Monday Over Coffee: "In, not of"
Posted November 20, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Novelist Victor Hugo wrote that architecture is a special kind of writing. If this is true, when we enter into a building constructed for religious purposes—a church, chapel, mosque, synagogue, or house of prayer—we should see or at least sense the word sanctuary somehow figuratively, expressively, written into the space it occupies.
Campus Master Plan Update – Outdoor Rooms
Posted November 15, 2023 by Campus Master Plan Task Force in All Articles
Part of the first phase of our campus master planning effort included an evaluation of our existing land and square footage. Before we can know which parts of our campus can be developed, we have to know how much space we have now, and how much do we need to preserve for future church use?
Monday Over Coffee: "Sequel"
Posted November 13, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
I understand another round of superhero movies is on the way to our local theaters. It seems every superhero movie sets off a flood of sequels these days. And while many of these blockbuster sequels are quite entertaining, none of them offer us anything as authentically superheroic as what’s found in Stockholm at the Nobel Prize Museum.
Monday Over Coffee: "Mitzvah"
Posted November 6, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
we’re this way because it’s become embedded in our DNA, but it seems much easier, doesn’t it, for us to hold onto and remember all the bad things that happen in the world over the good ones. While this tendency probably helps us stay on guard against risks of all sorts, it’s also important, isn’t it, to be reminded of all the good that has transpired in human history and that continues to…
Campus Master Plan Task Force Update
Posted November 1, 2023 by Campus Master Plan Task Force in All Articles
At each Task Force meeting, our chair, Clint Pasche, reminds us of the goals which guide our work. We thought it would be a good idea to remind you, our church family, of these as well. In the coming weeks, we will share status reports and interesting findings we have learned on our journey so far. You can review our goals and answers to some basic questions below!
Monday Over Coffee: "The Crucible"
Posted October 30, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
For as long as human beings have dwelt together, we’ve insisted on placing art in the public spaces we inhabit. Going back to cave drawings on the walls of caverns in France dating from 30,000 years ago to the ancient ruins of Greece and Rome, to the “metallic bean” Cloud Gate installation in Chicago, or the faux Prada Shop located along a desolate highway in West Texas, we human beings seem…
Monday Over Coffee: "Sing"
Posted October 23, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Once one embarks on a concept for a building, this concept has to be exaggerated, overstated, and repeated in every part of its interior so that wherever you are, inside and out, the building sings with the same message. — Eero Saarinen
Monday Over Coffee: "Nested"
Posted October 16, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
My favorite children’s book growing up was called "Fortunately, Unfortunately." Its rather simple plot involved a boy named Ned who was invited to a party. Fortunately, Ned was invited to a surprise party. Unfortunately, the party was a thousand miles away.
Monday Over Coffee: "Unplug"
Posted October 9, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
My mother had suffered with early onset dementia for two decades and was bedridden when my father began to show signs of Alzheimer’s Disease. I had a young family. Charlie was a baby, Hank was a little boy, and my wife, Kelly, and I both had demanding jobs. I set up a series of appointments for my dad with the same neurologists who were following my mother’s condition.
Happy 5th Anniversary, Matt Walton!
Posted October 3, 2023 by Steve Wells in Discipleship, Pastor
It is hard to believe Matt Walton has been here five years and that he has ONLY been here five years. Just think of all the ways Matt’s work is blessing and shaping our church. We are so thrilled with the work Matt has accomplished so far and cannot wait to see how he continues to minister to the family of South Main.
Monday Over Coffee: "Trials"
Posted October 2, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
My uncle, Larry Funderburk, is an attorney and was my law partner for a long time. One of his main clients was the Werner Ladder Company. For many years whenever Werner was brought into a lawsuit, they’d call Larry to defend them. One of these cases involved a ten-foot aluminum step ladder and a man named Boyd who claimed he was on the ladder when one of its side rails bent, causing him to fall…
1st Grade Bible Presentation
Posted September 29, 2023 by Alyssa Carter in Family Ministry
Our sweet group of first graders received their Bibles on Sunday, September 24. This is an exciting day for them as they commit to read the Word of God. They do not commit to doing this alone; we walk alongside them and teach them during WDS club small group time.
Monday Over Coffee: "Agility"
Posted September 25, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
There are definitely two camps on this: Some parents like to know the gender of their baby beforehand; some don’t. My wife, Kelly, and I fell into the latter category, but at a prenatal appointment related to the upcoming birth of our first child, our sonogram technician—while scoping out the monitor—made a comment. “Pretty as a peach,” she said.
Monday Over Coffee: "Liminal"
Posted September 18, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Johannes Vermeer is most well-known for his beautiful painting, Girl with a Pearl Earring, but he painted another called, Girl Asleep at a Table, which can be seen at the Met in New York. A young woman is sitting in a chair at a table off to one side of the canvas, dozing on her hand, her elbow on the table.
Monday Over Coffee: "Lost and Found"
Posted September 11, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
At 10:00 in a morning in early June of 1998, Trisha McFarlane, age nine, was sitting in the backseat of her mother’s Dodge Caravan wearing her blue Boston Red Sox batting practice jersey and playing with her doll, Mona. By 10:30 she was lost in the woods. By 11:00, she was trying not to be terrified, trying not to think, “This is serious.”
Monday Over Coffee: "Scream"
Posted September 4, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
My son Charlie and I moved from room to room within the National Gallery of Art in Oslo, Norway, one bright day a few summers ago. I thought the museum was lightly attended, but it only seemed that way because most everyone had congregated in a single room. In fact, most everyone had crowded around a single painting. The Scream, though painted a century ago by Norway’s Edvard Munch, captures…
Monday Over Coffee: "Plan It Over"
Posted August 28, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
My son Hank and I met in Seattle a few years ago aiming to visit Mt. Rainier. We rented a car, got some sleep in the hotel, and the next morning I typed “Mt. Rainier National Park” into my phone’s navigation app. We chose a route and headed out. But about 60 miles into our 90-minute drive, we found ourselves on a very narrow, very icy, almost deserted road. I began to suspect that where we…
Monday Over Coffee: "Wear It"
Posted August 21, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
A few summers ago, my son, Charlie, was up at bat in a high school baseball game when the pitcher lost control of one of his pitches, and it popped Charlie right in the torso just under his arm. You could tell it hurt, but Charlie just dropped his bat and took his base like it was nothing. He was following one of the unwritten rules of baseball—never let a pitcher think he hurt you even if he…
Monday Over Coffee: "Weaving Our Way Home"
Posted August 14, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
We were in Galveston. I was eight; my brother David was nine, and my sisters, younger. Our family was on a long weekend summer trip. We were staying at Gaido’s Seaside Inn on Seawall Boulevard next to Gaido’s Restaurant. For a kid, all day in the ocean, fried shrimp at night, and falling asleep to the sound of the tide along the Gulf of Mexico was as good as it gets.
Monday Over Coffee: "Solitude"
Posted August 7, 2023 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Anders Ericsson was fifteen and loved chess. He routinely trounced his classmates in the cafeteria at school until one boy—the worst player at the school—slowly, methodically, became one of its best. Anders knew the kid was practicing a lot, but how was this happening? The question lodged in his mind so durably that later in life when Anders went into research, he devoted himself to the…
