I wondered if the day would ever come.  I wondered if I would ever have the privilege of joining in a Sunday worship gathering at the Herengracht 88 (H88), together with my spiritual family from Zolder50... At times over the last thirteen months, it seemed like it would be inevitable... at other times, impossible.

But this weekend, it finally happened.

If I must be completely honest, Zolder50's first worship gathering at the H88 actually happened last weekend, while I was enjoying Dutch pea soup at my apartment.  Still, this weekend was my first such experience, and my first opportunity to bring my camera to provide visual evidence of this transition into our new season of life and ministry.

I thought others (maybe you -- yeah, you, reading this post) might also like to see some of the better images that I was able to capture... So here they are.

These first four photographs were actually taken at the "Three Story Evangelism" seminar on Friday night (which I mentioned in my last post).  It was a smaller crowd -- perhaps 35 to 40 people -- which turned out to be a considerably easier environment for taking pictures than a Sunday worship gathering (because there weren't as many people to trip over as I moved around the room, and because I didn't really have any other official responsibilities during the meeting time).  I especially enjoyed some of the shots of people hanging out on coffee breaks between seminar sessions...

All I have to say for these pictures, taken during the "Three Story Evangelism" seminar, is that I only hope that I could look half as hip and handsome as Bob Phillips, when I get to be his age (which has to be almost twice as old as I am right now)!

On Sunday afternoon, we also got to give the new Kids Room at the H88 (which is not yet completely finished) its first real test run, with nine children making use of the space.  It's pretty fun to see life being breathed into these rooms that have taken so much time to take shape...

Of all the pictures that I took at the H88 this weekend, the one below turned out to be my favorite, I think.  I can't say exactly why -- but I like the shot composition, with the colors and the silhouetted profiles in the background, and the coffee mugs and candle focused in the foreground... And I think it just gives a feel for what it's like to be a part of a Zolder50 worship gathering.

The time of worship was beautiful...

I would have liked to have come away with a better shot of Todd teaching (and of other elements from the evening)... but I was kind of chained to the one corner of the room because I had to run PowerPoint throughout the evening.  For the record (in case you were there), we didn't get any new volunteers to serve as a volunteer system coordinator, gastvrouw/heer, clean-up crew, or anything else!  So if you were waiting to see if others might offer themselves before you took advantage of the opportunity... well, the opportunity is still wide-open for the taking!  Next time (two weeks from now), we will probably intentionally let a few balls drop and see if that spurs people to action any better (failing to serve coffee might just start a riot).  You can still let me know, though, if you want to avoid this disaster! :-) 

It is amazing, though, to see how many different looks you can get from precisely the same vantage point (the three previous images)!

For some reason, this last photo strikes me as being a little bit cheesy, like something they would specifically choreograph for a university brochure or something:  the two dashing and delightful young men (just spiffy enough to be trustworthy, just scruffy enough to be cool) engaged in spirited conversation, a carefully arranged plate of cookies balanced on the bar between them, other meaningful conversations unfolding in layers behind them in the background, "cool" club lighting (just like those young folks love!) in the distant background... However, I swear that nothing in the photo was choreographed!  I'm sure my good friend Marco (the bearded guy on the left, a regular reader of this blog) will have a field day with my analysis and commentary on the photo -- but I just couldn't resist posting this too-perfect picture.

All in all, it was a fun weekend at the H88.

Yesterday evening, we concluded our month of "alternative church" with an open mic night at the H88.  It was a very cool evening, with a lot of interesting artists featuring their work:  everything a DJ spinning records, to Portuguese rapping, to poetry reading, to story-telling, to the more classic solo singer-songwriters... yet another interesting personification of what it means to be church!

It was especially cool to be able to host an event like this in the H88 facilities.  Quite a bit of work has gone into the place over the last couple of weeks -- and it really looked beautiful for our evening together yesterday.  Nevermind the fact that we still have quite a bit more work to complete -- at least for one night, it really looked and felt like home...

I don't know how much I really have to write about the evening itself -- or the rest of the month's "alternative church" events that preceded it (Vondel50, HomeGroup50, and Boat50)... But I thought I'd share a few of the pictures that I took throughout the evening...

In case you're interested, you can find a few extra images in the Pictures section of the website -- under the Zolder50 sub-section.

We've been doing a lot of work on the H88 lately (namely -- laying floors, installing the audio system, and moving in furniture).  Simultaneously, I've been doing a lot of experimenting with my new Canon 350D digital SLR camera... So I thought I'd share some of the images from the last week or so.

Some of my favorite shots came from yesterday (Friday) evening, at our church's monthly Soul Gathering -- like the one above, with a makeshift band playing together while sitting on boxes and buckets, reading song sheets by candlelight, bicycle lights, and the fading remnants of sunlight coming in at the back of the room...

The Soul Gathering happened to fall just after we had finished about 75 percent of the flooring project (done mostly on Thursday and Friday), but just before we moved all of our stuff back into the space (on Saturday).  So we celebrated our Soul Gathering by candlelight, while sitting on the floor... kind of cool and "romantic," but maybe not the most comfortable...

I wish I could have taken more pictures at the Soul Gathering -- but during a time when we're focusing primarily on worship, meditation, and prayer, it just didn't seem entirely appropriate to be snapping away on my camera like some kind of photojournalist.

I've been learning a lot about photography during the last month or so of playing around with my new camera -- but I still feel that I would benefit from taking some kind of course or something.

One of the biggest tricks in photography that I've discovered is combining art with documentary -- that is, finding a shot that accurately conveys the facts of the situation and the story that needs to be told, while simultaneously making it look pretty and communicating the aesthetics of the occasion as well as the objective reality.  I'm learning how a good photograph brings back the feelings as well as the facts that were there in the room in which the picture was taken.  And while it's relatively simple to pick up a camera and document a situation as its happening... it's a good bit more difficult to compose a well-spaced shot, with good colors, and a good sense of light... and it's extremely difficult to put all of this together in one photograph!

That's why I like the first photograph in this post.  It captures the moment well -- with an interesting framing of the subject material and a good reproduction of colors and motion.  The second picture... hmmm... it's all right on the documentary end of the spectrum, but I feel that it's not so good on the artistic level; honestly, I don't know why I feel this way about the picture -- because the colors are good and the moment captured is a relatively significant one... but I think it may actually be too well-lit (as compared to the reality of it) and maybe the feeling is just a bit too disconnected, with the frame in the foreground... I don't know... If anyone has some insight for me, I'd appreciate the feedback.

At any rate, it's for all of these reasons that I think a photography class might do me good.  Even so, I'm learning as I go.  And like the H88 itself, it's getting better all the time... Of all the other pictures here, I like the fourth one second-best (how confusing of a sentence is that?!?!).  The shot of Marijn and Jara laying floor in the lounge of the H88 just seems to do a good job of communicating the sense of teamwork we've required to get the new ministry center to where it's at today.  It's been a beautiful process to witness...

As for the picture above, well... I suppose it's strictly documentary (taken at the beginning of the day on Friday, before the Soul Gathering) -- which is to say that it's not especially beautiful.  But I post it so at least you can see all three of our doors from the main room now, which will eventually allow us to get up to code with the fire marshal.  Also, with this photo, you can see what the place looked like during the process of laying the floors...

Truth be told, the process of renovation and relocation has not been all blood, sweat, and tears.  We've still had some good opportunities for hanging out together and enjoying the experience of re-relocating (after our unrelocation, which was preceded by our initial relocation!)... I like both picture above and the picture below for their depiction of the unique personalities that make up our church.

In case you were wondering on the above picture, I believe that Naomi is pointing out the fact that they are, in fact, not wearing the same shirt (because hers is more of a V-neck than Andrew's).

The H88 is still a bit of a mess -- but it's getting better all the time...

Now you know it's real.

The dust and debris say it all.  We're actually getting back to work on the H88 ministry facilities -- resuming renovations on the space for the first time in several months.  A lot of work was done last winter, but we still have much to do in order to really get the place up to speed for regular ministry usage.  If we really want to give this new home for our church the true feeling of "homeliness" and "gezelligheid," then we need to put some time and attention to the little things.  Like flooring aesthetics, window and wall treatments, and the practical details that make the space useable (lighting, layout, toilet paper holders)... In spite of all the progress that was previously made, it feels like we still have plenty of work left to accomplish!

This week, we've started on the flooring project, figuring that with all of the furniture still moved out (locked away in the storage facility that guarded our stuff while awaiting litigation), we're in an ideal position to knock out the flooring project in one go.  We also feel like a unified surface throughout the main room, the lounge, and the upper-level hallways will go a long way toward making the space feel more "put together."  Next week, the professional contractors will also be cutting the holes for the extra fire escape route that was required as a part of our settlement with the owner.  And from there, the rest should be downhill (or at least we can hope)...

We've learned a lot of lessons from the first time around that should aid us greatly in knocking out the rest of the project from this point.  Also, this time around, I'm glad to say that Lee Dubois is taking on much of the day-to-day oversight for the renovation work these days (instead of yours truly).  So I actually have a fresh sense of hope, excitement, and anticipation that feels good to have running through my veins again.

Please pray with us for God's help in getting things finished.  Without a doubt, there are still untold adventures ahead of us...

You probably haven't noticed it nearly as much as I have... But it's been a loooooong time since I've really had anything to say about our church's relocation process (the last substantial update on this blog was back in February!).  Over the last several months, we've undergone an agonizing ordeal of business negotiations and legal positioning as the situation with the H88 facility went from complicated and difficult to more complicated and more difficult...

In particular, we ran into issues with the renovation costs (which, at one point, had been estimated to end up approximately three times more than the original estimate under which we signed the contract) and with the maximum attendance allowance by the fire marshall (although the contract explicitly stipulated an allowance for at least 120, the initial permission granted by the fire marshall -- after all of those expensive renovations -- was only for 81 people... and even after the number was later brought up to 100, our problem was still not solved).  Indeed, there have been times over the last several months when the situation with the H88 seemed truly impossible.  We and the building owner stood at the brink of a court case on a number of different occasions.  I didn't write much on the ol' blog about these various trials and tribulations because I was fearful of the fact that anything I wrote could have and would have been used against me in a court of law... Seriously.  It was that intense.

Thus, it was incredible surprise this week when we finally reached an agreement with the owner of the H88 that should have us meeting in there relatively soon (I've now learned to avoid expectations for any particular date)!  Despite the odds, we and the owner settled on an agreement securing permission for at least 120 people and distributing responsibility for the extra renovation costs that have been incurred along the way.  Of course, in the give-and-take of business negotiations, we -- like the owner -- had to make some concessions to reach this agreement; however, the final agreement still kept us within our means, and it has definitively provided for eventual allowance of at least 120 people (and maybe even as many as 150, now that they’re going to have to put in a second fire exit after all).  The actual timelines are still working themselves out, but at any rate—we are now moving forward again!  Hallelujah!