Trinity

In my November 4 post I spoke about Trinity Church in Dublin and their acquisition of the historic Trinity Church building in the heart of the city.

Friday morning we met Simon Thomas, who has been a part of the leadership at Trinity for many years, at the 1839 building on Gardiner Street. We were there so that Simon could show us the state of the building and the plans that have been laid to renovate it and restore it to it's original purpose -- to be a center for worship and ministry.

So why were we honored with this inside look? Let me explain it this way; major renovation work by a major contractor is slated to take place this spring and summer. Once they have finished, Trinity will be bringing in teams of volunteers (mostly from North America) to do plaster work, finish carpentry, trim out the plumbing and electrical, paint, clean up, etc.

When we heard about this plan on our visit this past September, Beth and I thought it would be great to bring a team over from the U.S. to help out in this endeavor. So that's what we're doing. We'll be helping to coordinate a team from our church going over in late September of this year.

Simon had found out about this and when he heard we were in Dublin, he jumped at the chance to give us the pre-construction tour. I may also be acting in an advisory role regarding the audio systems and acoustics in the main hall.

The Gardiner St. building is in amazing shape considering its age. There is no evidence of water damage or any sort of structural problems whatsoever. It's also a very large building with much potential to be used in many different ways. Yet another step in reclaiming the City Centre for God.

You may be thinking that this may not be the best way to serve on a short-term missions trip, given that there won't be any coordinated efforts to share the Gospel or do direct ministry. But that's where you're wrong! I saw a clever saying today. Something to the effect of:

"It's fun to harvest, but someone has to plow."

That's what this team will be doing -- enabling those at Trinity to have not only a good, solid building to keep them out of the weather, but a place that can have a substantial influence on the spiritual life of inner city Dublin.

We now had only two more days in Ireland on this trip. Things should be winding down, huh?

Don't bet on it!

TBC...