08/20/2026
Thanks to FUMC Austin member Amy Wink who shared these beautiful photos and companion reflection about our Sanctuary as we begin a renovation of the interior. Beginning this Sunday, August 23, and for the next several months, we hope you will join us for worship in the Family Life Center (corner of 13th and Lavaca.) We look forward to your reflections on our shared sacred space once the Sanctuary refresh is complete.
"There are places that hold memory like a treasure only understood in the place by person who brings the key. I spent time in such a place last week, on an assignment to capture the sacred on the brink of change. We will move out of the FUMC sanctuary soon, while the chancel is renovated, returning during Lent. The exterior renovations may also be completed (perhaps by the end of the year?) So much will be different, refreshed. Standing in the dark sanctuary, considering how to capture the changing light and history in photographs, I felt the spirit of place speaking.
It's not a perfect chancel, pieced together over the years as members tried to correct the issues of sound and sight. There is a cavernous pit behind the organ console that cautious choir members must navigate. The floor is scraped and dented. The carpet a little ragged and stained. If you open the secret door to see below the raised floor, the network of electrical cords is alarming. Changes have been made to the altar rail, the placement of the pulpit and table. The carpet used to be darker, as did the cushions. Some of the wooden pieces have seen better days, some wobble precariously if not placed just right.
Sort of like the people.
But the place holds memory well and kindly.
As I took the photos, I watched the light and listened to the silence, I thought of those who did there best to make things work, no matter what we critique today, how annoyed we might be with carpet, the steps. They made an effort to make things work. Some things did, some things did not. Now we will try again to make things work a little better, a little differently.
It will be different, but not so different we do not recognize the sacred here or do not experience what is holy in the newly designed space we will encounter in 2027. The light, after all, will still be with us."
