Saturday August 20th Bishop Momoh from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sierra Leone visited the congregation of Advent/Adviento in an event open to leaders from across the metroplex. Was such a joy to see a good turn out of individuals who had historic ties to the ELCSL as well as new folks interested in where our relationship with the ELCSL is.Was glad also to see my predecessor former bishop the Rev. Kevin Kanouse as well as he came to bring Bishop greetings.

One of the questions of course that is always asked is the status of the Jubilee Center. This facility in Freetown was a vision of Bishop Momoh’s predecessor. The dream was that the building would be completed alongside our building at Briarwood. However for a number of reasons, although the building was dedicated in 2013 and the sanctuary is used for worship the facility has not been completed. This past year wind storms did tremendous damage to the facility as well and the roof was blown off. Due to generous contributions to disaster relief we were able to help the roof get replaced. But the reality is the design of the facility makes it likely these sorts of storms will continue to damage the facility. Additionally, access to the building is limited due to encroaching growth. When I visited in 2018 I identified many of these issues and you read and see pictures here.

Bishop Momoh and I have discussed his plans and desires for the building. The reality is to be adaptive means you have to be able to focus on what is working and let go of things that are not. My commitment to bishop has been to follow his lead and wisdom. At this time the community will continue to worship there but the future of the building remains an open question. The ELCSL is responsible for the structure should something occur there, so there is much to discern. What I did make clear to bishop is that we are committed to building up people. Buildings are good but only if they develop human capital.