whether this is good or not. She says in "feels right" because she always imagines God and the cross together. Others have suggested that for humans the cross is a symbol of hope but for God is a symbol of suffering. It's a deep question, theologically: what is God's relationship to the cross?

-t

Leeks and O.J.

Betsy and I are doing the "Leek Fast" from the book French Women Don't Get Fat. The idea is that we both need a little detox after all the meat-and-oil food we had in Turkey. I like Leeks, but the leek-broth is a far cry from the freshly squeezed O.J. I was enjoying in Istanbul Cafes. Sigh.

I know, I'm not supposed to work, but one or two things at COTM have brought me by for a quick check. The mural is coming along nicely. Amazing to see it come to life. It's going to be fantastic.

-t

Mural Project Sketches

Susy came by today and delivered the latest sketches of the children's mural we are planning for the children's education room. These are now at a stage where we feel comfortable sharing them widely, so here they are...



These will go on the West and East ends of the room, respectively. I'm very happy about the progress she has made. If we do this and replace the lights and the carpet, that room will look fantastic! I love the message it sends: kids are important and deserve good things, too. Certainly I can't imagine replacing all the nave chairs and repainting the sanctuary without doing something similar for the Sunday School!

So now I just have to raise some money....
-t