A Theology Of Presence

AS ADMINISTRATIVE PASTOR at Walmer

Road Baptist Church during the early 2000s, I helped the congregation re-imagine what its renovated community space – the Walmer Centre – could mean to them, and to the Annex neighbourhood in which the church building/ Centre sat. Part of that re-imagining involved writing a case for support – a document that congregation leaders could talk through with potential large gift donors. We felt the weight of Walmer’s history and the possibilities of what God could do through us as we trusted Him with this large physical space that, truth be told, felt almost too large for us.

Working on that document impacted my ideas about church buildings, community, stewardship and mission. To those who say “church” isn’t a building, I now say “Yes, and…”

Buildings are important. They alter landscapes, mark history and suggest future. Buildings mark the presence of a community inside its walls – in Walmer’s case, a presence measured in the hundreds of years.

Stewardship – that disciplined caring of all we’ve been given for God’s glory – presupposes presence, and a longterm presence at that: God’s presence in us, and our presence in neighbourhood, workplace, church building. Presence is ground zero for the radical hospitality to which the Church is called. To which we are all called.

“Presence is relational rather than programmatic; it is communal rather than institutional; it is conversational rather than presentational.

Presence is a matter of taking up residence in the midst of the world; it is simply our way of being…it is a garden which we painstakingly and lovingly cultivate in the hope that understanding and trust will take root and grow there.”

That quote resonated with me almost 20 years ago, painting a picture of what the Walmer Centre could offer to the Annex – the gift of presence; of hospitality. And it did; at its peak, the Walmer Centre would welcome 650+ visitors into its spaces every week for art shows, live theatre, dinners for the souls who lived in the rooming houses that sprinkled the neighbourhood, AA and NA meetings, a food bank… the list goes on.

That quote takes on a bittersweet resonance as all of us regroup in a new almost-postCOVID season and begin to gather in-person again – in our women’s groups and circles.

It rang true for me as I digested pastor and author Preston Pouteaux’s challenge to live the way Jesus did – to really love our neighbours the way He would. That’s presence.

Have a wonderful Advent and Christmas. Jesus has come. He will come again. And look out for your January/February 2023 issue when we focus on Baptist Women’s target of living out the Great Commission.

Renée James Editor